Five need-to-know questions that a brand-tracking study can answer

The aim of brand tracking is to measure how your organisation is perceived in the eyes of stakeholders. Brand tracking helps you understand how your audience feels about your organisation, what they think of it, and how this differs from what they feel about other brands. It also gives insight into whether people understand who you are and the work you do. This information can help inform strategic decisions, such as where to invest resources or where opportunities for growth are.

What do people know about your organisation?

This is perhaps the most basic question of all, but it’s also an important one. You want to know what people think of your brand. Do they like it? Do they trust it? How do they feel about your company’s reputation in general and within the industry at large?

Would they recommend you to people in their network?

A recommendation is a strong endorsement that an individual gives about your organisation. It’s a great indicator of how much they trust you, and if they’re willing to put their name on it by recommending you to a friend, colleague or someone in their network.

When someone refers you, there’s usually a personal connection between the two parties involved. A referral is the kind of recommendation that comes from someone who knows your work and has been personally impressed by it. If a person wants to share what they love with others in their network, this means you’re getting direct access to new customers—and potential brand advocates!

Referrals are high-quality contacts because they’re coming from someone who already trusts you enough to recommend your product or service. When someone recommends an organisation like yours because they know you do great work and want their friends or colleagues to benefit from it too, then those referrals become high-value leads: people who already trust your brand enough to buy into what it stands for.

Why or why not?

This question is important because you can tag it on to the end of any question to get more insight into people’s thought process. Plus, it gives you the opportunity to find out not just what people like about your organisation, but why.

Asking why or why not is very simple. All that’s needed is to put they ‘why’ question right after a question about what people like. While his may take the respondent a moment to consider and think about, it’s this valuable thought process that has most of the gold.

Do they see you as distinct from other organisations?

Another great question to ask is: “What makes our organisation unique?” This question can be a bit challenging, as it’s not always clear why. But again, the longer people take to answer this question the more you can learn about why you are unique and either reinforce that position or use the insights for future planning.

What are their impressions of the work you do and the impact you have?

Another area to investigate is the impression of the work that you do and what people think of the impact you have. This can be a difficult question, but it’s an important one that helps you identify what people see as being the outcome of your organisation and where opportunities are for improvement.

If you’re looking to gain an edge on your competition or just evaluate where you stand, brand tracking is a great way to do it. It gives your team insight into what people know about your organisation and how they feel about it. The insights you stand to gain can help guide strategy towards improving brand awareness or reinforcing positive perceptions.