It happens all the time: The hard-working crew at a small business loses customers thanks to the sour grapes of one person.
It could be a disgruntled employee, an angry customer or even a competitor, says V. Michael Santoro, coauthor with John S. Rizzo of Niche Dominance: Creating Order out of Your Digital Marketing Chaos.
“Anyone can post a bad review online and hurt your business,” says Santoro, who is a managing partner with Rizzo of Globe On-Demand, an internet technology company. “Unfortunately, most business owners are not even aware that these bad reviews are out there.”
Seventy-two percent of buyers trust reviews as much as personal recommendations, and 70 percent trust consumer opinions posted online, according to a recent Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising Survey.
“A bad review published in a newspaper, or broadcast on radio or TV, is short-lived, but a bad review posted online can live indefinitely,” says Rizzo. “With consumers now researching an average of 10 reviews before making a buying decision, and 70 percent trusting a business that has a minimum of six reviews posted, business owners need to be proactive in developing their online reputation. You need several positive reviews.”
Online searches have been streamlined, combining reviews with maps, pay-per-click advertising, local business directories and Facebook Fan pages, Santoro says. As damaging as bad reviews can be, positive reviews can be equally constructive, he says.
Rizzo and Santoro offer an Internet marketing strategy called “reputation marketing,” described in the following steps:
• Develop a 5-Star Reputation: Begin by having your happy customers post great reviews about your business. Strive to have at least 10. Have each post to one of the following: Google Plus Local, Yelp, CitySearch, SuperPages, YP.com, your Facebook Fan page, etc. This needs to be a continuous process. Proactively ask your customers to post reviews.
• Market Your Reputation: Once reviews are posted, use a well-designed online marketing strategy to drive targeted traffic to your website. Ensure that your website can convert this traffic into customers. Additionally, showcase these third-party reviews on your website.
• Manage Your Reputation: Regularly check that the reviews being posted are positive. You can use Google Alerts for your business name; however, you will need to check the local directories, too, since they’re not picked up by Google Alerts. By building up the positive reviews, you can counter a poor one by sheer volume. You should also quickly post a reply to a negative review if they occur. Always be professional and indicate what action you have taken to remedy the situation.
• Create a Reputation Marketing Culture: Train your staff to proactively ask customers for reviews and to deal immediately with any customer who appears unhappy. A positive culture will encourage customers to post positive reviews about your business.
Contact Us for More Information – Like Us on Facebook – Follow Us on Twitter – Join our LinkedIn Group
For more information, visit www.NicheDominance.com.
Hello, I check your new stuff regularly.
Your humoristic style is awesome, keep up the good work!
I want to to thank you for this very good read!
! I certainly loved every little bit of it. I have you
bookmarked to check out new stuff you post…
I have to thank you for the efforts you have put in writing this website.
I really hope to see the same high-grade blog
posts by you later on as well. In fact, your creative writing abilities has encouraged
me to get my own blog now 😉
Greetings from Los angeles! I’m bored to death at work so I decided to browse your website on my iphone during lunch break. I really like the knowledge you present here and can’t wait to take
a look when I get home. I’m amazed at how fast your blog loaded on my mobile .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .
. Anyways, very good blog!
My partner and I absolutely love your blog and find a lot of your post’s to be just what I’m looking for.
Do you offer guest writers to write content available for you?
I wouldn’t mind creating a post or elaborating on a lot of the subjects you write related to here. Again, awesome site!
This is really interesting, You are a very skilled blogger.
I have joined your rss feed and look forward to seeking more of your great post.
Also, I’ve shared your site in my social networks!
This is a topic which is near to my heart.
.. Best wishes! Exactly where are your contact details though?
Howdy are using WordPress for your blog platform? I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and create
my own. Do you require any html coding expertise to make your
own blog? Any help would be really appreciated!
Hello! I’m at work browsing your blog from my new iphone 4! Just wanted to say I love reading your blog and look forward to all your posts! Carry on the excellent work!
I am regular reader, how are you everybody? This paragraph posted at this web site is actually nice.
My spouse and I stumbled over here from a different web address and thought I might check things out.
I like what I see so now i’m following you. Look forward to looking over your web page repeatedly.
Just desire to say your article is as amazing.
The clarity in your post is just nice and i can assume you’re an expert on this subject. Well with your permission allow me to grab your feed to keep updated with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please keep up the rewarding work.