These days a business has to adopt a complete 360° approach to both digital and more "traditional" methods of marketing.
Your strategy should depend largely on your type of business, but at the very least, the following avenues should be explored:
Today we are focussing on what could be a "quick win" for your business by encouraging your existing customers to provide genuine and objective online reviews and recommendations.
In the "non-digital" world, word-of-mouth recommendations can be the best and most cost effective form of lead and business generation. The digital world is no different, and a few brief, positive reviews and comments can make a big difference to your bottom line.
Research suggests that 63% of customers are more likely to purchase from a site that has customer reviews.
These types of reviews can also give you an honest overview of how your business is being perceived and what you can do do improve your products and/or services.
Not only that, reviews can also help improve your general SEO by providing additional new and fresh content that is relevant to your business.
These can be simple testimonials or reviews from customers or clients that are embedded on your website, as we do on our home and products and services pages.
If you run an eCommerce store or shop, then encourage customer reviews from your online buyers. Take a leaf out of Amazon's book (if you'll pardon the pun!). If you don't have the tools or resource to manage your own reviews etc., consider using a service provider like Reevoo or Bazaarvoice.
There are many different places your customers can leave comments, reviews and testimonials, but it's down to you to encourage them to do so.
If you have your own Facebook business page for example, then your clients and customers can leave reviews on your page. These feature prominently on your page. There's nothing better than a page full of glowing tributes to what you and your business do to inspire confidence and encourage potential new customers to engage with you.
By far the most useful reviews to get are Google reviews on your Google Business page. If you don't have a business page, then you'll need to set this up first (don't forget to do the same thing on Bing Places as well). Reviews will more than likely turn up in search results, creating instant credibility in your brand and instilling confidence in potential customers before they even reach your site.
Once you're all set up, speak to your customers, encourage them to write reviews. If you use email marketing services such as Mailchimp, send out a campaign to all your existing customers asking for their feedback via Facebook, Google or any other channels you might decide to use.
Make it easy for customers to leave reviews. If you are going to email them, add in a few explanatory notes or a graphic or two.
Don't be afraid of getting some mixed reviews. Embrace the positive and act on the not so positive.
Do some research. Are you competitors attracting reviews? If so where are their reviews displayed?
If you would like to know more about Rubber Duck Digital's digital marketing services, please feel free to get in touch, or fill in the form below to get your free website health check.
