3 Situations that Require a Response to Bad Online Reviews

You just got a bad online review. There are situations when it’s best not to respond. But at other times you need to spring into “reputation management mode” and answer the review directly. But how do you determine the difference? Here are three situations when you must respond to bad reviews:

1. You really did screw up: Sometimes you just make a mistake. People will generally understand. If you erred and someone is legitimately upset about it, it’s usually in your best interest to quickly engage them and make it right. Owning the issue cools down the sentiment of the viewer. Apologize for the error, explain what’s been done to insure that it won’t happen again and then offer an incentive to get them to give you a second go. You’ll not only mend the fence with that particular customer, your response will immediately make potential customers feel that when someone has a problem, your business will address the situation and that you’re confident you are in your product.
2. The reviewer is misstating the facts: Your Company is being blasted for giving a reviewer a bad product or not honoring a promised deal. The problem: you sell that product and you didn’t offer that deal. In such cases, speak up and politely let the reviewer know that they have simply misunderstood something or they’re getting you confused with another business. If it’s a matter of bad facts, you should step in immediately and correct them. More often than not, the reviewer doesn’t realize he/she has made an error.
3. The review begins to gain traction: Some bad reviews, whether true or not, take on a life their own. These situations need to be addressed and need to be addressed fast. These reviews are often left by people with a large social network. If a person with considerable a sizable social following says something bad about your company and it begins to gain traction, step in and do what you can to remedy the situation fast. You may think it’s a petty complaint but even a minor issue can become a reputation disaster if allowed to grow.

Boosting Local Search Results with Social Media

Companies are no longer asking if they should be active in social media. They understand that user-generated content is a required element of a comprehensive location-based search program.  It’s now just a question of developing the right social media strategy that will give you greatest impact. The right social media strategy will let you:

1. Communicate directly with your customers
2. Create engaging discussion topics
3. Help your marketing go viral
4. Boost your online brand-awareness
5. Organically propel your business to the top of local search results

The evolving social media landscape can be a confusing place for marketers. However, here are some tips that will help you achieve those goals:

1. Build a fan base on Facebook. Forty percent of Facebook users follow a specific brand. More than half of Facebook users eventually purchase that brand. Facebook ‘Likes’ spread brand awareness virally, delivering information to everyone befriended by your brand fans.
2. Use Twitter to keep in touch with customers. One in every four Twitter users follows a specific brand, and 67 percent of them will end up purchasing that brand. Use your Twitter posts to engage consumers by providing them with helpful information about your products and services. Special offers are a great way to grab the attention of Twitter followers.
3. Encourage customers to rate and review your business. Consumers love online reviews because they can see what others really think about you, and your product or service before making a purchasing decision.  In addition, reviews on social media sites improve your search engine rankings and will drive free web traffic.
4. Leverage YouTube in local search results.  Embed videos in Google Place Pages, websites, and social profile pages.  Videos showcase your products and services while putting a human face on your business.
5. Give customers incentives to share information online.  Branded “Share and Receive a Reward” programs can encourage consumers to share your offers with their friends via Facebook, Twitter and other web channels in exchange for discounts or special prizes.

Creating an effective social media marketing program, you make it easy for your customers to find you and your business and talk about it online. The result can be incredible and greatly amplify your web marketing results, generate calls and appointments and boost long-term brand awareness.

Building a Successful Mobile Marketing Campaign

Want to communicate and engage your audience in an interactive and relevant manner through any mobile device? Try building a mobile marketing campaign. Any effective mobile marketing campaign should complement and be an extension of your overall marketing strategy. When planning your mobile marketing campaign, you’ll want to incorporate certain elements.

Convenience:  Make sure your website is easy for customers to access and browse on mobile devices. Your customers don’t want to pinch, zoom, and scroll all over your site.

Locally targeted:  More and more mobile searches have local intent. Virtually all new smart phones come with GPS.  This is very helpful, because customers’ phones can send their location information.

Integrated:  Your mobile campaign need to tie into your company’s overall marketing strategy. Inform customers about your promotion by putting everywhere you live: your website, newsletter, Facebook, etc. 

Time sensitive:  Mobile marketing lets you engage your customers as soon as something comes up.  For example, if you own a restaurant and it’s a slow Friday night, send a text message to your customers offering a special or discount.  Text messages have a 95% open rate, making them an especially powerful marketing tool.

Customer involvement:  Getting your customers involved will dramatically increase results. Try giveaways, polls and contests have all been used successfully to build customer lists.  Ask customers to text in their vote, or to enter a drawing for a chance to win an iPad, or to come up with the best caption for a photo.

Exclusive: To encourage people to opt-in to your offer, give them a good reason. Present them an exclusive offer. For example, “Text FREE to 1234567 for a free cup of coffee.”

Permission:  Successful mobile marketing campaigns ask for permission. They’re transparent.  They also tell users how they can be removed from the list.

Build Your Brand, It’s the One Thing You Truly Own

One of the facts of business life is that there is almost nothing about your business that a competitor can’t and won’t duplicate.  If you’ve created the proverbial “better mousetrap”, you can be certain that somebody will copy your model.  It’s just a matter time.  And eventually they may be able to do a better job or sell the product or service at a lower price.  So the question becomes, “What can I offer that can’t be copied by anyone else?”  The answer: your brand.

Creating a strong brand is one of the strongest competitive advantages your business can gain. When you do, customers will think of you first when they need a certain product or service.  For example, when your child wants a hamburger, as often as not, she won’t ask for a hamburger but will ask if you’ll take her to McDonald’s. The reason: McDonald’s has built such a solid brand identity.

A brand is the one thing about your business that no one body can duplicate. Everything else – including trade secrets, patents, physical plant and technology – will eventually be stolen, expire, wear out or become obsolete.  But your brand can go on – even outliving your business.  Your brand creates lasting value above and beyond all other aspects of your business.

The importance and value of your brand becomes even more apparent if you want to sell the business or acquire investor capital.  It is often the brand that is your most valuable asset.  Your brand can be quantified.  For instance, potential investors often value your company by looking at the assets tied to your brand first. They then identify the value of your physical assets – office, patents, machinery and staff.  And often the physical assets are valued at a fraction of what you can sell your brand for.

So whether you hope to grow your company for yourself or eventually sell it, your brand is one of the most valuable assets your business can have.