Digital: The Age of Business Transparency

The emergence of digital has ushered in an era of business transparency. As a brand, your reputation, positioning, and consumer demand is shaped not only by your strategic persona, but also by the actions that you take as a business and the way you operate as a company.

The strength of your brand is no longer just about your tagline or your latest campaign - it’s about your actions. Consumers today follow your actions on social media to see what people are saying about your business, share their experiences with your brand, and discover what your brand represents to the world.

As a brand, you need to revisit your core values and make sure that your actions align with your company’s mission. If there’s any disconnect - fix it. The best way is to reinforce your company’s messaging by encouraging positive engagements on social media, blogs, and online review sites. This will bring attention to your company’s actions and connect your online communities.

Building an online connection starts by analyzing your content strategy. Look at the cadence at which you are producing and posting content. Look at the ratio of branded content vs. action oriented vs. educational. Is it the right ratio to support your brand mission?

Next, let’s talk about making mistakes. All people and companies make mistakes. When your company makes a mistake, how do you handle it? How you handle missteps truly defines your character as a brand and an organization.

Every customer service issue presents an opportunity to change a one-time shopper into a brand loyalist. For example, a recent client who sells wetsuits online was hesitant to engage on social media because people periodically posted negative comments about their wetsuit’s fit.

Cuker developed a strategy to respond to those posts by offering to exchange the wetsuit for a different size after talking with a customer service expert, and if the customer was located in the Southern California area, they were invited to come into the showroom for a custom fitting.

This strategy was highly successful, with many customers expressing their appreciation across the brand’s social channels. This is an example of how brands can address a potential challenge and turn it into an opportunity for strengthening brand loyalty and engaging consumers.

With the emergence of digital there is a big glass window into your company and people are watching. This is a 24/7 challenge for brand marketers to maintain the right image and perception of their company in the public eye, but it’s also an opportunity. Businesses with good values that back it up with good actions and broadcast that effectively online are winning in this new age of business transparency.