The expert’s guide to brand health [+8 key metrics]

If the term “brand health” makes you think of popular brands like McDonald’s and Apple, you’re in good company. 

 Statista ranks Apple as the number-one brand in the world. A recent count puts the Golden Arches at 41,822 locations globally. Yet, brand recognition doesn’t always mean strong brand health. 

Brands like Blockbuster Video, Blackberry and Toys R Us didn’t adapt to changing consumer tastes, and now they’re cautionary tales in business annals. Such stories show ongoing communication and innovation are core to maintaining a healthy brand.

As you consider your brand’s health, you might wonder: 

• What is brand health? 

• How do you measure brand health? 

• How do you maintain a healthy brand? 

Below, I’ll share a few key ways to measure brand health and ways to maintain a healthy brand. 

Fortunately, with today’s cost-effective, AI-enabled tools, you can find plenty of dynamic ways to measure brand health. You can scale your brand health assessments continuously or take a one-time snapshot as a benchmark. 

But first, here’s a working definition of brand health. 

“Brand health is the way a company or brand delivers on its promises to customers.” Qualtrics 

Of course, you want to buy products that deliver on their promises. An Edelman study found that 81% of people buy from trusted brands. Whether it’s a hamburger or a new phone, you always buy a promise. 

Your brand has power. A brand health analysis benchmarks your brand health and develops an improvement plan. 

Here are eight key brand health metrics: 

1. Brand awareness

2. Brand reputation 

3. Net promoter score (NPS) 

4. Word of mouth 

5. Employee engagement 

6. Brand positioning 

7. Time on site

8. Returning visitors  

Does that list look like it has a lot of crossover? There are some subtle differences. Take brand awareness and brand reputation. They sound similar, yet they’re not the same thing. 

According to Forbes, “brand awareness is the foundation of a successful brand.” At its core, it’s how recognizable the brand is. The Nike swoosh and the red and white Coke logo have high brand awareness because they’re recognized worldwide.  

Brand perception relates more to emotion. How does the brand make people feel? For example, Nike wearers identify with the brand’s motivational message. People choose Gucci because it makes them feel successful. 

Now let’s dive into how to measure your brand health. 

Good news! If you’re in digital marketing, you’re already measuring your brand health to some degree. For example: 

• Web analytics 

• Social listening 

• Customer surveys/feedback 

All of these give clues to your brand’s health and are ecommerce staples. Yet, you need the right tools to turn information into actionable insights fast. Today’s relevant brands keep a pulse on their customer’s changing tastes. 

Let’s dive into these metrics.

Brand health metrics

Imagine if Blockbuster had innovated and gone online in the internet’s early days. If they had, they might still be relevant today! Instead, they ignored the shift in consumer behavior and paid the price.

Today’s AI-enabled tools can help you achieve and maintain a strong, healthy brand. Here’s a deeper look into the metrics to keep top of mind:

1. Brand awareness 

How many brands can you name in thirty seconds? Thirty? More? Brands like Coke, Starbucks, and Corona all have strong brand awareness. 

Tracking brand engagement and online mentions is an excellent metric for measuring your brand’s health. 

How to measure: 

• If 77% of people prefer shopping from brands they follow on social media, it makes sense to manage those social channels as well. Say “thank you” for compliments and respond to unhappy customers quickly. Track your brand mentions, brand hashtags, and tags on social media.

• Check your web analytics to see how much branded traffic your website gets since that represents consumer awareness.

• Use online survey tools to ask your target audience to name their favorite [brand category] and see how often your brand appears. 

2. Brand reputation 

What’s the collective perception of your brand in the marketplace and from corporate stakeholders? For example, Apple stands for innovation, while Patagonia commits to sustainability and environmental protection. What do your customers say about your brand?

Don’t forget about your corporate stakeholders. What are their sentiments? 

How to measure: 

• Consumer reviews from Yelp, Google Reviews, Trust Pilot and others can gauge brand sentiment. Analyze the sentiment behind what people say online about your brand. Talk to your customers about purchase intent.

• Using brand tracking tools, you can analyze both brand sentiment and brand trust.

• Look to industry media mentions to gauge corporate reputation. 

3. Net promoter score (NPS) 

The NPS is part of your brand reputation and aims to gauge an overall sentiment about the brand. When brands ask survey questions like: 

“How likely are you to recommend [brand or company] to family and friends? Choose 1 for highly unlikely and ten for highly likely.” 

They’re looking to measure brand sentiment and reputation.

How to measure: 

Use your customer survey responses to gauge your promoters and detractors. When you run these type of surveys, you’ll indicate the number of responses of those who marked 9 or 10, and those who mark six or below as your detractors. The formula is NPS = % Promoters – % Detractors. Of course, you’ll have some responses, that’s to be expected. No brands reach all tens but you do want to aim for more high middle to high. 

4. Word of mouth 

The holy grail of brand health is happy customers recommending the product to their family and friends. One way to measure this is through referral marketing. For example, when United Airlines offers 10,000 miles if you refer the United credit card to your friends and family, that’s referral marketing. 

Another example is when a brand asks you to rate their app and share it on their social media. 

How to measure: 

Brand tracker tools and referrals are excellent online ways to measure successful word of mouth. 

5. Employee engagement 

Employee engagement is more than a nice thing to have; it directly contributes to brand health and the bottom line. Gallup research shows engaged employees result in greater productivity and low turnover. Happier employees bring their best selves to work, and their positive attitude creates an upbeat atmosphere, resulting in happy customers and a strong bottom line. 

Southwest Airlines, Trader Joe’s grocery chain and Ben & Jerry’s are three companies well-known for their high employee engagement. 

How to measure:

While measuring “culture” is hard, you can measure turnover. Low turnover is one indicator that people feel valued. You can also use employee surveys to measure morale and improve communication and transparency between employees and management.

6. Brand positioning 

How does your brand compare itself to the competition? For example, Lincoln positions itself as a luxury car brand, while Honda represents a safe and reliable car for everyday people. Liquid Death is canned water for edgy young adults. Evian is bottled French mountain water for the establishment. 

How to measure:

Up-to-the-minute brand health tools like Zappi’s brand tracker can provide important market research to better understand the brand positioning in your customers’ minds. 

7. Time on site 

How much time do your visitors spend on your website? If you have a high bounce rate, that typically means they have a poor experience on your site. Maybe it’s hard to navigate, or the content on the page doesn’t match their expectations. 

How to measure:

Use Google Analytics to review your most popular web pages and how many pages people view before purchasing or leaving your site. 

8. Returning visitors 

Netflix has a high return of visitors due to their business model. Amazon too. Such frequent returns keep the visitors engaged and more likely to purchase or extend the customer's lifetime value (CLV.) 

How to measure: 

Web analytics show returning visitors, and you can quickly incorporate customer feedback forms and surveys to keep them engaged. 

You wouldn’t stop working out just because you got in shape, would you? It’s the same with your brand. Brands can achieve and maintain positive brand health. 

It does require flexibility and the right tools to make frequent iterations based on ongoing feedback. New brand health tools incorporate AI to help you go from idea to insight in as little as twelve hours. 

Nataly Kelly is the Chief Marketing Officer at Zappi. She said brands that rely on ad hoc ad testing:

“will miss out on the latest opportunities to leverage AI for consumer insights.” 

Here are three tips to leave you with for maintaining your healthy brand:

1.  Build your brand equity

If brand health is a snapshot of your brand at a moment in time, brand equity references the customer perception over a longer period. For example, imagine Coke over a newer cola brand. The new cola may show signs of good brand health, but Coke has a stronger brand equity due to its decades of popularity. 

2. Build a positive brand culture

Happy employees contribute to happy customers and higher productivity. It’s a win for everyone. Harvard Business Review found layoffs can take years to rebuild trust with employees. Ultimately, that damages the brand health. 

3. Adapt to changing consumer tastes

Market conditions change, new competitors come on the market, and your consumers want something new. When you have the tools to manage continuous market research, you can ideate at the speed of business and identify potential winners much sooner. Staying relevant is how you maintain a strong, healthy brand.

Now that you see the multiple aspects of brand health, you can start your brand assessment. Will you go deeper with your analytics and social mentions? Do you have the necessary tools and data to make quicker, more impactful decisions? 

Try AI-enabled tools built for modern business, like Zappi’s brand tracker.