Every second, there’s an average of 2.3 million Google searches completed. If that stat isn’t staggering enough, over 85% of Americans will Google at least one business this year. These surprising numbers can be attributed to America’s growing need for information quickly and the fact that more and more people are carrying supercomputers in their pocket. As of 2018, there hasn’t been a more important time to address how your business online reputation may affect your bottom line and you directly.
After all the hard work that goes into building a business and achieving your goals, it’s well past time to start planning about how you can boost your efforts online. Here are some tips on how you can begin to strategically use listings management to help your business succeed.
#1 Appoint a Specific Person to Manage the Online Presence of Your Business
As more people spend a good portion of their day online, a slew of social networking sites, like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, developed to fill our needs. Similarly, several search engines that offer instantaneous access to information, such as Google, Bing and Yahoo. Perhaps most importantly for businesses, there are review sites such as Yelp, Healthgrades, and Avvo where users can leave feedback about your business.
So why is it imperative to have one person dedicated to scouring and researching where your business is inline with competition? This point person will be in charge of keeping things accurate, relevant, and current in terms of marketing and promotion. Too many hands in the pie can result in sites slipping through the cracks. One of the most important things to remember is competitors can sometimes change your listing and overall rating, depending on the platform, including Amazon!
#2 Never be Afraid to Ask for a Review
After working with a satisfied customer, you should and your staff should absolutely ask for an online review. If these chances pass by, a vast majority of the time, you’re letting potential traffic and revenue slip through your fingers.
It’s human nature for someone who is upset to make more noise about their situation than a content customer would, for example. More specifically, every negative experience is likely to create a person who would be willing to tell 5 to 7 of their close friends. Whereas, for a positive experience, they might tell one. If the experience was exceptional, they might tell three people. The takeaway? Bad news travels much faster than good.
These days, people are quite reliant on online reviews from strangers. In fact, people tend to find them just as trustworthy as a friend’s personal recommendation. This is why you want to make sure each of your listings contains correct information and good reviews. Do your business a favor and just ask! Positive reviews are free marketing!
#3 Treat your Social Media Accounts Equally
Think about each of your business’s social media accounts as an additional listing for people to get information from – because they are! If your business is actively engaged with its audience, doing promotions, updating regularly with new posts, and is posting numerous photos, it can be a great extra source of additional traffic.
In recent years, more and more businesses are using Facebook as an outlet to drive traffic using free merchandise as an incentive. These promotional posts encourage people comment on a thread, ‘like’ the page and ‘tag’ a friend for a chance to win something or another. This is a great way to build a brand and gain traction in a new demographic and market.
Whether you run a small business that is just starting out or if you have an established business, it is imperative that we all grow and adapt to the ever-changing landscape that surrounds us to ensure our growth and success. And it has never been a more important time to take control of how your online reputation could be affecting your future.
