Product Reputation: Strategy, Definition, and Tips [Guide for 2025]

On October 18, 2024, the iconic sneakers New Balance 530 gained a tremendous reach of almost 3 MILLION people online. Can you believe that’s over 40 times what they usually get in a day?! 

What’s more, all the mentions published on that day were POSITIVE! This boosted the NB530 product reputation, placing it in the TOP 34% of brands.

What was the key to this massive business success?

I used an advanced product research tool to find out, and here’s what I learned:

With dedicated business automation software, you can easily evaluate your product reputation and business success, but first things first.

Product reputation refers to how consumers perceive a specific product. It consists of product quality, reliability, customer satisfaction, and the brand’s trustworthiness. A strong reputation results in increased customer loyalty and market competitiveness, while a negative one can lead to decreased sales or even a PR crisis.

In today’s competitive marketplace, a product’s reputation can make or break its success. 

More than ever, consumers are influenced by online reviews, word-of-mouth marketing, and user-generated content on social media.

Other key factors to a brand’s reputation are the company’s image and the stories brands tell. 

A strong product reputation builds trust, fosters brand loyalty, and can turn first-time buyers into lifelong advocates. 

Maintaining and improving products’ and brands’ reputations requires ongoing and strategic action, as well as continuous monitoring of the effects of your efforts.

This article will explore actionable tips to not only establish a positive product reputation but also ensure it continues to grow in the face of ever-evolving consumer expectations.

Ready to build a stellar product reputation?

Let’s get started!

What is product reputation? Definition

Product reputation is how people feel about a product based on their customer experience and what they hear from others. 

It’s built on product quality, reliability, and trust. 

When customers love a product, they talk about it, recommend it, and stick with it. 

Take the iPhone, for example. Apple has created a reputation for high-quality products, sleek design, cutting-edge features, and reliability. 

People know what to expect when they buy one. 

This strong product and business reputation keeps customers loyal and attracts new customers, even in a competitive market. 

A good product reputation can be a brand’s greatest asset.

How can you quickly check your product’s reputation?

The fastest way to check your product’s reputation is to use a product sentiment analysis tool with dedicated product success metrics.

At Brand24, we provide a Reputation Score.

This metric indicates your product’s online reputation by analyzing its positive and negative mentions.

What’s great about this metric is that it informs you about your position in the market by comparing your Reputation Score with other brands.

This way, you get a quantified measure of your brand’s reputation online.

Reputation Score is also helpful for evaluating company’s products performance in time. 

For instance, you can see a little reputation spike on October 18, when NB530 and Miu Miu collaboration was broadly discussed online. 

This insight allows you to analyze your brand strategy and marketing performance by showing which actions result in the best audience engagement and increased customer loyalty.

Why is product reputation important?

The reputation of a company’s products is vital because it influences how customers perceive their value and decide what to buy. 

A positive reputation builds trust, encouraging repeat purchases and customer loyalty. 

It attracts new buyers, as people rely on online reviews and recommendations before trying a product. 

A good reputation leads to higher sales, premium pricing, a competitive edge, and a higher brand market value. 

On the other hand, a poor brand reputation can drive customers away, hurt sales, and damage the brand image. 

Poor customer service, low product quality, negative advocacy, or other shortcomings can destroy your product and brand reputation. 

Rebuilding a good brand reputation will take time. Thus, obviously, prevention is better than cure.

In today’s digital age, where opinions spread quickly online, managing reputation has become more critical than ever. 

This is especially true on social media, where a negative review can easily go viral and influence not only your product reputation but also your whole brand reputation.

That’s why you should have a product and brand reputation strategy at hand.

Product reputation strategy

You already know how to quickly check your product’s reputation, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

To succeed in today’s competitive market you need an expert product and brand reputation strategy.

Follow my 4-step guide and skyrocket your product and business growth.

Step 1: Examine your current product reputation

In the first step, you need to carefully examine the current product and brand reputation.

This way, you’ll have a starting point and a reference for further evaluation of your strategy.

How can you measure your product and brand reputation?

You’ll need online reputation management software to do it.

From my experience, AI marketing tools that measure sentiment and brand reputation metrics work best.

Now, let’s see what exactly you should measure to learn about your current online reputation.

Conduct the sentiment analysis of your product

Sentiment analysis is the foundation of assessing the reputation of your product.

When the positive feedback outweighs the negative reviews, you know you’re doing it right.

Advanced brand sentiment analysis tools allow you to detect which source brings the most positive and negative feedback about the brand. 

This way, you can detect the impending crisis at an early stage, address the negative mentions, and prevent escalation.

Now, you know which social media channels are the source of critical reviews. 

The next step is to learn why consumers perceive your product this way.

Is it related to product quality, advertising campaigns, ethical issues, or maybe delivery problems?

You could go through all your mentions to find a common negative denominator…

But you don’t have to do it yourself anymore!

I’m happy to present the AI-powered Anomaly Detector to you. 

The feature identifies sudden spikes in brand reach and the volume of mentions. 

Then, it analyzes all the mentions from that day to find the common topic or issue discussed.

Thanks to this insight, you can quickly implement a reputation management strategy or PR crisis management if needed.

You can also examine the most relevant negative mentions of the controversy and respond to them accordingly.

See also: How to respond to negative reviews?

However, the Anomaly Detector feature works also for positive reviews. 

When your reach and volume of mentions rise, it’s not always a bad sign. 

On the contrary, it may mean that many customers leave positive reviews. 

This might be a reaction to a recent promotional event, advertising campaign, or a new product release.

Thanks to the Anomaly Detector, you can effortlessly learn which of your marketing actions sparked social media engagement and encouraged customer feedback.

Benefits of monitoring brand sentiment:

• Detect potential issues early and address them through brand messaging. This will save your company from a damaged brand reputation.
• Understand customer needs and expectations.
• Increase customer loyalty and engagement thanks to addressing negative feedback.
• Understand your brand’s position in the market thanks to competitor analysis and comparison of sentiments.
• Make decisions informed by valuable insights from existing customers.

Discover emotions around your product

While sentiment analysis reveals whether the brand image is positive or negative, emotion analysis goes one step further.

It shows precisely what emotions the target audience feels towards the brand and its products.

Advanced AI software can detect which channels are sources of particular emotions.

Brand24 detects emotions, including admiration, joy, sadness, disgust, anger, and fear.

This advanced analytics helps you manage your product and brand reputation more effectively. 

It lets you better understand your customer experience and the real intent behind each negative review.

For instance, if you see that your customers are disgusted, it may mean that they don’t support your company’s ethics or political stance.

This is a common situation for brands that keep their supply source and production conditions secret or express their support in political matters.

Another example is when you’re about to release a limited edition collection, and customers may fear they won’t be able to purchase it before it is sold out.

Then, after the release, you might see sadness and anger peaking as some customers were too late for your limited edition merchandise.

This information is useful for the marketing team and product managers, as it helps create an effective strategy for keeping customers engaged and positive about your products. 

Benefits of conducting emotion analysis:

• Deeply understand the trends in your online reviews.
• Offer excellent customer service informed by understanding of customer needs.
• Increase customer loyalty thanks to the customer-centric approach.
• Gain competitive advantage.

Check emojis included in discussions about your product

Internet users don’t always verbalize their emotions.

That’s why emojis are a critical factor when analyzing your product reputation.

Is the heart emoji used more than the poop one? 

Or when they use the crying emoji, are those sad or happy tears? 

It seems trivial, but it actually represents the customer experience with your products.

It also provides valuable insights on how to shape your brand messaging to better resonate with your existing customers. 

When you use the emojis they do, you speak their language, showing that the brand understands its target audience.

This will positively impact the product and brand reputation.

Benefits of conducting Emoji Analysis:

• Understand the nonverbal customer feedback.
• Learn how your target audience communicates.
• Pick up nuances in your mentions (e.g., Does the crying emoji mean sadness or happiness?).

Discover whether influencers talk about your products in a positive or negative way

In the era of social media, influencers are crucial to your product and brand reputation.

These individuals have the social media reach and suggestion power that can make or break your brand.

Thus, it’s better to have the influencers on your side.

So, how can you quickly check who’s talking about your products positively and negatively?

Brand24 rushes to help.

The next step is to contact unhappy customers and offer to fix their bad experiences.

If you’re lucky enough, they might remove their negative feedback or share positive word-of-mouth on their channels.

Benefits of Influencer Analysis:

• Find influential individuals who support your brand and collaborate with them.
• Identify influencers that are giving you a negative brand reputation and solve the issues by offering solutions and apologies.

Take a look at the sentiment of the trending topics

Every brand and product sparks conversations in particular fields. 

Specific topics will be more popular than others, and their sentiment may vary.

That’s why monitoring the discussion topics around your brand is a good idea.

It may turn out that the overall brand image of your company is positive, but one particular topic ruins your brand reputation.

In your Brand24 dashboard, you can use filters to focus on discussions with a particular sentiment.

Let’s take a look at the negative topics around Coca-Cola.

By detecting those topics, you can work on addressing the issue globally. 

Thanks to well-targeted actions informed by customer feedback, you can significantly improve your product and brand reputation with little effort.

Benefits of Topic Analysis:

• Learn which topics attract negativity.
• Address negative reputation globally by solving the most urgent problems.

Step 2: Build a positive product reputation

Here’s a set of quick tips that can truly support your efforts in building a positive product and brand reputation.

01 Focus on quality

Ensure your product consistently meets or exceeds customer expectations. Regularly check your product’s Reputation Score to monitor the effectiveness of your efforts.

02 Prioritize customer service

Respond promptly and helpfully to inquiries or complaints. This way, you’ll build trust with your customers. 

Check how to respond to customer feedback.

03 Leverage user feedback

Actively gather reviews, address concerns, and use insights to improve your product. By working in a feedback loop, you ensure that you develop your product in a helpful direction for customers.

Check how to collect customer feedback.

04 Be transparent

Clearly communicate product features, limitations, and updates to manage customer expectations. 

Remember that nowadays, the ethical side of your business will be a deciding factor for some customers when considering your products.

Make sure you actively communicate all of these on the most convenient channels of communication based on your audience’s preferences.

05 Deliver on promises

Stick to advertised claims regarding brand performance, quality, delivery times, and customer support. 

06 Engage on social media

Actively interact with customers, respond to user-generated content, share social proof, and highlight your product’s benefits on social media.

07 Build community trust

Partner with reliable influencers or seek endorsements from trusted entities in your industry. 

Learn more on how to leverage influencer marketing.

You can also consider cross-brand collaborations. As the New Balance example shows, they can boost your product online visibility and reputation.

08 Offer guarantees

A satisfaction guarantee or return policy can reduce perceived risk and boost buyers’ confidence.

Many high-quality products leverage this technique to appear more approachable to potential customers.

09 Stay consistent

Maintain consistent branding, messaging, and product quality across all touchpoints. 

Check how to build a consistent brand identity.

10 Monitor and adapt

Use media monitoring tools to track brand sentiment and quickly address reputation challenges.

This will help you avoid serious PR crises through early detection and swift management.

Step 3: Monitor your product and brand reputation 

Taking action to build a positive brand reputation is fundamental, but you must also measure the success of your actions.

Otherwise, you won’t know if what you’re doing works at all.

You can easily monitor your product online performance in time with the Brand24 comparison feature.

It facilitates observing your progress and spotting regress in a timely manner.

This way, you can easily see if your actions bring the expected results or if you need to change your strategy to achieve your goals.

It couldn’t be easier!

Just choose two periods you want to juxtapose and spot the difference immediately.

Step 4: Constantly improve reputation

Dedication to improvement is vital for gaining a competitive advantage. 

Your goal should be to create a feedback loop in which you encourage your customers to leave reviews and leverage these customer feedback examples to develop the product in the direction they indicate. 

This way, product managers can ensure that their vision of the product is aligned with the real customers’ needs and that the developments will actually help them.

This will increase customer loyalty and positive customer experiences, attracting repeat customers.

Without further ado, here’s a set of tips for constantly improving product reputation: 

01 Regularly innovate

Continuously update or enhance your product based on emerging trends and customer needs.

02 Monitor industry changes

Stay informed about competitor actions with competitor analysis tools and market developments to stay ahead. 

03 Foster long-term relationships

Build trust by maintaining open communication with loyal customers and rewarding repeat purchases.

Monitor user-generated content and interact with customers on social media.

04 Invest in employee training

Ensure your team is well-equipped to represent your product and handle customer interactions effectively. An excellent customer service team is key to your product’s success.

05 Implement a feedback loop

Use customer reviews, surveys, and complaints as opportunities to refine your product or service. 

06 Audit your reputation

Regularly analyze your Reputation Score, social media presence, and brand sentiment to identify areas for improvement. 

07 Adopt sustainable practices

Demonstrating environmental or social responsibility can positively impact perception over time and foster your business success.

08 Set benchmarks and goals

Regularly evaluate product success metrics like sentiment, reach, customer satisfaction, conversions, and churn. 

09 Maintain proactive transparency

Share updates about fixes, upgrades, or future plans to show dedication to product quality and improvement of customer experience.

10 Celebrate milestones publicly

Highlight achievements like product improvements, certifications, or awards to reinforce credibility and build a strong brand reputation.

Share them on your social media channels, via newsletter, or on any other channel that is most convenient for your audience.

Conclusion

Building and maintaining a solid product reputation is a cornerstone of business success in today’s highly competitive market. 

A positive reputation fosters customer loyalty and creates opportunities for growth and differentiation. 

Consistently deliver quality, actively engage with potential customers, and leverage advanced tools like Brand24 for sentiment and emotion analysis to gain insights. 

This way, you’ll be able to proactively manage your brand reputation and address challenges before they escalate.

Remember, reputation management isn’t a one-time effort—it’s a continuous process that requires dedication, innovation, and strategic action.

Whether establishing your product’s presence or refining an already strong brand reputation, integrating these strategies into your business practices will ensure long-term success and a loyal customer base.

Final thoughts:

• Key factors determining brand reputation involve:
  • product quality
  • company’s customer service
  • performance on social media platforms
  • effectively communicating brand values
  • encouraging satisfied customers to leave reviews
  • effective marketing campaigns 
  • branding efforts
  • building brand loyalty 
  • attracting new customers. 
• Dedicated sentiment analysis tools with advanced AI analytics will help you measure your product reputation and maintain a positive reputation.
• Key product reputation metrics to track include Reputation Score, sentiment, reach, volume of mentions, trending topics, and emotions.
• Even if you have a strong brand reputation, you should still have a crisis management plan at hand. Unpredictable situations happen, and if you act fast, you may save your company’s success from a crushing blow.