The number of reviews your business has online can have a dramatic effect on your reputation AND your business revenues.
In the past, before company reviews and reputations were so visible, a good marketing strategy might have been to market the business using SEO, pay per click, social media, branded websites, TV and radio spots, and other similar marketing channels. Then, we would help them to build a five-star reputation. That no longer works. In fact, any company that still employs this methodology is certain to have a significantly diminished return on their marketing investment. This much I can almost guarantee.
Buyers Trust Reviews
Myles Anderson, the founder and CEO of BrightLocal stated that “79% of buyers trust reviews as much as personal recommendations.” This was an increase from 72% in the 2012 survey, so it is obvious to see where the trend is going. This type of data provides indisputable evidence with regards to the growing influence and importance that online reviews are having on consumer attitudes and ultimately whether or not they purchase from you.
Can Your Business Be Trusted?
In a survey done last year, DemandForce found that most consumers look at up to 10 reviews when researching the company before they make a decision to do business with them. Even more important, they found that 70% of consumers trust a business with a minimum of 6 to 10 reviews. That means if your business does not have at least 6 to 10 five-star reviews, that prospect will most likely go to your competitor who does. Without the proper reputation marketing strategy, including a sufficient number of five-star reviews, you are giving up your bottom line profits to your competitors and you are most likely not even aware of it.
So What Is Working Now?
It is imperative that the first critical step of any marketing strategy is to develop a 5 star reputation. That is what your prospects will see mixed in with the search results when they research your name or the name of your business. It is not possible to delete negative reviews and I would not trust any company that claims they can do so. However, by encouraging your customers, clients, and/or patients to post their five-star reviews as a result of the quality service you have provided, those negative reviews can either be pushed further down on the page or to a 2nd or 3rd page where your prospects are less likely to see them. It is also likely that the negative review(s) will be so outnumbered by 5 star reviews that they lose their damaging powers and people may view them as isolated incidents and still choose to do business with you.
What Is the Reputation Marketing Process?
The process begins with developing and promoting a reputation marketing culture within your organization so that each of your staff members fully understands the importance of delivering first-class service and the vital role that five-star reviews play in the continued success of the organization.
The next step is to actively solicit reviews from all of your current and former customer/client base. A variety of online and off-line channels should be utilized to maximize the effectiveness and capture the most amount of reviews. The easier you make it for your customers to leave reviews, the more likely they are to do it. It is important to have specific workflows, processes and strategies in place to accomplish this. After these elements have been set up, reputation management can be implemented to monitor, engage, and report the activities related to the other phases of the strategy.
The real magic comes into play by actively and aggressively marketing your 5 star reputation by utilizing a strategic mix of online and off-line marketing channels. The proprietary system and processes we utilize are able to accomplish that for our clients.
Online Marketing Costs Have Risen Significantly So a Good ROI Is More Important Than Ever
With thousands of new websites coming online every day it is becoming increasingly difficult to rank well in the search engines, which has driven up the cost of SEO and other similar strategies. The bid prices of pay per click (PPC) advertising has increased significantly because of the number of competitors trying to get their marketing message in front of their prospects. You are already investing marketing dollars on SEO, pay per click ads, social media marketing, print ads or other off-line promotions because you want your prospects to learn more about you. Doesn’t it make sense to squeeze every penny of profit out of those campaigns by making sure when you are driving visitor traffic from your marketing channels, those prospects view your company as the market leader and the one they should do business with? That can only be accomplished by developing a reputation marketing culture within your organization, actively engaging your customers to get five-star reviews, and marketing those reviews online for maximum effectiveness. There is no shortcut.
Other Intrinsic Benefits of Having a Five-Star Review
There are 2 other significant benefits of attaining and marketing a five-star review online that some business owners don’t even consider. The first of these is a pricing advantage. People inherently expect to pay more for five-star products and services so you should be able to charge more than your competitors with little or no reduction in the amount of customers. You can leverage that five-star reputation to brand yourself as the market leader and let your prospects know they can expect first-class service and great value for the money they spend with you. Another hidden benefit of having a five-star reputation relates to search engine optimization (SEO). A business that has a very strong reputation online is considered more of an authority in the eyes of the search engines, especially Google. This alone can boost your organic search rankings for that website. The number of citations (mentions about your business, especially in a positive light) can also have a positive influence on your search engine rankings.
Want to discover how to create and market your 5-star reputation and become THE business choose first for your products and services? Click the link below to schedule a FREE 15 minute phone consultation and learn how our proven strategies can out you WAY ahead of your competition! Schedule now.
