What are some good ways to learn how my customers perceive my brand compared to my competitors?

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the matter of brand perception lately. Customer perception is indeed a critical aspect of successful branding and can significantly influence your brand’s market position in relation to your competitors. And I can think of a few good ways to learn more about how your brand is perceived.

One option is conducting customer surveys. Ask direct questions about how they perceive your brand and services. To make the comparison tangible, you could also ask how they perceive your brand relative to your competitors. Be cautious not to lead the customers’ answers; unbiased feedback is essential for this process.

You should also consider running focus groups. This method gives you in-depth qualitative insights into customer perceptions. In such settings, you might uncover nuances that surveys can’t provide. Of course, putting together a focus group isn’t easy, but that’s what an international market research agency is for, as the Kadence website shows. And the results are worth the effort.

Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys are a very effective way to collect this type of data. An NPS survey measures customer loyalty by asking one simple question: “On a scale from 0-10, how likely are you to recommend our company/product/service to a friend or colleague?” By comparing your NPS with those of your competitors (if available), you can understand where you stand in the eyes of your customers.

Another tool you can use is social media monitoring. Keeping an eye on social media helps you keep tabs on what customers are saying about you and your competitors online. By analyzing the sentiment behind these discussions, you can get a sense of how your brand is perceived in comparison to others.

There are some good market research apps and platforms out there that can help you with this kind of monitoring.

Then there is competitive analysis. Review your competitors’ marketing strategies, product offerings, prices, customer reviews, and any other relevant information. This gives you a well-rounded view of what they’re doing differently, which can give you an idea of how customers perceive the competition compared to your brand.

If you’re taking a DIY approach to this task, be mindful of your own biases when doing research. Collecting too little data or misinterpreting data can lead to disastrous results.