Building and managing your brand reputation: One step at a time!

There are innumerable brands in the market. Try to list the top five brands that come to your mind. Now, think about why you remember these brands. Good brand reputation will most likely be the reason. That's the power of a good brand reputation. It helps with brand recall. It also lets you pull in a significant number of customers and win their trust in the long run.
Building and maintaining a good brand reputation requires conscious and persistent effort. You should also consider bringing expert reputation management professionals on board. These professionals hold years of experience in reputation management and crisis communication. They will curate an effective reputation management strategy for you. They could help with corporate messaging.
The following are a few simple steps you can follow to build and maintain your brand reputation:
Monitor your current brand reputation
You should know where you stand before getting started. This will enable you to prepare a suitable plan of action. Therefore, monitor your current brand reputation. Reach out to your customers and learn what they think about your brand. These findings will help you make your brand more desirable.
Your employees' opinions also influence your brand reputation. Hence, you must also find what your employees think about your brand. This will help brand reputation management, enabling you to build a better reputation and enriching your employees' experiences.
Know your competitors standing
Today, the market is very competitive. You need to be aware of your competitor's standing. It will help you develop an effective reputation management strategy. Take a look at the market areas where your competitors are the strongest. Then, determine the reason behind their strengths. 
Develop a plan of action
Once you have a better understanding of your reputation and your competitors, you can create a suitable plan of action. Segregate the plan into various categories. First, work on areas where your brand reputation is terrible. Then, gradually move on and work on other areas.
Make contingency plans that you can rely on during a crisis. This is necessary as all your efforts can go in vain if you don't tackle a crisis properly. Now, remember, any plan of action is theoretical. You may have to make several changes during execution. Be mindful of the same.
Respond promptly
Today, given the digitalisation, any news about your company spreads in no time. Bad feedback about your brand can be retweeted innumerable times within minutes. This can do massive damage to your reputation. Hence, you have to be prompt with your response.
Preparing corporate messaging is also highly recommended. If negative feedback about your company is posted online, tackle it immediately. Your preparedness helps save the day. The more thorough you are with your planning, the better.