Beyond Social Media: Your Business' Online Marketing Resolution

Social Media: One Piece of the Puzzle

While it is important for you to choose 1-3 of the social media sites on which to be active, (e.g. Facebook, Google+, Youtube, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.) for local online advertising, all the social media in the world won't make up for a weak website or poor SEO (search engine optimization). 

Online Marketing New Year's Resolutions

There is no need to completely recreate your online marketing plan for the new year, but you will want to check to make sure that all of your efforts meet the new Google guidelines and that you are utilizing best practices for web marketing:

• Check and make adjustments to your website - Your website should be able to adjust to the size of the user's screen (responsive design) and every page should be written to attract the attention of the three major search engines, Google, Yahoo, and Bing. You should have links to your Google business listing and any social media websites on which you are active.

• Data-driven decisions - Know where you rank in the search engines compared to your competitors, where your website visitors are spending the most time on your website, and take steps to get them to your most important information. Also be aware of and respond to the feedback your customers are leaving on your online review websites (Google My Business, Yelp, Foursquare, and many others).

• Consider writing a blog - Blogging helps others to see that you are an expert in your field and it creates new content for your website which helps to attract the attention of the search engines and broaden your marketing reach. Of course it also gives you a place to share information that can be of great benefit to your current and potential clients!  

Don't neglect your social media presence, but remember that it is just one piece of your marketing on the web and it should not be your only online presence. 

Remember, Impressions Review Managing is here to help with all of your internet marketing needs - contact our friendly team  or visit our website for more information.

Local Online Advertising Study: Reviews Can Tell the Future

Using Reviews for Local Online Advertising

Online reviews. You either love them or hate them, but there is no denying that they impact decisions on what products and services people purchase. Think about how many times you have looked at the star rating for a product or a business and chosen one over another because of the ratings and reviews others have written. I know I avoid hotels with low star ratings and I pick local restaurants based on what others have to say about the quality of service and food.

Research = Telling the Future

The University of Maryland's business researchers went further with using online reviews and have developed an algorithm that allowed them to use linguistic data from restaurant reviews to successfully predict which would go out of business. The Maryland study emphasizes what we already know - that businesses need to be paying attention to what their customers are saying.

Another study done by American Express, found that half of consumers who posted about a negative customer service experience, gave the business one week to respond before they gave up and went to a competitor instead.

Gaining New Reviews and Overcoming Negative Reviews

Websites that specialize in displaying online reviews like Google+, Yelp, Foursquare, Insiderpages, Angie's List, and many others, serve as a vast network of opinions and experiences that help consumers find the best fit for their service and product needs. Many of these websites allow the business owner to interact with client posts allowing businesses to solidify loyalty and to show their personality to prospective clients.

Paying attention to online reviews and responding to customer feedback is becoming more and more important to a business' local online advertising plan.

Remember, Impressions Review Managing is here to support you with technology to alert you of new reviews and experience to help you respond to your clients' needs to not only keep their business, but to attract other customers as well. Read our other blog articles or contact our friendly team today!

Promote Your Business: Online Review Snapshots

Candid Camera: Online Reviews

I was leading an online meeting yesterday to help a business owner improve their internet marketing through online reviews when I was hit with a horrible coughing attack. You know, the kind where you can't stop and tears are running down your face while you gasp and sputter and sound like you are dying?

I managed to squeak out that I had to grab a cough drop before I muted my microphone and darn near coughed up a lung. After a minute of desperately chewing up a cough drop and slamming glasses of water, I still had virtually no voice. Thankfully, the business owner was understanding and we made it through the remainder of the meeting, albeit I had to follow up with a lengthy email to clarify what I couldn't push through my vocal cords.

All of this got me to thinking. This was one snapshot of my life. If he had chosen to judge me on that instance, he would have had an incomplete picture at best and a rather unimpressive and downright embarrassing image of me and my abilities. Isn't that just like online reviews?

A review is written by someone who has only the smallest of pictures of your business. Most of those pictures show the quality and strengths of your business, but every once in awhile someone glimpses your coughing-attack moment. Thankfully, I will get another opportunity to show my client the quality services I provide, but you can bet I will be pushing hard to make his experience that much better and more impressive because of our first encounter!

Managing your online reviews gives you the second opportunity with clients who have seen you at less than your best. Internet marketing by paying attention and responding to your reviews will help you get past your coughing attack and promote your business as the quality enterprise you know it really is.

www.impressionsrm.com

Promote Your Business: Healthy Internet Marketing

Internet marketing doesn't have to be a mystery and it can serve to promote your business on many levels. On the review websites, it is all about taking control, responding to reviewers, and keeping the conversation alive.

Check out this infographic defining the difference between a healthy online reputation that is able to promote your business through online reviews compared to a business that does not manage its reputation and the web marketing and business health suffers as a result.

Take control of your online reputation today so that you are the one setting the tone of the conversation. Your internet marketing will improve and your clients will benefit as you grow your business!

www.impressionsrm.com 

Preventing Negative Reviews and Promoting Your Business

If you have been reading my blog, you are already familiar with some strategies for handling negative reviews, but what are you doing to prevent those reviews in the first place?

Preventing Negative Reviews

When customers feel like they have no place else to vent, they will turn to social media and review websites to tell their story. Your best line of defense is to provide your clients with a way to tell you what they are experiencing before they even leave your business.

Some strategies:

• Think about the time your clients spend at your business - Who do they see right before they leave? Could that person be trained and equipped to ask the customer for their feedback and any thoughts for improvement before they leave? Could you assign one of your staff this specific purpose?
• Be proactive - If you notice that something is not exactly as it should be (a meal is served late or missing an item, an hotel room is not ready when it should be, etc.) and approach your customer before he/she has a chance to think to complain. Offer to make it right - a gift card, a reduction of their bill, etc.. 
• If your business has a closer relationship with clients, consider a phone call follow up after the person's visit. Ask if the service and/or product they purchased met their needs and ask if they found their visit acceptable or if there are ways you could better serve them.

People are impressed when a business shows its concern for the comfort and satisfaction of its customers. Think about your specific situation and ways you could head off negative reviews. You will find that your attention to detail will not only avert cranky reviews, it will also likely lead to some very happy clients willing to promote your business through positive online reviews!

www.impressionsrm.com 

Online Reviews: Ratings Impact Revenue

With the rise of smart phones, tourists looking for places to visit are not limited to the big name options. This can be a great advantage for the small business owner IF he or she is paying attention to online reviews.

Online Reviews Impact Revenue

While the focus is often on the impact of negative reviews, recent studies have shown that positive reviews have a huge impact on revenue. An increase in Yelp star ratings of just one star can increase revenue by 5%!

While driving through unfamiliar areas, consumers are apt to pull out their smart phones and look up exactly what they are looking for. If they can choose between a chain restaurant and a locally owned restaurant, they are likely to go where the star ratings are higher.

Your goal then is to gather the feedback of your customers and respond to their needs and concerns so that they will be inclined to leave you higher star-ratings.

Generating New Reviews

But how do you get your clients to write reviews for you?

• ASK! When you know you have a happy customer, ask him or her to leave feedback for you directly on one of the review websites. 
• Make it easy. Put links to your review websites on your business website, on promotional materials, and even on your receipts if you would like to cast a wider net of feedback from your clients.
• Respond to reviews. Whether the reviews are positive or negative, if you take the time to reply to what is being said, you will encourage your clients to interact with you and others reading along will feel welcomed to leave you feedback as well.

Your reviews and ratings are online and make up your web reputation whether or not you have done anything to establish it there - why not make online reviews work for you? 

www.impressionsrm.com

Internet Marketing - Are You Missing Something?

Internet marketing is still relatively new and many businesses are only partially taking advantage of the full power of the internet. There are four main pieces of online marketing that you want to make sure you have in place for your business: your website, search engine optimization (SEO), social media, and online reputation management (ORM).

All four components overlap and affect whether people are finding you when they run a search for your products or services.

Your Website:

• Web-friendly content - Your content should be written at about an 8th grade reading level, should be pertinent to what your clients are looking for, and should contain key search words as well as links to related outside websites. 
• Photos - Any photos should be your own or should be free from copyright issues.
• Navigation - Your site should be easy to locate information and it should be of a responsive design meaning it will re-size depending on the viewer's device and viewing screen size. 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO):

• The coveted spot in search engine results is at or near the top of the list of businesses. 
• Your business website should come up when people search for the type of product or service you provide.
• Your business website should come up at the top of the list when a person conducts a search for your brand name.

Social Media Marketing:

• Your business should have a page on the social media sites common for your customers to use.
• You should be posting news and public interest posts regularly.
• You should be monitoring your social media sites for interaction and/or reviews from your clients.

Online Reputation Management (ORM):

• Your business should have reviews on all of the major review websites including Google+, Yahoo, Yelp, Foursquare, Citysearch, Merchant Circle, Super Pages, Insider Pages, and Angie's List as well as any industry specific review sites such as Wellness or Trip Advisor. 
• You should claim and update each of your pages on the review websites.
• You should monitor for new review postings and respond to each review.
• Your business should implement strategies to generate new customer reviews - keep that word-of-mouth advertising going strong!

Online marketing obviously has a huge impact on generating new business - use the power of the internet, marketing your products and services so everyone will know your business is awesome!

www.impressionsrm.com

Online Review Sites Provide Free Marketing Opportunities

Small businesses don't have tons of money to spend on marketing, so we tend to be very careful where that money gets spent and watch for ways we can maximize free sources of marketing. 

Online review websites offer one of those opportunities!

The vast majority of people turn to the internet to research products, businesses, and services. No doubt you have a website to help get the word out about your business, but does it rank high in Google? When you type in your business' name, do you get more than one Google result that would attract potential customers?

Online review websites like Yelp, Yahoo Local, Google+ Local and many others give your customers a place to leave feedback, tips, and information for others interested in using your services or buying your products. These websites have set up a page just for your business by pulling information from public records or third party data aggregators. They have also made it possible for you to claim that page, update the information about your business, and even respond to your customers who have left comments. 

Take the time to visit each of the major review websites for your particular industry. Many of these sites do not charge a fee for claiming your business' page and making updates.

You can also generate positive web content by starting a YouTube channel where you post instructional videos for your clients. Think about the common questions and concerns your clients have - can you do a video to help?

Social media sites like Google+, Facebook, and Pinterest are great places to promote your business and connect with customers and having a page on each of these sites generates another link to your business that will show up in search engine results. 

Depending on the nature of your business, your staffing, and comfort with technology, many of the positive web content options can be used at no-cost to increase your standing on search engines and your presence as an expert in your field. 

Ann Pearson is the CEO of Impressions Review Managing, LLC, a company committed to empowering small businesses to use online reviews to increase their online presence, improve business practices, and market services or products. For more information on IRM's services and programs, visit www.impressionsrm.com.