IdealMedia.co.za

How To Use Online Reviews To Boost Your Bottom Line

2012-09-12T06:51:46Z

Online reviews are a bit like electricity – they can be useful and beneficial to your business, or they can be dangerous and unpredictable. Either way, they are a powerful force, and with the rapid spread of smart phones, anyone can be a reviewer. In fact, someone who’s never been a customer can be a reviewer.

Online reviews can improve your business’ visibility in the search engine results. Of course, this is a good thing only if the reviews are mostly positive.

The key to getting a handle on your online reviews is to understand that bad reviews are not always a bad thing. They increase the credibility of the good reviews – around 95% of potential customers get suspicious when they see nothing but 5 star reviews. The trick is to have enough good reviews to outnumber the bad ones – by a factor of 10 or 20.

How do you get more good reviews? People are so busy these days, it’s difficult to get them to write a review – especially if they were happy with the product or service they bought. Some of the review sites get upset if you ask for reviews – but in the real world, there really is no alternative to asking.

It is important that you get reviews from as many different websites as possible – this provides the search engines with strong signals that the reviews are legitimate. Try to ensure that your reviews are spread out over a period of time – nothing looks more suspicious to the search engines than a clump of reviews on one day, followed by weeks of silence.

How do you deal with bad reviews? The first step is finding out whether you have any. Many of the business owners I’ve spoken to are blissfully unaware of the negative online reviews about their businesses. Unfortunately, their prospective customers are probably not unaware – around 80% of customers do online research before making a purchase decision, even for everyday decisions like “Where shall we go for lunch?”

It’s easy to find out what people are saying about you online. All you need to do is a quick search on Google for your business name. You can also try your business name reviews or your business name problems.

If you see your business listed on any of the review sites, click through and check them out. In South Africa, the best-known review site (more of a complaints site, really) is HelloPeter.com, but there are a number of up-and-coming sites as well. Yowzit.com is slowly growing. Some directory sites like Cylex.co.za and There are a number of review sites which cater for specific markets, for example restaurants (EastOut.co.za. Food24.co.za), hotels and guest houses (TripAdvisor.com).

In South Africa, at least, Google+ Local (formerly Google Places) is one of the most prominent review sites. Google+ Local results are shown at the top of Google’s search results for many local searches – that is for search phrases which include a location.

If you find any bad reviews, you should create an account on the website where they are published them. This will usually allow you to respond to the bad reviews – and you should always do this, as soon as you become aware of a bad review. Some sites will email you whenever a new review is published – if you have an account.

The main reason for responding to bad reviews is to demonstrate to potential customers that you do respond, and that you care about your customers. If you can find a way to turn an unhappy customer into a happy one, that’s even better.

If you suspect that a review is fake, you should avoid responding in anger. Demonstrate concern and ask for details of the user’s experience. Your aim is to show that you are concerned about their feedback, and that you want to improve the situation.

Almost every business has some dissatisfied customers. The difference between a good business and a bad one is how they respond to legitimate customer complaints.

If you found this article interesting, why not give us a review – and see how our Review Portal System works to filter negative feedback before it gets to the Internet.
Leave us an honest review
More about our Review Portal System

How To Use Online Reviews To Boost Your Bottom Line is a post from: IdealMedia.co.za

Business Profit Leaks – #8: Not Using Social Media to Build Your Reputation

2013-03-22T08:49:32Z

This entry is part 9 of 9 in the series Business Profit Leaks

Many businesses steer away from social media in the workplace; but they are missing out on a golden opportunity to spread the word about their product and their business. Social media can connect your goods and services with the people who need them most.

Facebook Pages (also called Fan Pages or Business Pages), for example, connect you not only with your customers but with all their friends and contacts as well, and then with their contacts’ contacts. Facebook has more than a billion users and more than half of them log on every single day.

The top sites according to Alexa.com

Make one Facebook user happy and the word of your worth spreads out like ripples over a pool.

YouTube can add pictures and demonstrations to the word-of-mouth message sent out by Facebook fans. YouTube videos can be embedded in Facebook pages or on your business homepage or blog pages. They can also be used to post staff training videos as well as product demonstrations and inspirational material.

Your YouTube videos will also gain exposure on the YouTube.com website, which is one of the largest sites on the Internet – right behind its owner, Google. Online videos are growing at an extremely fast rate and people are starting to prefer watching online videos over reading text.

Twitter is a quick way to communicate short messages to your audience. It has a structure similar to Facebook in that each user can develop a group of followers, but focuses more on short, quick communiqués. It is a good way to spread the word about special events or happenings in your business. Build a large following on Twitter and watch your customer base explode.

Google Plus is a Google feature that resembles Facebook, but offers users the ability to sort their friend lists and target the information they share to the people who would enjoy receiving it. Users are also given the choice of allowing Google to use posted material in ads or not, which can be a huge benefit.

LinkedIn is another social network, which targets business people. Particularly if you’re in a B2B business, you can easily find groups of prospective customers on LinkedIn.

There are many other social media websites that your business should leverage if you really want to get new customers and increase sales.

Not engaging in social media is a huge profit leak that is easy to fix with a little time and effort into building your presence and followers. Once you do, you’ll be happy you did.

Business Profit Leaks – #8: Not Using Social Media to Build Your Reputation is a post from: IdealMedia.co.za

Business Profit Leaks – #7: Not Having a “Mobile-Friendly” Website

2013-03-22T08:37:44Z

This entry is part 8 of 9 in the series Business Profit Leaks

Doing business in today’s market, where wireless subscriptions are on the rise (254% in the past decade), requires actively adjusting your marketing efforts where they matter most.

With the tally of active mobile devices out-numbering the people using them, businesses that don’t offer mobile-friendly websites are losing customers to those that do cater to their mobile users.

The IdealMedia Marketing mobile site

Mobile options are critical to attracting a huge chunk of web traffic and keeping visitors on your page. In fact, nearly 25% of web-users are “mobile-only” users. This means they ONLY use their mobile devices to access the web.

But your prospects and customers don’t want to waste time waiting forever for your website to load on their mobile devices. They also don’t want to scroll through a disjointed site just to find the information they need.

When consumers run into crappy websites on their mobile devices, they simply hit the “back” button and move on to one of your competitors whose sites load properly on their mobile devices.

This is a MAJOR profit leak that can be easily fixed.

Mobile-friendly websites are optimized for smaller screens, load quickly, and get right to the point with the most important features up front.

What should you put on your mobile website? Some things to consider include information about your main product or service, prices, contact information, and location. Everything should be simply laid out and easy to navigate.

Do not overload your mobile site with too many bells and whistles. A well-designed mobile site is one that is easy to maneuver, has very few options, and has large visible navigation buttons to help your visitors find what they need.

Minimal scrolling and typing makes it convenient for those who search the web while on the go. Investing in a skilled mobile-friendly website designer will pay for itself many times over. A well-planned, mobile web presence will help you tap into a whole new audience ready to boost your profits.

Business Profit Leaks – #7: Not Having a “Mobile-Friendly” Website is a post from: IdealMedia.co.za

Business Profit Leaks – #6: Not Having A Blog

2013-03-22T08:11:00Z

This entry is part 7 of 9 in the series Business Profit Leaks

Blog is short for “web log”. Just as a ship’s captain keeps a log of the daily activities and events aboard their vessel, a blog can keep your customers, employees and others up-to-date with your business activities.

A blog gives you the opportunity to draft fresh, unique content and make the most of search engine optimization. Daily or weekly posts need not be lengthy, but they should be bright, positive and informative. Sprinkle your posts with keywords that will draw people to your entries.

WordPress is the most popular blogging software in the world.

Blogging keeps you in touch with customers and prospects. Anyone coming onto your website can go to your blog and read the latest news about your business. What the “latest” includes is up to you, but it can include special sales, bargains offered to those who read your blog, meetings, up-coming events or information about your products or services that your readers will find valuable.

Blogging allows you to build credibility and your reputation by getting the word out about your business. People who would not have otherwise known that you helped to endow a scholarship or that your establishment will host a community event will be able to watch special activities unfold through your blog posts.

Just as your website should be tied to your social media profiles, your blog should be as well. Be sure that people can clearly see how to connect with you on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks right on your blog.

Customer loyalty is almost automatic when you use a blog to keep your customers and prospects up to date about you and your industry.
Not blogging is a profit leak that is easily fixed. A blog is simple and inexpensive to set up. Not only that, but blogs are designed to be easy for non-technical people to update and manage. If you can write an email, you can update a blog.

However, if you don’t have the time or expertise to set up a blog, there are skilled professional online marketers available to help you get set up in no time.

Business Profit Leaks – #6: Not Having A Blog is a post from: IdealMedia.co.za

Business Profit Leaks – #5: Not Using Online Videos

2013-03-07T12:48:19Z

This entry is part 6 of 9 in the series Business Profit Leaks

Once you have made contact with your potential customers – either in your store, on your website, or through email, you want to keep them interested.

Using videos to convert visitors into buyers is an engaging way to catch and maintain their interest in your product or service. Ben Franklin noted that a picture is worth a thousand words.

And nothing does “picture” better than a video!

There are many different types of videos – Commercial Style, Product Demo Style, Customer Testimonials, etc. that will pique your customers’ and prospects’ interest.

Studies show that today’s consumers prefer watching videos rather than reading text when browsing the web.

So if your business is not utilizing the power of online videos, you are missing out on potential profits. Video marketing is one of the most effective forms of online marketing and is becoming more and more popular every day.

Why take the chance of letting this missing piece eat away at your profit line? Online videos are cost-effective and are proven to convert prospects into buyers. So you can’t afford NOT to use them in your business.

Business Profit Leaks – #5: Not Using Online Videos is a post from: IdealMedia.co.za

Business Profit Leaks – #4: Not Claiming, Verifying and Optimizing Your Google+ Local Listing

2013-03-07T08:38:54Z

This entry is part 5 of 9 in the series Business Profit Leaks

Google offers a place to list your business where local consumers can easily find you; it’s called Google+ Local. In order to utilize this tool, you must first add this feature or claim it as part of your Google account.

This is free advertising, yours for a few minutes of your time. Once you have claimed it, be sure to verify and optimize your listing. Google+ Local is so easy to use that not claiming it is like turning your back on the opportunity to place a billboard in the middle of the town square; major profit leak here.

Google+ Local offers mapping as part of their web page format. This helps your prospects and customers find their way to your store’s physical location with a clear road map that is available for download right from the web.

In the process of claiming and verifying your Google+ Local listing, you can start optimizing it to achieve high search engine rankings. This process starts with making your Google+ Local listing as complete as possible – filling out as many fields as you can.

There’s also a way to incorporate keywords into your Google+ Local listings that will help optimize it. It’s also important that you add the maximum number of videos and images to make your listing complete.

Once you complete everything and submit it to Google, they will give you an activation PIN code that you will use to activate your listing. In South Africa, this is usually by means of a phone call.

Not using Google+ Local is a major profit leak in your business, because the Google+ Local listings are shown prominently for most local searches, and link directly to Google Maps. In other words, if someone looks for a restaurant using the Google Maps app on their smart phone, the first restaurant in the Google+ Local listings for the area will usually show up.

If your business is absent, you are missing out on a TON of potential new business.

Business Profit Leaks – #4: Not Claiming, Verifying and Optimizing Your Google+ Local Listing is a post from: IdealMedia.co.za

Business Profit Leaks – #3: Not Staying On Top of What People Say About You Online

2012-01-16T04:51:17Z

This entry is part 4 of 9 in the series Business Profit Leaks

Not Staying On Top of What People Say About You Online

We’ve already established the importance of getting online reviews from your satisfied customers. Now, let’s talk about those “unhappy” customers a little bit.

If someone is unhappy with your product or service, they won’t hesitate to go online to let the world know.

In fact, customers are more likely to review something they have had a bad experience with than give positive feedback. It is human nature to complain and vent when things are negative, and the internet provides the perfect setting for people to voice these complaints.

If you’re not staying on top of what’s being said about your business online, how can you fix it?

Imagine a potential customer coming across a really nasty post about your business from one of your unhappy customers. Do you think they’ll be quick to call you up or come by? Probably not.

It all boils down to the fact that people put a lot of value in what other people think about businesses. The way consumers think goes something like this:

If other people like you, they they’ll like you too. If other people think your service is awful, they probably will too.
What you don’t know can hurt you. It is extremely important to be aware of negative customer feedback, because it can really negatively impact your business.

Lightspeed Research’s April 2011 survey found that 21% of those surveyed have decided against making purchases after reading just two negative reviews. After reading 3 negative reviews, 37% of people said they would change their mind about their purchase.

This is proof that negative feedback can really affect your profits – in a negative way.

Considering the high emphasis people put on other people’s opinions when choosing products and services, it is very wise to invest in monitoring the reputation of your company.

Encouraging positive feedback and responding to negative feedback can help protect your profits. Additionally, you can use the negative feedback to constantly improve your products and customer service, which is a tool any successful company should take advantage of.

Our “Voice Of The Customer” package includes automated email alerts to let you know when someone mentions your business anywhere on the Internet.

Business Profit Leaks – #3: Not Staying On Top of What People Say About You Online is a post from: IdealMedia.co.za

Business Profit Leaks – #2: Not Building and Managing Online Reviews

2012-01-13T07:41:47Z

This entry is part 3 of 9 in the series Business Profit Leaks

Not Building and Managing Online Reviews

What are your customers saying about your business online?

A recent online study found that 62% of respondents read reviews online before buying a product or using a service.

The numbers speak for themselves. Up-to-date information and positive reviews are extremely important for the success of your business.

Review sites take up a huge portion of the total websites on the Internet. Everything from the latest phones and gadgets, to medicines, restaurants, and socks are reviewed on the Internet.

Not taking advantage of such free publicity can be a huge profit leak for your business. The days have changed where people solely rely on reviews from friends, peers, and neighbors when buying a product or service.

Now, they go right to the Internet to do their research. If your competitors are plastered on all of the review sites and have tons of positive reviews and your business does not have any, who do you think consumers will choose?

The best part of this whole process is that receiving online reviews does not cost you one cent. These sites are free, so why not build your reviews?

Offer incentives to your current customers to go online to give your company a review. Most of them won’t even need an incentive as happy customers love to spread the word online.

On the flip side, unhappy customers also like to spread the word online. So if your business has some negative reviews, you should work to build up your reviews from “satisfied” customers to offset those negative reviews.

There are many ways to manage your business’s reputation. For instance, your website, literature, and any other marketing methods should also highlight what your satisfied customers have to say about you.

Letting people know what you have done for others is one of the oldest and most powerful marketing tools we have available. If customers do not hear about the positive things others are saying about you, you may never get them to come through your doors.

If you're having a problem getting good reviews, you might want to check out our "Voice Of The Customer" review building package.

Business Profit Leaks – #2: Not Building and Managing Online Reviews is a post from: IdealMedia.co.za

Business Profit Leaks – #1: Not Making the Most of Your Contact List

2012-01-10T12:58:41Z

This entry is part 2 of 9 in the series Business Profit Leaks

Not Making the Most of Your Contact List

In today’s market, many business owners are scrambling for sales to keep their doors open. Building a list of people who buy from you, who access your website, or who call you for information is a good way to do that.

Building a list allows you to easily reach an audience that is already aware of your establishment. Just having the list, however, is not enough. Properly following up with the list is where the money comes in.

Offer free newsletters, contests, tips, or any other incentives to get your customers to give you their contact information – especially their email addresses.

Once you have their email addresses, you can follow up with them on auto-pilot. You can do customer surveys, offer coupons and discounts, and also run promotional offers to increase repeat sales.

Doing email marketing is ecologically sound and cost effective. It eliminates the need to create mountains of paper mail that ultimately ends up in your customers’ trash rather than generating more sales.

Email also reaches your potential customers on their desktop and will be waiting there for them when they log in. They opted in to receive your promotions, so this is a “permission-based” form of marketing that will help take your profits to the next level if done right.

Building a “mobile” contact list is another extremely profitable form of marketing, which we will discuss in a later article.

In any business, it has been proven that “The Money Is In The List!”

So don’t ignore this amazing profit-boosting, cost-effective method of advertising that could turn your entire business around.

If you'd like to find out about an easy, inexpensive way to start building your mailing list, check out our Birthday Club Management System.

Business Profit Leaks – #1: Not Making the Most of Your Contact List is a post from: IdealMedia.co.za

Business Profit Leaks – 8 Potential Profit Leaks You Should Know About

2012-01-10T12:58:55Z

This entry is part 1 of 9 in the series Business Profit Leaks

In today’s economy, business owners need to be smarter than ever when it comes to generating new customers, holding onto existing customers, maintaining cash flow and more importantly, generating profits.

Many local businesses are struggling to keep their doors open today, even if their business is booming. So why is the average local business struggling so hard to find profits? It’s simply because they have too many profit leaks in their business.

Just to clarify, a “Profit Leak” exists when a business does not use effective tools and resources that are available to them that will help them bring in more sales and profits.

Most business owners are always looking for ways to bring in more customers and boost their bottom line. However, the methods most of them are using simply don’t work the way they used to. Word of mouth, Yellow Pages, Newspaper ads, and TV ads just aren’t as effective as they used to be for many different reasons.

One reason is that most people today go online to search for products and services. Everyone is online. Your potential customers are online. Your existing customers are online. You probably spend a lot of time online yourself.

This is why online marketing has become the most popular form of advertising today. However, even with online marketing, your methods must be cost-effective and must provide results. If not, it is a complete waste of your time and money.

With your target audience spending a bulk of their day on the Internet, does it really make sense for your business NOT to have a solid, strong presence there?

If you don’t have a strong online presence and are not utilizing the many tools available to help you boost profits, you have some major profit leaks on your hands.

In order to really connect with your local consumers and crush your competitors, you have to fix any potential profit leaks as soon as possible.

When it comes to online marketing, there are so many resources that you can use to generate more profits for your business. There’s Social Media. There’s Email Marketing. There’s Mobile Marketing. There’s Online Reputation Management. There’s Blogging. There’s Classified Ad Posting and much more…

How many profit-draining leaks does YOUR business have?

Although this whole process may seem overwhelming, your business can slowly start to plug these holes one by one instead of tackling all of them at the same time.

Once you have plugged most of these leaks, you should notice a steady stream of new customers and a nice spike in profits on your future profit and loss statements.

In this series, we'll take a look at 8 of the marketing opportunities many local business owners miss.

Business Profit Leaks – 8 Potential Profit Leaks You Should Know About is a post from: IdealMedia.co.za