Imagine launching a new product line. First, it seems like everything is all right, but suddenly sales start to stagnate. You're struggling to gain insights into customer feedback while competitors thrive.
Conclusion? Navigating without a clear grasp of consumer perceptions can lead to missed opportunities.
But here comes brand tracking. By systematically measuring key brand health metrics, you can uncover vital insights into consumer awareness and sentiment, allowing your brand to adapt and flourish.
Get to know all the key indicators you should follow to measure brand health effectively and (almost) effortlessly.
Need help with your brand reputation measurements? Use Prowly's monitoring and report features to stay on track.
What is brand health?
Brand health refers to how well a brand is perceived by consumers. And how effectively it meets their expectations. It's covered by key metrics like brand awareness, customer loyalty, and brand sentiment.
By regularly tracking these metrics, you can identify strengths and weaknesses and make more consumer and market-orientated decisions. The better brand health is, the stronger the connection it can forge with its audience.
Why should you measure brand health?
Brand health metrics are crucial for understanding company perception and in building strong relationships with consumers.
Below you can find more details on why you should measure brand health metrics:
- Understanding the consumer point of view. A brand health report may reveal what people think about your company, i.e. brand reputation or overall image.
- Detecting strengths and weaknesses. Thanks to following these metrics you can pinpoint areas where your brand excels or where it needs improvement.
- Supporting marketing strategy. Brand healthmetrics may suggest where to allocate marketing resources effectively.
- Trends monitoring. Detect negative trends early and react promptly.
- Brand loyalty support. Identify brand advocates and enhance customer loyalty via targeted engagement.
- Achieving brand equity. Support long-term growth by strengthening the brand's overall value.
How to recognize when your brand health needs improvement
How can you detect that your brand health is in trouble and know when should you react?
1οΈβ£ Collect data across channels
Monitor social media, reviews, and direct customer interactions. Follow sales statistics and compare them yearly as well as with market trends.
2οΈβ£ Compare against competitors
Use share of voice and sentiment analysis to assess your relative position. Use market benchmarks and monitor customer loyalty.
3οΈβ£ Evaluate customer feedback
Analyze recurring themes in reviews, complaints, and praises. Follow customer engagement as well. Ask them directly - use a brand health survey to detect any cracks in your brand image.
π‘ Pro Tip: Wondering what the state of your brand health is? Ask yourself these questions and answer sincerely:
βͺοΈ Do customers associate your brand with its intended values?
βͺοΈ How does your brand compare to competitors in terms of visibility and sentiment?
How to measure brand health?
How to improve brand health in 5 steps?
#1 Understand key dimensions of brand health
- Brand awareness. First, track how familiar your target audience is with your brand.
- Brand perception. Check how your brand is viewed in terms of values, quality, and associations.
- Customer loyalty. You should also know how likely customers are to stay with your brand and recommend it.
- Market position. Compare your brand to competitors in terms of share of voice and sentiment.
#2 Follow key brand health metrics
To understand the bigger picture, you should pick vital metrics to follow and monitor their flow.
- Use brand measurement tools to estimate these numbers.
- Set KPIs and follow trends.
- Update your strategies accordingly and make adjustments aiming to improve your brand health.
#3 Use monitoring and reporting tools
How to measure brand strength and its health? Use proper tools. Focus on Social Listening Platforms. Monitor mentions and track sentiment to conduct your brand health assessment.
Below you can find some examples of tools that may come in handy.
- Surveys: Brandwatch, Brand24, HubSpot, Awario, SurveyMonkey
- Analytics tools: Prowly, Brand24, Microsoft Power BI
- Reporting tools: Looker, Prowly, Brand24, Microsoft Power BI
#4 Develop an action plan for improvement
Once you conduct your brand health research, you can draw a plan to boost your brand reputation and overall image. So, which steps you should take to boost it?
- Enhance brand awareness. Show yourself off and always stay one step ahead. Let people see what you do and why they should know you.
- Improve brand perception. Fine feathers make fine birds, so take care of your brand reputation. Create comprehensive and consistent messaging.
- Strengthen customer loyalty. There is no better brand reputation indicators than loyal customers, so monitor the state of it.
#5 Monitor progress with the right tools
Once you establish your top brand health metrics, you should follow their progress. What may prove to be a great help? Comprehensive monitoring tools like Prowly. With a platform like this, you can analyze brand sentiment and monitor media (print & broadcast as well).
Key brand health metrics and KPIs
Brand awareness metrics
1οΈβ£ TOMA: Top-of-mind awareness (AKA spontaneous recall)
So how does it work? This metric is all about associations. It reflects the first brand that comes to mind when consumers think of a specific product category.
How to do it?
- Conduct surveys asking, βWhat brand do you think of first when you think of [product category]?β
- Analyze the percentage of respondents mentioning your brand.
2οΈβ£ Aided awareness (recognition when prompted)
This brand health indicator measures if consumers recognize your brand when prompted with its name.
How to do it?
- Use surveys where participants are asked if theyβve heard of your brand when given a list of options.
- Compare your brand recognition rate to competitors.
3οΈβ£ Share of Voice (SoV)
SoV is about your brandβs share of mentions compared to competitors across all channels.
How to do it?
- Use social listening tools (e.g., Brandwatch, Prowly Meltwater) to analyze your brand mentions vs competitors across the internet as well as broadcast and print media.
- Calculate SOV as:
(YourBrandMentions)/(TotalIndustryMentions)Γ100
We wrote a whole article about Share of Voice and similar metrics that work like a charm in data-driven PR.
4οΈβ£ Website traffic and branded search volume
In this metric, you should track the number of visitors coming to your website and searching for your brand specifically.
How to do it?
- Use Google Analytics to track direct and organic traffic.
- Monitor branded keyword search volume using tools like Google Search Console or Prowly.
With tools like Prowly, you can set up notifications about ANY queries related to your brand. Set a list of keywords and monitor what topics are the most interesting for your audience.
5οΈβ£ Brand associations
Check which key attributes or qualities consumers link to your brand.
How to do it?
- Provide your audience with surveys or focus groups, ask them the right questions.
- Analyze the frequency of recurring themes (e.g., quality, innovation, trustworthiness).
6οΈβ£ Brand sentiment
What are the feelings associated with your brand? Check the tone of conversations and opinions about your brand (positive, negative, or neutral).
How to do it?
Use tools dedicated to media monitoring and brand sentiment analysis. Choose Prowly to follow brand sentiment. You can also provide a comprehensive analysis (here you can learn more). With this platform, you can monitor aspects like:
- brands
- competitors
- keywords
- people
- authors
- backlinks
All of the above may help you to get a full image of your brand across media outlets.
π‘ Pro Tip: Establishing a brand name or term and monitoring it isn't enough. If you're receiving numerous mentions daily, it's essential to develop a strategy to filter and identify the insights that offer the most value.
7οΈβ£ Net Promoter Score (NPS)
This brand health metric reflects the likelihood of customers recommending your brand.
How to do it?
- Conduct surveys asking: βOn a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend our brand to a friend or colleague?βCategorize responses as:
- Promoters (9-10): Loyal customers who for sure will advocate for your brand.
- Passives (7-8): Satisfied, not very enthusiastic.
- Detractors (0-6): Unhappy customers who might damage your reputation.
Engagement metrics
1οΈβ£ Social media engagement
Social media platforms aim to interact. So to measure audience engagement follow aspects such as likes, shares, comments, and mentions.
How to do it?
- Track likes, comments, shares, and retweets on your accounts and posts.
- Use social listening tools to monitor mentions and discussions about your brand. You can also use the analytics features provided by each platform.
2οΈβ£ Customer interactions
Customer interactions are a fundamental aspect of any successful business strategy. Every touchpoint between your brand and your audience, whether via marketing materials, customer service or product experiences, elicits some form of response.
These interactions go beyond simple transactions; they are valuable opportunities to connect with your customers, build lasting relationships, and understand what they want and need.
How to do it?
- Monitor answers to surveys, emails, and other communication.
3οΈβ£ Content performance
Each piece of content you publish receives interactions. People click, watch, read, etc. Keep your finger on the pulse with these brand health metrics.
How to do it?
Monitor KPIs like:
- Click-through rates (CTR)
- Video engagement (watch time, shares, likes, etc.)
- Time spent on site or content
- The most (and least) engaging places via heatmaps
Competitor comparison metrics
1οΈβ£ Brand positioning
What is your market position? Where are you compared to your competitors? You should know your benchmarks. It also helps to establish your value against competitors.
How to do it?
- Use media monitoring tools like Prowly to follow competitors' actions as well as keywords associated with them.
2οΈβ£ Competitor sentiment analysis
Understanding the emotional landscape that surrounds your competitors is essential for crafting effective strategies and positioning your brand. The feelings that arise around competitors, whether positive, negative or neutral, play a significant role in shaping public perception and can ultimately influence consumer behavior.
By delving into these emotions and perceptions, brands can gain valuable insights that inform their marketing strategies, product development, and overall brand positioning.
How to do it?
- Follow sentiments and people's reactions to your competitors.
Loyalty and advocacy metrics
1οΈβ£ Customer retention rates
This reflects the percentage of customers who remain with the brand over time, indicating how many loyal customers have stayed with you for an extended period (measured in years or more).
How to do it?
- Pick a time frame: monthly, quarterly, yearly, etc.
- Gather data: start, end, and new customer numbers.
- Segment customers: group by location, behavior, demographics.
- Collect feedback: use surveys to learn why customers stay or leave.
- Track with tools: use CRMs or analytics software.
- Take action: offer loyalty programs and better support.
- Review regularly: monitor and adjust to improve retention.
2οΈβ£ Brand advocacy
The role of influencers, brand ambassadors, and customer endorsements cannot be overstated. These individuals and their endorsements can significantly impact your brand's reputation, reach, and overall success. Itβs essential to take care of these key players and here's how to do so effectively.
How to do it?
- Use Net Promoter Score surveys to identify promoters and detractors
- Monitor social media (mentions, shares, and hashtags)
- Measure participation and referrals from loyal customers via referral programs
- Analyze online reviews
- Identify influencers e.g. from customers who actively recommend your brand
- Engage with advocates to deepen advocacy
- Leverage analytics tools with the right platforms, such as Prowly
Crisis and risk metrics
1οΈβ£ Crisis response effectiveness
Whenever a crisis arises, you should react to it ASAP. What matters most are the speed and tone of the responses.
How to do it?
- Help yourself with negative mention spike alerts from Prowly. If there are any unusual activities, Prowly will notify you immediately.
2οΈβ£ Reputation risk analysis
Remember that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Following this one, you can detect any potential negative impact of issues on the brand. Thereβs no single answer to how long does a brand take to heal, so itβs best to avoid learning that lesson the hard way and prevent damage when it arises.
How to do it?
It's a healthy mix of many metrics that we shared earlier in this article. To analyze reputation risk, monitor online mentions, assess sentiment, and gather stakeholder feedback. Use analytics tools to track negative patterns, compare industry trends, and evaluate potential impacts on your brand.
How Prowly helps with brand health measurement?
Prowly effectively measures brand health through its comprehensive media monitoring and sentiment analysis features.
It tracks brand mentions across online and offline media outlets, providing real-time insights into public perception.
With advanced sentiment analysis, Prowly identifies if discussions about your brand are positive or negative. This enables you to respond to any potential crises quickly.
You can also set customized alerts for specific keywords and mentions. This feature allows you to stay updated on critical developments that could impact your brand's reputation.
Take care of your brand health comprehensively. Use tools that support your work and allow you to prevent a crisis rather than supporting you in the messy aftermath.
