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Robert Gonye
What is corporate image?
Your company’s corporate image is your brand’s public perception. You can help shape it by telling the public what kind of company you are through marketing and advertising.
But what really sculpts your corporate image is your company’s actions, like performing well financially, developing innovative products and services, following ethical business practices, actually operating by your values, appropriately responding to company criticism, providing tremendous customer service, treating your employees with dignity and respect, and attracting elite talent.
All of these actions fuel the flywheel of your brand’s word-of-mouth marketing, which is the most effective and trusted form of marketing, especially when the internet has enabled every brand to scream for your audiences attention today.
Developing a stellar corporate image also opens up more opportunities for customer testimonials, product reviews, and awards that can provide the social proof needed to earn new customer’s trust.
Why Corporate Image Is More Important Than Ever Before
Nowadays, most people support brands that share the same values as them.
In fact, brand values are often a critical factor in someone’s purchasing decision. For instance, 83 percent of millennials find it important to purchase from companies that align with their values.
Additionally, research points that global executives, on average, attribute 63 percent of their company’s market value to their company’s overall reputation.
Consider, for instance, the last time you made a purchase on a product or service for which you could have found a cheaper alternative.
Perhaps you purchased a new iPhone, or splurged on that new car you have wanted for a while.
Ultimately, you likely made that purchasing decision, at least in part, due to the brand’s reputation and overall image. So how do you boost your own corporate image?
How to Improve Corporate Image Identify your company’s purpose.
If you truly want to build a loyal following for your brand and, in turn, strengthen your reputation, your company’s core message should focus on your purpose —not how you make your product or what your product is.
This notion, that people buy the why behind your organisation — not the just some idealistic trend catching fire in the business world today, though. It’s actually rooted in human biology.
The most primal part of the brain is called the limbic system, and it controls all decision making. It also happens to control all our emotions and feelings. So, resonating with your audience will also appeal to the part of the brain that’s responsible for action.
In other words, if you can evoke emotion, you can drive behaviour.
Conveying a clear and convincing purpose through all your brand’s actions will forge the emotional connection required to persuade an audience to support you.
And the more people who support you, the stronger your reputation will become.
Make sure you can walk the walk.
Sometimes, brands that want to reap the rewards of being a mission-driven company don’t actually adhere to the values they claim they’re so passionate about.
But even though being aquasi-mission-driven company can attract new customers, once they uncover your hypocrisy, it’s almost impossible to retain them.
Before you start boasting about your company’s dedication to putting the customer first, make sure your actions are actually aligned with these values, or that you have a plan in place to do so.
Own your mistakes.
Even the smartest brands make mistakes. But what separates the great companies from the good ones is their ability to admit that their wrong and change course in light of new information.
Unfortunately, a lot of companies won’t admit their mistakes or change their minds, even if it’s the right choice, because they have too much pride or don’t want to seem weak.
However, admitting you’re wrong actually requires a lot more strength than sticking to something that hurts your customers just because you’ve invested a lot of time or effort into an initiative.
By owning your mistake and correcting it, instead of blaming the issue on external factors, your customers will understand the rationale behind your decision and appreciate your honesty and humbleness.
You can still earn back your customers; trust and support if you put your pride aside and own and correct your mistakes.
Offer the best customer service possible.
For many customers, one of the first interactions they’ll have with your brand is through a customer service representative — so customer service plays an undeniably critical role in corporate image.
Customer service representatives can demonstrate your company values in both their actions and words.
Ultimately, each interaction your customer has with your company has the power to form their entire perception of your brand — and those customers will share both positive and negative feedback with friends. For this reason, customer service is a vital component to consider when improving corporate image.
Make sure your website and social media presence reflect your current corporate image. Corporate images change over time. As your organisation grows, as consumer preferences and industries change, and as you learn more about what makes your customers happy, your priorities or vision might shift slightly.
To reflect the most relevant, accurate version of your corporate image, then, it's critical you maintain a strong social media and website presence.
Oftentimes, social media is the first opportunity people have to discover your brand — and they’ll likely make a snap judgment of your entire image as a result of a few images or videos at the top of your feed. So make them count.
Robert Gonye is a Business Growth Expert and Influencer. He writes in his personal capacity. For comments and views: [email protected]
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