Tag: Measure

Brand Perception: What is it & How Do We Measure it

Wondering why perception is so important in marketing? This quote sums it up nicely: “Facts matter not at all. Perception is everything. It’s certainty.” – Stephen Colbert.

You see, it doesn’t matter how good your product/service is, the value it offers, or the quality you provide. If consumers don’t perceive your brand the way you want them to, your business will struggle with loyalty and getting new customers.

Today, I’m covering brand perception in detail. What is it, and why does it matter? How do you measure it? Keep reading to find out more.

What Is Brand Perception?

In marketing, brand perception is how consumers see and feel about a company or product. It’s how customers interpret and react to messages, experiences, and interactions with a brand.

Obvious things like marketing, word-of-mouth, and customer service contribute to your brand perception, and less obvious areas like colors can also influence how customers perceive you. (I’ve written an article if you want to know the best colors for online conversions).

Brand Perception vs. Brand Equity

While both concepts are essential to businesses, they serve different purposes. As you know, brand perception helps you understand how customers see your company; in contrast, brand equity allows you to quantify the value of your business. It consists of multiple factors, like:

  • Brand loyalty
  • Name recognition
  • Visibility

Essentially, brand equity is the difference between what a customer would pay for a generic product and what they would pay for the same product from a specific brand.

There are several ways to build equity in a brand. One is by offering high-quality products or services that customers can rely on. Another is positive customer experiences that leave people feeling good about the brand.

Creating an emotional connection with consumers can also help build equity, as people with a positive association with a brand are more likely to be loyal.

Why Do You Need Strong Brand Perception?

A brand isn’t merely a name or logo. It’s also the perception that consumers have of a company or product, and that idea can make or break a business.

Think about it – would you buy a product from a company you don’t trust? Or one whose values don’t align with your own?

Probably not.

That’s why brand perception is so important. It’s the difference between customers choosing your company over your competitors.

In addition, a strong brand perception:

  • Helps build trust with your audience. We mentioned earlier how important trust is, and how it makes people more likely to do business with you.
  • Lets you stand out from the competition. In a crowded marketplace, it’s important to have a unique and recognizable brand that people can easily identify and remember.
  • Can lead to higher profits. Customers pay more for products and services from brands they know and trust; when you have a loyal customer base, they keep coming back, leading to even higher long-term profits.

If consumers perceive your business positively, it can put it on the map, and if you’re already established, a good impression can grow your brand exponentially.

Let’s use Apple as an example.

Although it’s had its ups and downs, customers’ brand perception of Apple is largely positive. Additionally, it has a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 72. The NPS measures customer experience and potential business growth by using a simple one-ten scale:

Apple's Net Promoter Score is an indicator of brand perception.

Why the love for Apple? Well, it:

All these factors give buyers confidence and, you’ve guessed it, give Apple a great brand perception.

On the other hand, what about Meta (formerly Facebook)? According to branding expert Rebecca Biestman, Facebook can’t repair its brand perception simply by changing its name.

Scandals like Cambridge Analytica significantly wounded the company’s reputation, and its user base is set to decline for the first time ever; although there are multiple factors behind Facebook’s falling user numbers, brand perception is among them.

Now that you see how consumers’ brand perception can influence your business’s fortunes, let’s discuss how you measure it.

How Do You Measure Brand Perception?

Fortunately, measuring brand perception is not as complicated as you may think. Below are some of the easiest ways to understand how buyers and prospects view you.

Customer Outreach

Email lists, online review platforms, and social media make reaching out to your customers easier than ever. Want to know what your buyers think of your product or service? Or how to make them better? Send them a survey and ask them what you could do to improve.

Brand Perception Surveys

If you’re a larger company with a decent budget, consider brand perception surveys or focus groups.

For more general answers on what your buyers value, you could ask them things like:

  • How important is it for you that a brand aligns with your personal values?
  • How much does a brand’s reputation affect your decision to purchase its products or services?
  • How much does customer service influence your perception of our brand?

These questions can give you a better idea of what customers look for in a business and provide valuable and actionable feedback. For instance, if you believe you provide great customer service but your customers believe you could be more responsive, you can introduce measures to improve response times.

Then you might ask them questions like this:

A brand perception survey.
  • Does our brand make you feel more confident or stylish? Explain why.
  • To what extent do you feel like you are a part of the brand’s community or “tribe”?
  • Would you recommend our brand to your friends or family?
  • Have you ever been disappointed by your experience with our brand? Why?
  • What emotions do you associate with our brand?
  • Describe our brand in three words.
  • What are your favorite products/services and why?

Of course, the type of questions you ask depends on what you want to achieve. Here are some tips for creating a brand perception survey:

1. Decide what you want to measure. Do you want to know how customers feel about your brand overall? Or are you looking for feedback on specific products or services? Determine what you want to learn from the survey to create suitable questions.

2. Keep the questions focused. Too many questions can overwhelm respondents and make it difficult to get useful data. Stick to around 10-15 questions that are relevant to your goals for the survey.

3. Make sure the questions are clear and easy to understand. Use simple language and avoid jargon.

4. Ask open-ended questions to get detailed answers rather than ‘yes’ or ‘no’ responses.

Use Social Media

Yes, you can spend your time looking through your Twitter feeds and relevant tags, but you may find automating the task with social listening tools more efficient.

Social listening tools can track and measure brand perception across social media channels. By analyzing online conversations, businesses can get insights into how customers perceive your brand, what customers are saying, and what areas need improvement.

Many different social listening tools are available, each with unique features and benefits. Some of the most popular include Hootsuite Insights, Brandwatch, and Talkwalker.

Social listening tools like Hootsuite Insights measure brand perception.

Brand Audits

A brand audit is a detailed analysis of how customers and other stakeholders perceive a company’s brand, allowing businesses to identify areas where the brand is strong and where it needs improvement.

An audit usually involves:

  • Conducting surveys and focus groups with customers and other stakeholders.
  • Analyzing media coverage, social media activity, and other data sources.

You can then use this information to create a detailed report to help you understand your brand’s strengths and weaknesses.

Brand audits can be important for businesses looking to improve their brand perception. By understanding how customers and others perceive the company, businesses can make changes to improve their image.

In addition, brand audits help you understand:

  • Consumer ratings of your brand and why your buyers/prospects view you that way.
  • How you compare with your top competitors.
  • How your customers would describe your brand; this helps you understand if your messaging is right.
  • Your brand trajectory or where your customers see your business going.

Finally, check online review sites to see what your buyers are saying about their experience and address any shortcomings you discover.

Best Practices For Improving Brand Perception

There are some best practices every business can introduce to enhance its brand reputation. Here are some of them.

First, start with the basics. Ensure you deliver high-quality products and services and always exceed/manage customer expectations.

Next, use effective marketing to improve brand perception by communicating the right message/image about your company to the right audience. You can do this by using customer avatars or buyer personas to understand your ideal customers and the type of content that most likely resonates with them.

Then, focus on the customer journey. Complete customer journey mapping to see the purchasing process from your customer’s perspective. Doing this helps ensure each interaction along the customer journey leaves a positive impression.

Use Social Media to Your Advantage

I’ve already discussed social listening, but responding to what your consumers say is every bit as vital. It doesn’t matter if a buyer’s experience is positive or negative; they’re only too happy to share their views on social media. While you can’t do much about this, you can at least ensure you’re fast to respond and offer your customer a positive outcome.

Giving swift responses and addressing issues is more likely to improve your brand perception and get you noticed by potential buyers.

Don’t Underdeliver

Does your product do what it says on the label? Making bold claims in your advertising that you can’t deliver is guaranteed to underwhelm and frustrate your customers.

However, don’t just focus on your product descriptions, features, and benefits. Check your images, too. For instance, does your imaging suggest your product comes with accessories when it doesn’t?

Take Feedback On Board

You’ll never perceive your product or service the same way as your customers. Your buyers and prospects can often give you insights and suggestions you’ve never even dreamed of.

Whether it comes from social media, surveys, reviews, or niche-related forums, understanding your customer’s pain points helps you develop and refine products/services to meet their needs.

Train Your Staff

Training your staff ensures they feel empowered to answer consumer/leads questions accurately. When your staff are knowledgeable, it inspires confidence among buyers and enhances your brand perception.

Examples of Brand Perception Success

Changing times and consumer demand often mean companies must reposition themselves if they want to influence customers’ views.

Let’s look at two examples of brand perception.

Zoom

At first glance, Zoom might look like an overnight success, but that’s not the case. Eric Yuan founded Zoom in 2011. It had a public launch in 2013, with a mission of ‘making video communications frictionless and secure’.

However, it wasn’t until 2020 that it became more mainstream. As its popularity soared, the brand perception changed. ‘Zoom fatigue’ became a thing. Some employees spending lengthy periods on the app complained of exhaustion from the extra cognitive demands of video conferencing, irritability, and muscle tension.

Then, later, Zoom’s growth started to flatline.

Zoom’s answer to this problem? It repositioned itself to change users’ brand perception.

It launched a ‘How the World Connects’ campaign and expanded away from video with the Zoom phone. Online, the company stressed its highly successful track record, highlighting how half a million businesses use Zoom, including:

  • 70 percent of the Fortune 100
  • Over half of the Fortune 500
  • 85 percent of the Forbes Cloud 100, the world’s top private cloud companies
A graphic that says, "70% of the Fortune 100 choose Zoom."

That’s before you get to the ton of top finance, healthcare, and educational facilities that use Zoom and how the app helps them. For example, Zoom provides secure communications for hybrid working and allows better collaboration between teams. It sounds like a real success story, doesn’t it? And perhaps one you want to be part of.

Chipotle

Here’s a great example of how marketing can change brand perception.

Think of Chipotle, and the first thing that comes to mind is fast food. However, the company wanted to win new customers for its ‘Lifestyle Bowls Range’ for those following vegetarian, vegan, and keto diets.

An image of a lifestyle bowl from Chipotle.

To achieve this, Chipotle needed to change its brand perception and reposition itself as a healthier alternative. By working with a marketing agency, Chipotle highlighted the use of its natural, fresh ingredients in its made-to-order takeaway meals.

The agency:

  • Divided potential consumers into different tribes like ‘Fitness Fanatics’ and ‘US Health & Nutrition’.
  • Used the insights gathered from the different tribes to reach these audiences with targeted traffic and awareness campaigns.
  • Applied geo-targeting to attract customers to new restaurants.

The results were impressive by anyone’s standards, leading to 10.7 million impressions and potentially 2.5 million new customers. In addition, click-through rates (CTRs) exceed standard benchmarks, averaging 1.24 percent.

This case study highlights the importance of:

  • Tailoring your message to your target audience and mindset segmentation.
  • Using bespoke segmentation analysis to create hyper-relevant and audience-centered campaigns instead of relying on generic advertising.
  • Analyzing your audience to discover new target markets and ensure your new brand voice stands out.

If you want to change your brand perception or move into new market sectors, taking these measures can supercharge the impact of your advertising campaigns.

FAQs

What is an Example of Brand Perception?

Apple has an excellent brand perception, built on having high-quality products that are easy to use. Its positive brand perception has helped Apple become one of the most successful companies in the world.

How Do You Create a Brand Perception?

Brand perception starts with knowing your audience and understanding what they want and need. From there, you can create messaging and visuals that resonate with them.

How Do You Measure Brand Perception?

You can measure brand perception through audits, surveys, social listening, and reading reviews.

What Factors Influence Brand Perception?

Numerous factors influence brand perception, like your marketing, word of mouth, customer service, and color scheme.

What Is The Importance of Brand Perception?

Brand perception is essential to your business. The better consumers perceive your products/service, the more loyal your customers are likely to be, and you can charge a premium for your products.

Why Is Perception Important in Marketing?

Perception is important in marketing because it helps you understand how customers see your brand. This understanding is valuable when deciding how to position your brand and what messages to communicate to your target audience.

What Is the Difference Between Brand Perception and Brand Equity?

Brand equity is the value of a brand based on customer perceptions and associations. Brand perception is how customers perceive a brand in the present moment.

{
“@context”: “https://schema.org”,
“@type”: “FAQPage”,
“mainEntity”: [
{
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “What is an Example of Brand Perception?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: ”

Apple has an excellent brand perception, built on having high-quality products that are easy to use. Its positive brand perception has helped Apple become one of the most successful companies in the world.

”
}
}
, {
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “How Do You Create a Brand Perception?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: ”

Brand perception starts with knowing your audience and understanding what they want and need. From there, you can create messaging and visuals that resonate with them.

”
}
}
, {
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “How Do You Measure Brand Perception?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: ”

You can measure brand perception through audits, surveys, social listening, and reading reviews.

”
}
}
, {
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “What Factors Influence Brand Perception?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: ”

Numerous factors influence brand perception, like your marketing, word of mouth, customer service, and color scheme.

”
}
}
, {
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “What Is The Importance of Brand Perception?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: ”

Brand perception is essential to your business. The better consumers perceive your products/service, the more loyal your customers are likely to be, and you can charge a premium for your products.

”
}
}
, {
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “Why Is Perception Important in Marketing?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: ”

Perception is important in marketing because it helps you understand how customers see your brand. This understanding is valuable when deciding how to position your brand and what messages to communicate to your target audience.

”
}
}
, {
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “What Is the Difference Between Brand Perception and Brand Equity?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: ”

Brand equity is the value of a brand based on customer perceptions and associations. Brand perception is how customers perceive a brand in the present moment.

”
}
}
]
}

Conclusion

Let’s return to my original point: perception is everything. It doesn’t matter if the image customers have of your business is accurate or not; it only matters what their perceptions are.

The truth is that companies sometimes perceive themselves differently than their customers or prospects, which can make it difficult to attract new buyers.

Poor brand perception can hamper growth, limit customer loyalty, and ultimately means you don’t reach your core audience.

However, businesses can make better decisions about their marketing efforts by understanding brand perception and how to measure it. Additionally, companies can identify trends and adjust accordingly by tracking brand perception over time.

What brand perception are you trying to craft for your business?

Customer Experience Analytics: Measure What Works and Make Improvements That Last

Do you want a simple way to refine your customer experience? Then look at your CX analytics.

The data doesn’t lie. It tells you what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong. Once you’re armed with your customer experience analytics, you gain the necessary information to offer prospects and buyers the best possible care.

When you provide a stellar customer experience, you boost efficiency and humanize your service while enhancing loyalty and recommendations.

Yet, according to a report from PWC, 54 percent of consumers feel the customer experience at many businesses needs improvement.

However, there are more benefits to examining your CX analytics.

For example, 44.5 percent of global organizations feel that an amazing CX differentiates them from competitors, and who doesn’t want to stand out and get noticed?

Now you know the importance of customer experience analytics. In this article, I explain which ones you should measure and why they’re so crucial to your business.

What Is Customer Experience Analytics?

Customer experience (CX) analytics uses customer data to improve customer interactions.

You can use the data to track customer behavior and preferences to better understand how customers interact with your company and its products or services. You can then use this information to improve the CX by changing designs, the way you market to customers, or how you deliver your products or services.

There are many different ways to collect customer data. Analytics tools for customer experience often use various data sources. However, some of the most common sources include website visits, purchase histories, contact centers, and social media data.

Benefits of Tracking Customer Experience Analytics

By understanding customer behavior and preferences, analytics for customer experience can help businesses deliver a better CX faster and more consistently. Additionally, CX analytics can contribute to a positive customer experience by identifying and resolving issues early.

Below are just some of the benefits of tracking your analytics.

Customer satisfaction tracking: Perhaps the most crucial benefit is that customer experience analytics can track customer satisfaction over time. This information enables companies to identify areas where they need to make changes to keep their customers happy.

Understanding customer interactions: By analyzing your data, customer experience analytics lets you understand how customers interact with your products/services. You can then use this information to enhance the customer experience and increase sales.

Lower customer churn: When you use them correctly, customer experience analytics improve the CX and lower churn rates by increasing retention. For example, if many customers are contacting customer service about a particular issue, you can address it. This aspect is vital because consumer demand for a positive CX is increasing. However, Zendesk says 54 percent of shoppers feel businesses see it as an afterthought.

Enhanced loyalty through targeting: Understanding customer behavior lets you create targeted marketing campaigns that are more likely to convert leads into customers and encourage loyalty.

Increased value and lower spending: Predictive customer experience analytics can identify high-value customers in terms of lifetime value and customer satisfaction. However, it also finds high value, dissatisfied customers. When this information is clear, it allows you to spend money strategically and save money. McKinsey cites one example of a company that shaved over 25 percent off its planned budget using this technique.

Metrics to Consider for Customer Experience Analytics

Customer experience analytics (CEA) is a growing field. With that in mind, it’s important to choose the right metrics and analytics tools for customer experience to measure customer CX to get the most accurate results.

While there are multiple metrics you could focus on, to keep it simple, we’re going to focus on six of the most valuable.

Let’s begin with the promoter score.

1. Promoter Score (NPS)

To arrive at your promoter score (NPS), you look at your customer feedback and customer loyalty.

While there are many ways to calculate NPS, the most common is to use a 1-10 scale, where 1 is very dissatisfied, and 10 is very satisfied. To get an accurate reading, it’s important to ask customers how likely they are to recommend your company on this scale.

You could also use a free calculator or a tool from this list.

The higher your NPS score is, the better your customer retention, brand awareness, and customer acquisition.

An excellent example is the jewelry company, Taylor and Hart.

They consider NPS as their most important metric. By focusing on it, breaking it down, and applying the data, the company experienced a 70 percent increase in revenue.

Although you can’t guarantee the same results, you can take the same approach as Taylor and Hart by:

  • identifying your most crucial metrics and compiling the data
  • organizing the data, and rating your NPS
  • keep tracking your NPS and making changes

By tracking the NPS, the company:

  • spotted patterns for its most popular designs
  • found its top customer types, and average revenues
  • identified geographical campaigns and how customers found them
  • optimized their advertising

2. Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)

CSAT is a numeric representation of satisfied customers with a given product or service.

Many companies use customer satisfaction scores (CSAT) to track their customers’ overall happiness and identify areas where they need to make improvements.

When you track your CSAT customer experience analytics, you:

  • discover unsatisfied vs. satisfied customers
  • prioritize areas of your business that need improvement
  • enhance your internal processes.
  • guide future product development

However, despite CSAT being one of the most essential customer experience analytics, Gartner found that more than 70 percent of “CX leaders struggle to design projects that increase customer loyalty and achieve results.”

There are several different ways to collect CSAT data, but the most common way is to ask customers to rate their satisfaction on a scale from 1 to 10. You can do this through surveys, feedback forms, or chatbots. Alternatively, you can use a free calculator.

You should be aiming for a CSAT score of 75-85 percent. However, there are some variations between categories.

3. Customer Effort Score (CES)

The customer effort score (CES) metric measures how much effort a customer perceives they expend when interacting with a company.

You calculate CES by averaging the responses to questions about how much effort the customer felt they exerted during their most recent interaction with your company.

By identifying areas where customers are experiencing high levels of effort, businesses can focus on making changes to reduce the amount of work customers have to do to get what they want.

But there’s more to it.

When you get your CES right, it improves customer satisfaction, and loyalty, and lowers costs associated with handling customer complaints or support requests.

In addition, according to Gartner, when CES is high:

  • NPS improves
  • repurchase rates increase by up to 94 percent
  • employee retention improves

Your CES score is also more accurate than understanding customer satisfaction rates.

Andrew Schumacher, Senior Principal, Advisory, Gartner, says:

“Customer effort is 40 percent more accurate at predicting customer loyalty as opposed to customer satisfaction,

Calculate your CES with this free calculator. There is no standardized CES score, but the higher the better.

4. Churn Rate

Churn rate is an essential metric for companies to track because it provides insights into why customers leave and what you can do to retain them. Most businesses focus on this metric because a high customer churn is costly and leads to lost revenue.

There are several ways to calculate customer churn rate, but the most common is to divide the number of customers who have discontinued their relationship with you by the total number of customers at the beginning of the period. This gives you a percentage of how many customers have leftover a given period.

The average churn rate is 5-7 percent, while ten is high. However, it does depend on the industry. For instance, the average churn rate for online retail is 22 percent, while it’s 11 percent for big-box electronics.

customer service analytics on churn rate from Statista

You can calculate your churn rate online. If it’s high, delve into your CX analytics and look for patterns.

Remember, several factors contribute to churn rate, and businesses can take steps to reduce it by improving customer experience by tracking their CX analytics. Another way to improve customer experience is by providing an excellent support system and giving them what they want.

5. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

From Costco to American Express to Verizon and AT&T, they’re also using customer lifetime value as a critical metric with good reason.

CLV is a CX metric that helps business owners and CX professionals understand the value of a customer over the entire span of their relationship with their company.

It considers not just the monetary value of a customer but also how long they are likely to continue doing business with them, how much business they are likely to do moving forward, and how profitable each interaction is.

This information allows you to make strategic decisions about what types of customers to invest in acquiring and retaining, what kinds of experiences to offer them, and when it might make sense to let them go.

There is an easy-to-use online CLV calculator. For guidance, with your CLV, you are looking to make three to five times your acquisition cost.

Once you have your number, you can apply it. As a Bain & Co explain, you can use CLV to:

  • segment your existing customers
  • enhance conversions and ROI through better customer understanding
  • create data-focused hypotheses regarding the tools needed for customer acquisition and retention
  • segment new customers to target them according to limit low-value leads
  • make data-focused decisions on customer prioritization, acquisition, onboarding, and retention.

However, with your tracking, you might want to use a range of CX analytics tools, rather than focusing on one or two; research from Bain and Co shows that companies are most satisfied with results when they use a combination of tools. Further, by 2023, 92 percent expect to be using CX experience analytics tools for customer relationship management.

Percentage of respondents who will use customer analytics tools

6. Social Media Engagement

Engagement metrics track how people interact with your brand on social media. There are many different types of engagement metrics, but some of the most common ones include clicks, likes, shares, and comments.

I can’t overemphasize the importance of tracking social media analytics. If you post something and no one clicks on it, shares it, or comments on it, you know that you need to rethink your content strategy.

The potential of social media is best explained by looking at the runaway success of TikTok. According to its stats, 44 percent of visitors visit the site every month to find something new.

TikTok also impacts every stage of the customer journey, including:

  • discovery
  • consideration
  • purchase

Then, post-purchase, buyers head back to the site to create reviews, unboxing, tutorials, and how-tos.

The above should be enough to persuade you of the power of social media. If you’re already on sites like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook, make sure you’re paying attention to your tracking with tools like Google Analytics, SproutSocial. and HootSuite.

Customer Experience Analytics Frequently Asked Questions

What are the types of customer experience analytics?

CX analytics come in various forms, including CES, CLV, and social media engagement. They come in a mix of categories, including marketing analytics software, and customer service analytics software, which measures the effectiveness and quality of customer service interactions. Then there are social media and web and behavioral analytics.

Can I track my customer experience metrics with free tools?

There are several free tools businesses can use to track their cx analytics. One such tool is Google Analytics. Google Analytics allows companies to track website visits, engagement, conversions, and goal completions. Another free tool is Survey Monkey. Survey Monkey allows businesses to create surveys and collect customer feedback to measure customer satisfaction and loyalty. Finally, another free tool you can use for CX analytics is Simply Measured, for social listening and analytics.

How does data analytics improve customer experience?

Data analytics can improve customer experience by helping businesses better understand their customers’ needs and preferences. Data analytics can also help companies to identify and respond to problems quickly. For example, if lots of people are complaining about a particular issue, data analytics can help businesses identify the cause of the problem and take corrective action.

Why should marketers care about customer experience analytics?

Customer experience is one of the most critical factors for businesses today. In a world where consumers have endless choices, it’s essential to provide an exceptional customer experience to stand out from the competition. Finally, studies show that improving customer experience can increase sales and revenue.

{
“@context”: “https://schema.org”,
“@type”: “FAQPage”,
“mainEntity”: [
{
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “What are the types of customer experience analytics?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: ”

CX analytics come in various forms, including CES, CLV, and social media engagement. They come in a mix of categories, including marketing analytics software, and customer service analytics software, which measures the effectiveness and quality of customer service interactions. Then there are social media and web and behavioral analytics.

”
}
}
, {
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “Can I track my customer experience metrics with free tools?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: ”

There are several free tools businesses can use to track their cx analytics. One such tool is Google Analytics. Google Analytics allows companies to track website visits, engagement, conversions, and goal completions. Another free tool is Survey Monkey. Survey Monkey allows businesses to create surveys and collect customer feedback to measure customer satisfaction and loyalty. Finally, another free tool you can use for CX analytics is Simply Measured, for social listening and analytics.

”
}
}
, {
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “How does data analytics improve customer experience?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: ”

Data analytics can improve customer experience by helping businesses better understand their customers’ needs and preferences. Data analytics can also help companies to identify and respond to problems quickly. For example, if lots of people are complaining about a particular issue, data analytics can help businesses identify the cause of the problem and take corrective action.

”
}
}
, {
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “Why should marketers care about customer experience analytics?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: ”

Customer experience is one of the most critical factors for businesses today. In a world where consumers have endless choices, it’s essential to provide an exceptional customer experience to stand out from the competition. Finally, studies show that improving customer experience can increase sales and revenue.

”
}
}
]
}

Customer Experience Analytics Conclusion

Customer experience analytics is a valuable tool for businesses. Businesses can improve customer service and make strategic decisions about their products and services by tracking customer interactions and analyzing the data.

With the right tools and data, businesses can improve their customer service and boost their bottom line.

However, you need to be measuring the correct data. Although there are several metrics you could focus on, don’t get overwhelmed.

The six metrics featured in the post are enough to get you started and give you a clearer picture of what’s going on in your business.

To further optimize your results, you can adopt a range of automation tools to enhance the overall CX experience.

Do you use customer experience analytics in your business? Which ones work best for you?

Bounce Rate Analytics: How to Measure, Assess, and Audit to Increase Conversions

Your bounce rate can be such a scary number, right? It’s common knowledge that a high bounce rate is bad, and a low rate is good. Every time you log into your Google Analytics account, it’s right there waiting for you. I understand the feeling when you see that number creeping up. But the problem is …

The post Bounce Rate Analytics: How to Measure, Assess, and Audit to Increase Conversions first appeared on Online Web Store Site.

The post Bounce Rate Analytics: How to Measure, Assess, and Audit to Increase Conversions appeared first on ROI Credit Builders.

How Do Lenders Measure Business Fundability?

Have you ever wondered what exactly it is that lenders are looking for when it comes to approving a loan? Is it just your credit score, or is there more that comes into play? Why do you keep getting denied despite a strong, successful business with plenty of profit? How do they measure business fundability?

The answers to these questions can vary from lender to lender. 

What are Lenders Looking at to Determine Business Fundability? 

Honestly there is really no way to know for sure what exact information a lender is going to choose to use in their decision making.  What you can do, however, is learn everything you can about business fundability and what affects it. By doing that, you can begin to make changes where possible in an effort to ensure anything a lender sees is as positive as possible. 

Check out our best webinar with its trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit. 

What is Business Fundability?

To do this, you first have to know exactly what business fundability is.  The easiest way to explain it is to say it is how worthy of credit your business is.  If a lender considers your business to be fundable, it means they see your business as a low credit risk. However, everything that goes into being fundable is much more complicated.  

It is easiest to start at the beginning. Believe it or not, business fundability actually starts with how your business is set up. 

Business Fundability: The Set Up

These are the things that lenders consider, either directly or indirectly, in relation to how your business is set up.  They all work together to build the credibility and legitimacy of your business. 

Contact Information

The first step in setting up a foundation on which to build business fundability is to get your business its own phone number, fax number, and address.   What is surprising to some, is that this doesn’t mean you have to get a separate phone line, or even a separate location. You can run your business from your home or on your computer, and you do not even have to have a fax machine.  Find out more about how this here and here. 

EIN

Your business needs and EIN.  This is an identifying number for your business that works the same way your SSN works for you personally.  It looks more credible to use this number rather than your SSN for business loan applications. Having an EIN is also important for building business credit, as it separates your business accounts from your personal accounts. You can get one for free from the IRS.

Incorporate

This is the most important step in fundability thus far.  Incorporating your business as an LLC, S-corp, or corporation is necessary to fundability.  It lends credence to your business as one that is legitimate. In addition, it also offers some protection from liability. 

Which option you choose has more to do with your budget and how much liability protection you need than it does for fundability.  The best thing to do is discuss the issue with your attorney or a tax professional.  

Incorporation has to happen as soon as possible.  Time in business counts toward fundability and for business credit.  This starts over at incorporation, regardless of how long your business has been in operation before incorporation.  Not only that, but any positive business credit history you have up until the point of incorporation will be lost as well.

Business Bank Account

You have to open a separate, dedicated business bank account.  There are a few reasons for this. First, it will help you keep track of business finances.  It will also help you keep them separate from personal finances for tax purposes. 

In addition, there are several types of funding you cannot get without a business bank account.  Some lenders and credit cards want to see one. Also, you cannot get a merchant account without a business account at a bank. That means, you cannot take credit cards payments.  Consumers tend to spend more when they can pay by credit card.

Check out our best webinar with its trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit. 

Licenses

For a business to be legitimate it has to have all of the necessary licenses it needs to run legally.  If it doesn’t, red flags are going to fly up all over the place. Do the research you need to do to ensure you have all of the licenses necessary to legitimately run your business at the federal, state, and local levels. 

Website

How does a business website affect fundability?  Here’s how. In today’s world, we all run to the internet first for virtually everything.  For most businesses, the website is the first impression you make on anyone, including lenders.  If it appears to be unprofessional, it will cause problems.

Spend the time and money necessary to ensure your website is professionally designed and works well.  Pay for hosting too. Don’t use a free hosting service. Also, your business needs a dedicated business email address.  Make sure it has the same URL as your Website. Don’t use a free service such as Yahoo or Gmail.

Business Fundability: Business Credit Reports

This is what most business owners think about when it comes to business fundability. That is the credit report, much like your consumer credit report, that details the credit history of your business.  It is a tool to help lenders determine how credit worthy your business is.  

Where do business credit reports come from?  There are a lot of different places, but the main ones are Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, Equifax, and FICO SBSS.  Since you have no way of knowing which one your lender will choose, you need to make sure all of these reports are up to date and accurate. 

Not only that, but you need to be sure you actually have business credit. It does not build passively as a result of credit transactions in the same way consumer credit does.  That set-up for fundability? It is necessary to begin building business credit as well. After you have that, you have to get accounts reporting, which is a whole other process.  Find out more about that here. 

Other Business Data Agencies 

In addition to the business credit reporting agencies that directly calculate and issue your credit reports, there are other business data agencies that affect those reports indirectly.  Two examples of this are LexisNexus and The Small Business Finance Exchange. These two agencies gather data from a variety of sources, including public records.  This means they could have access to information relating to automobile accidents, liens, and more. While you may not be able to access or change the data the agencies have, you can ensure that any new information they receive is positive.  Enough positive information can help counteract any negative information from the past. 

Identification Numbers 

In addition to the EIN, there are other identifying numbers related to business credit reports.  You need to be aware that these numbers exist. Some of them are simply assigned by the agency. One, however, you have to apply for.  It is pertinent that you do this. 

That number is a D-U-N-S number from Dun & Bradstreet.  D&B is the largest and most commonly used business credit reporting agency.  Every credit file in their database has a D-U-N-S number. To get a D-U-N-S number, you have to apply for one through the D&B website. 

Business Credit History

Your credit history has everything to do with everything related to your credit score, which is a huge factor in the fundability of your business.  

Your credit history consists of a number of things including: 

  • How many accounts are reporting payments?
  • How long have you had each account? 
  • What type of accounts are they?
  • How much credit are you using on each account versus how much is available?
  • Are you making your payments on these accounts consistently on-time?

The more accounts you have reporting on-time payments, the stronger your credit score will be. 

Business Information

On the surface, it seems obvious that all of your business information should be the same across the board everywhere you use it.  However, when you start changing things up like adding a business phone number and address and incorporating, you may find that some things slip through the cracks. 

This is a problem because a ton of loan applications are turned down each year due to fraud concerns simply because things do not match up.  Maybe your business licenses have your personal address but now you have a business address. Fix it. Do some of your credit accounts have a slightly different name or a different phone number listed than what is on your loan application? Make sure your insurances all have the correct information, too.  

The key to this piece of the business fundability is to monitor your reports frequently.   When it comes to business credit reports, you can monitor through the reporting agencies directly, or save money by going here. 

Financial Statements

This covers a broad spectrum.  First, there is the obvious. Both your personal and business tax returns need to be in order.  Not only that, but you need to be paying your taxes, both business and personal. But wait, there’s more.  

Business Financials

It is best to have an accounting professional prepare regular financial statements. Having an accountant’s name on financial statements lends to the legitimacy of your business. If you cannot afford them monthly or quarterly, at least have professional statements prepared annually. This way, they will be ready whenever you need them. 

Personal Financials

Often this is simply tax returns for the previous three years.  That is the bare minimum you will need. Other information lenders may ask for include check stubs and bank statements. 

Bureaus

There are several other agencies that hold information related to your personal finances that you need to know about as well.  One example is ChexSystems. It keeps up with bad check activity and makes a difference when it comes to your bank score. If you have too many bad checks, you will not be able to open a bank account.  That will cause serious fundability issues. 

For this point, everything comes into play.  Have you ever been convicted of a crime? Do you have a bankruptcy or short sell on your record?  How about liens or UCC filings? All of this can and will play into business fundability. 

Personal Credit History

Your personal credit score from Experian, Equifax, and Transunion all matter.  You have to have your personal credit in order because it will definitely affect business fundability.  If it isn’t the best, get to work on it now. The number one way to get a strong personal credit score or improve a weak one is to make payments regularly on-time.

Also, make sure you monitor your personal credit regularly to ensure mistakes are corrected and that there are no fraudulent accounts being reported. You can get one free copy of your personal credit report annually.

Business Fundability: Application Process

So much plays into this that you may not even think about. First, consider the timing of the application.  Is your business currently fundable? If not, do some work to change that. Next, make sure that your business name, business address, and ownership status are all verifiable.  Lastly, make sure you choose the right lending product for your business and your needs. Do you need a traditional loan or a line of credit? Would a working capital loan or expansion loan work best for your needs?  Choosing the right product to apply for can make all the difference. 

Check out our best webinar with its trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit. 

Do Lenders Really Look at All of These Things for Business Fundability? biz funding Credit Suite2

Maybe not directly.  For traditional lenders, your personal credit and finances are going to directly affect your ability to get a business loan for sure.  Your business credit may be able to help you get a better rate, or push you over the approval line if personal credit isn’t as great as it needs to be.  Private lenders may lean more toward business credit.  

Neither is likely to pull, or to even be able to pull, a report directly from another agency however.  Furthermore, most will not seek out public records. However, those things can show up on and affect your credit reports.  Not only that, but if in the process a lender sees a discrepancy in name or address, it will throw up red flags.  

Even something minor like a poorly put together website, when coupled with a few other seemingly minor issues, can be enough to put you out of the running for a business loan all together.  It’s best to have a thorough understanding of what business fundability is and what affects it, so you can keep any issues, either minor or major, from causing problems. 

Business Fundability: How it All Ties Together

Truly, few business owners understand how important business fundability really is.  Even if they do, they are not sure what to do about it. However, if you set up things right, pay attention to what’s out there, and ensure all the information is as correct as possible, you have a good start.  The only way to do this is to consistently monitor credit reports. If your business credit isn’t the best, or if you do not yet have business credit, find out how to start and build strong business credit here.   

The post How Do Lenders Measure Business Fundability? appeared first on Credit Suite.