Consumers Trust in Online Reviews Skyrocketing!

Myles Anderson of BrightLocal just released the 2013 Local Consumer Review Survey at SearchEngineLand. What is eye-catching within the study is that there are very clear and indisputable results that we can easily see.

What we learned offers us four distinct takeaways.

• More people are trusting online reviews just as much as personal recommendations. A full 79 percent (up from 72 percent just a year ago!) say that genuine online reviews (emphasis on genuine) carry the very same impact if not more than a recommendation from someone they know.
• The trust in online reviews is growing. A stunning 72 percent are of the opinion that genuine, positive customer reviews make them trust a business more. This is up from 58 percent in 2012! It’s very apparent that buyers are seeking and taking note more than before and are placing their trust in reviews. At the same time, only some 12 percent of consumers said they pay no attention of online reviews, down from 17 percent in 2012.
• Also, people are viewing far fewer reviews before making their buying decisions. Notably, 67 percent of consumers read 6 reviews or less, up from 52 percent in 2012. Consumers are also reading less than 7 reviews – 22 percent now vs. 35 percent in 2012.
• It’s now more significant than ever to make sure you manage your online reputation. Since the number or reviews read are shrinking, as well as the impact of those reviews heightened, it’s important to make sure you are monitoring your online reputation for all current activity. As the most recent reviews are swinging the buying decisions, you’ll want to find out if anything negative shows up and act on it. Create a policy for handling negative reviews in an open manner, and a system for generating new, positive reviews which will send those less than desirable reviews further down the page . Be sure that these are genuine, as consumers are getting better at ferreting out fake and corporate-generated “reviews”.

Take this and run with it!

Information such as this is pure gold, and clearly actionable. Kudos to Myles Anderson and the people at BrightLocal for this very beneficial and eye-opening study.

Small Businesses Are Smitten with Content Marketing (For Good Reason)

Content marketing

Content marketing may be a term you’ve heard tossed about lately, and still may not know exactly what it means for your business.

Simply put, content marketing is the practice of creating, collecting, and making available fresh content for your readers. This can come in many forms, such as blog posts, articles, whitepapers, short reports, videos, podcasts, ebooks, social media and more.

We live in an age that treasures information, and the more you can provide your readers the more authority you will carry in their eyes, which can often result in better rankings, more traffic, links, and sales.

Content Marketing is getting more and more popular
According to BusinessBolts.com this year some 74 percent of businesses plan to do an increased level of content marketing. Only 4 percent are not. There are many reasons for this, among them cost-effectiveness, near-instant results and control over the medium.

With Content Marketing you are able to shape your message, control the flow, and utilize many different mediums to get your content to your market.

For example, an article or blog post may be written, posted on your site, excerpted in social media, made into a video or audio and social bookmarked across the web.

Repurposing your content for various platforms is the order of the day. Moreover, this can happen quite often, and an entire content marketing campaign can be realized quite quickly.

A real-world example of how content marketing can rock your sales
The New York Times recently profiled a Northern Virginia company, River Pools and Spas, was that watching as their sales tanked due to the housing recession of 2008. Orders shrank from six per month ($50,000 a pop) to less than two. What had been a $250,000 yearly spend on radio, TV and pay per click advertising, was now out of the question.

Instead owner Marcus Sheridan embarked on an ambitious content marketing campaign consisting of blog posts and videos, and within a short time had not only recovered but exceeded pre-recession levels.

In fact, Sheridan attributes nearly $2 million in sales to a SINGLE article he wrote on how much a fiberglass pool should cost!

Content marketing can and should be a major piece of your online marketing strategy for 2103. The good news is that it’s all within your control!

5 Simple Ways to Help Manage Your Online Reputation

We live in a world where communication is near instant, word travels unbelievably fast, and if you’re not alert your online reputation can be trashed in nanoseconds. Many aren’t cognizant how vital it is to safeguard your online reputation. Cone Communications reports that some 89 percent of consumers regard online channels are trustworthy sources, and that another 80 percent have gone so far as to change their mind about a purchase after reading a negative comment or review. Further, your social media is where they’re talking about you. The Society for Communications Research reports that 72 percent said they research companies through social channels before making purchases, and that 59% use social sites to air their frustrations about your customer service.

5 Quick Tips to protect your online reputation

1. Check your online reputation regularly – Google yourself and your company name as a minimum once per month. Create Google alerts to inform you if there are any mentions of your names or brand. Easy, free and necessary.
2. Claim online real estate – If you don’t own your company’s domain name, or your personal one, make an effort to try and own these. Lots of damage can be carried out in your name otherwise.
3. Be proactive on your social sites – Like your domain name, claim any Facebook, Google or LinkedIn pages that bear your name. In addition to that, make an effort to use them regularly.
4. Deal with any detrimental content quickly – Do your very best to deal with negative postings and complaints expeditiously. Try hard to make contact with the poster directly, offline when possible, and see if you can handle their concerns. DON’T get in to a flaming match online. You’ll be the loser.
5. Be mindful of what you post – Use your head when posting. If this can come back and bite you or your business later, don’t post it. Those lovely pictures of you and the crew tying one on in in the strip joint are best left out of your online world.

We live in a fast-paced, information driven world. Be sure you’re on top of it to successfully manage your online reputation!