The Most Important Means of Advertising
Before we dive into the question of whether or not review management is important, lets take a few steps back and provide some background.
In today's world, the types of advertising that businesses have available to them are staggering. Does this mean that every business needs to utilize each one of these methods.? Absolutely not! There is not enough time in the day to take advantage of each one, and not every one is helpful for every business. However, there is one type of advertising that is the life-blood of any business - and that it, word-of-mouth.
The truth is, numbers don't lie. In the article "Why Word Of Mouth Marketing Is The Most Important Social Media," Forbes contributor Kimberly Whitler shares some earth-shattering statistics that every business owner needs to pay attention to...
Let’s look at the facts. According to Nielsen, 92% of consumers believe recommendations from friends and family over all forms of advertising. WOMMA and the American Marketing Association (AMA) decided to find out exactly what brands were doing about that fact. In a recent study, 64% of marketing executives indicated that they believe word of mouth is the most effective form of marketing. However, only 6% say they have mastered it.
Another important thing to remember is that word-of-mouth can be a two-edged sword. Just like positive word-of-mouth can skyrocket your business, negative reviews can destroy it. The secret is to discover how to harness the real power of your customers’ recommendations.
Word-of-Mouth on Steroids
In the current business climate, the opportunities for people to give positive or negative feedback about your business has been multiplied. This is largely due to the pervasive presence of the internet in people’s everyday lives. There are now many platforms that provide opportunities for your customers to share their experiences. A few of the big players include…
And these do not include the many industry specific directories that allow for customers to leave reviews. These directories exists for dentists, auto repair shops, florists, and many other specific types of businesses.
Life Without Review Management
If you don't have an efficient means of encouraging reviews from customers and tracking the feedback they are giving you online, it can be a definite negative impact for your business. Whether the problem is having just a few reviews, having reviews that are old, or having negative reviews that are not address, the pain is real.
See if you can relate to any of the following statements...
“Things were great. We had about seven 5 star reviews on Google. A couple customers weren’t happy with our service… they even called me…and before I could take care of their concerns they left some horrible reviews. I went from showing 5 solid stars to only 3 and a half.”
“We’ve had good reviews on Yelp in the past, but that was several years ago. Online leads have been stagnant for a while. We could use some newer reviews.”
“I just don’t get it. People tell us all the time about how pleased they are with us, but it’s like pulling teeth to get people to pass along a good word for us online. If they would, I have no doubt our business would grow.”
