How to Measure and Maintain Good Customer Experience
Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2025 7:08 am
Learn about the factors that influence consumer perception and how brands can influence it for the better.
Iconic global brands have spent decades building strong emotional connections with consumers. However, consumer perceptions are not static; they evolve in response to changing societal values, cultural shifts, and global events. These iconic companies have shown that brands can benefit from actively monitoring and maintaining a strong public image.
What is consumer perception?
Consumer perception is the public’s overall impression of a brand. It is turkey b2b leads how customers feel about the company and the product. Maintaining a favorable perception requires ongoing efforts to understand user sentiment and meet expectations. For example, providing a high-quality product and good customer service increases the likelihood of creating a favorable brand image; however, you cannot always control individual actions (such as negative online reviews and social media posts) or cultural shifts that can affect brand perception.
Consumer perception can have a significant impact on a company’s bottom line. Brands that are perceived as generally positive are more likely to receive word-of-mouth recommendations and positive reviews. According to a 2021 study, approximately 90% of shoppers read online reviews before making a purchase. Positive perception leads to increased loyalty and customer retention, while negative perception can drive away potential customers and lead to churn. If you can control your brand image, it’s smart to invest in strategies that help you measure and improve it.
Factors Affecting Customer Perception
Both direct and indirect interactions influence a consumer’s perception of a brand. Here are some common factors that can influence a consumer’s perception:
Social Media Content
Customers can form an opinion about a product by seeing it on social media. Brands control their social media presence, but individuals can choose whether to share their personal experiences. Social media mentions can be positive or negative, both of which serve as social proof.
All it takes is either working with an influencer or getting someone influential to buy a product and post about it to have the predictions thrown out the window. Influencer marketing on social media can dramatically impact consumer perception by promoting your brand through a voice your audience trusts and admires.
Marketing
Marketing has a major impact on customer perception. Brand messages and mission statements tell customers about a company’s personality, while effective marketing strategies can communicate brand values and attract the target audience.
Customer Reviews
Customer opinions are important because they influence the product development process; potential customers value these opinions, just like you. Positive online reviews can give potential customers confidence—even thoughtful responses to negative reviews can help allay concerns.
Interaction with the brand
Positive and negative shopping experiences have a powerful impact on consumer perceptions. If a customer has trouble communicating with a website or customer service, it can negatively impact their overall opinion of the company. Positive interactions, on the other hand, can help build brand loyalty. Providing a smooth checkout experience and friendly, fast support can help protect reputation.
Ways to Measure Customer Perception
Measuring customer perception can be tricky. You can’t summarize it like an income statement — assessing perception requires tracking digital activity and listening to customers. Here are some ways brands can gauge consumer trust:
Listen to social media
Social listening is the practice of monitoring online conversations to discuss brand-related issues. Brands often use this method to monitor social media mentions. Social listening can also involve monitoring review sites and setting up search engine alerts to monitor press mentions. This research method often yields genuine, unfiltered customer opinions.
Surveys and interviews with clients
If you want to understand what customers think, consider going straight to the source. To get customer feedback, conduct surveys, hold focus groups, and request customer interviews. A customer survey or interview can include questions about the customer experience and contributing factors. To gauge brand perception, try asking why the customer chose your product, what they would change, and what celebrity they would choose if they were a person and why.
Tips to Improve Customer Experience
Managing customer perception requires building trust and making a commitment to creating a positive consumer experience. Here are some of the methods e-commerce brands can use to improve customer perception:
Provide high-quality support. Focus on providing helpful and responsive customer service. Ensure that your support team has sufficient resources to handle messages thoroughly and effectively.
Prioritize customer service. Analyze the path to success and evaluate each step. Ensure a positive experience by maintaining a functioning website, ensuring fast delivery, and effective customer acquisition.
Listen to feedback. Taking customer feedback into account can help prevent future problems. Read reviews and customer service requests – repeated complaints can reveal opportunities for improvement.
Communicate values. Practice honest and transparent communication. Use marketing messages to highlight the appeal of the product and share the latest news from the brand.
Share positive reviews. Consider leveraging positive reviews by posting them on social media or your website. Drawing attention to happy customers can help build trust in your brand.
Why is perception important to consumers?
Emotions and opinions can influence purchasing behavior, making customer perception important. Perception is important to customers for the same reason that their own feelings are important. Positive perception helps increase customer loyalty, while negative perception can discourage potential customers.
Building a positive customer perception starts with providing a high-quality product and excellent customer service. Brands can influence customer perceptions by disseminating authentic marketing messages, engaging with customers on social media, and posting positive reviews online.
Iconic global brands have spent decades building strong emotional connections with consumers. However, consumer perceptions are not static; they evolve in response to changing societal values, cultural shifts, and global events. These iconic companies have shown that brands can benefit from actively monitoring and maintaining a strong public image.
What is consumer perception?
Consumer perception is the public’s overall impression of a brand. It is turkey b2b leads how customers feel about the company and the product. Maintaining a favorable perception requires ongoing efforts to understand user sentiment and meet expectations. For example, providing a high-quality product and good customer service increases the likelihood of creating a favorable brand image; however, you cannot always control individual actions (such as negative online reviews and social media posts) or cultural shifts that can affect brand perception.
Consumer perception can have a significant impact on a company’s bottom line. Brands that are perceived as generally positive are more likely to receive word-of-mouth recommendations and positive reviews. According to a 2021 study, approximately 90% of shoppers read online reviews before making a purchase. Positive perception leads to increased loyalty and customer retention, while negative perception can drive away potential customers and lead to churn. If you can control your brand image, it’s smart to invest in strategies that help you measure and improve it.
Factors Affecting Customer Perception
Both direct and indirect interactions influence a consumer’s perception of a brand. Here are some common factors that can influence a consumer’s perception:
Social Media Content
Customers can form an opinion about a product by seeing it on social media. Brands control their social media presence, but individuals can choose whether to share their personal experiences. Social media mentions can be positive or negative, both of which serve as social proof.
All it takes is either working with an influencer or getting someone influential to buy a product and post about it to have the predictions thrown out the window. Influencer marketing on social media can dramatically impact consumer perception by promoting your brand through a voice your audience trusts and admires.
Marketing
Marketing has a major impact on customer perception. Brand messages and mission statements tell customers about a company’s personality, while effective marketing strategies can communicate brand values and attract the target audience.
Customer Reviews
Customer opinions are important because they influence the product development process; potential customers value these opinions, just like you. Positive online reviews can give potential customers confidence—even thoughtful responses to negative reviews can help allay concerns.
Interaction with the brand
Positive and negative shopping experiences have a powerful impact on consumer perceptions. If a customer has trouble communicating with a website or customer service, it can negatively impact their overall opinion of the company. Positive interactions, on the other hand, can help build brand loyalty. Providing a smooth checkout experience and friendly, fast support can help protect reputation.
Ways to Measure Customer Perception
Measuring customer perception can be tricky. You can’t summarize it like an income statement — assessing perception requires tracking digital activity and listening to customers. Here are some ways brands can gauge consumer trust:
Listen to social media
Social listening is the practice of monitoring online conversations to discuss brand-related issues. Brands often use this method to monitor social media mentions. Social listening can also involve monitoring review sites and setting up search engine alerts to monitor press mentions. This research method often yields genuine, unfiltered customer opinions.
Surveys and interviews with clients
If you want to understand what customers think, consider going straight to the source. To get customer feedback, conduct surveys, hold focus groups, and request customer interviews. A customer survey or interview can include questions about the customer experience and contributing factors. To gauge brand perception, try asking why the customer chose your product, what they would change, and what celebrity they would choose if they were a person and why.
Tips to Improve Customer Experience
Managing customer perception requires building trust and making a commitment to creating a positive consumer experience. Here are some of the methods e-commerce brands can use to improve customer perception:
Provide high-quality support. Focus on providing helpful and responsive customer service. Ensure that your support team has sufficient resources to handle messages thoroughly and effectively.
Prioritize customer service. Analyze the path to success and evaluate each step. Ensure a positive experience by maintaining a functioning website, ensuring fast delivery, and effective customer acquisition.
Listen to feedback. Taking customer feedback into account can help prevent future problems. Read reviews and customer service requests – repeated complaints can reveal opportunities for improvement.
Communicate values. Practice honest and transparent communication. Use marketing messages to highlight the appeal of the product and share the latest news from the brand.
Share positive reviews. Consider leveraging positive reviews by posting them on social media or your website. Drawing attention to happy customers can help build trust in your brand.
Why is perception important to consumers?
Emotions and opinions can influence purchasing behavior, making customer perception important. Perception is important to customers for the same reason that their own feelings are important. Positive perception helps increase customer loyalty, while negative perception can discourage potential customers.
Building a positive customer perception starts with providing a high-quality product and excellent customer service. Brands can influence customer perceptions by disseminating authentic marketing messages, engaging with customers on social media, and posting positive reviews online.