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Small Business Owners: Racking Up Reviews is a Good Thing for Business

Tommy House • August 2, 2018

Racking Up Reviews

Racking Up Reviews
As we explored in our last blog, online reviews are crucial for your small businesses as they affect your rankings in local search engines, determine which search results get surfaced and influence consumer purchasing decisions. If you think about it, most of your new business is likely to come from referrals but are you doing everything you can do to get more referrals?

Many business owners are uneasy asking existing customers or clients for a referral or testimony. There is the fear of rejection, the nervousness of if they will say no and the feeling that you are being selfish asking for a review. But testimonials and referrals can be essential to your marketing strategy. They can live on your website, in your email marketing, in print and any other form of promotion you do for your business.

There are three types of referrals:
  1. Traditional Referrals – The referral that we are most accustomed to. Someone is looking for a solution to a problem and reaches out to their network asking if anyone can help with it. These referrals can happen both in person and online.
  2. Testimonials – A form of referral that can continually work for your business. They can be used strategically to promote your business and to overcome objections from potential customers.
  3. Online Recommendations and Reviews – Many online networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Yelp, Google+ Local allow customers to leave recommendations or reviews for businesses. These recommendations and reviews come into play when potential customers are searching for businesses online.
The best time to ask for a review is when a customer is engaging with you. Here are a few tips to help you ask for referrals easier and effectively.
  • Review your online materials to be sure you are utilizing all of your channels to ask for reviews. Ask for referrals in your e-mail newsletter, on your website or blog or below your email signature.
  • When a customer provides feedback on how great a service or product is or was, ask if you can find out more about their experience through a few questions. Ask about the result of buying your service/product, the benefits of it and if they would recommend it. Be sure to ask if you can use their comments as a testimonial and if they agree this will be great feedback for use on your promotional materials.
  • Ask customers to share your content, coupons or discounts online. Customers who share your content through social network help expand your reach to a broader audience.
  • Make asking for the referral part of your routine. When you’ve completed a transaction with a happy customer, that’s the perfect time to ask for a referral.
Are you ready to explore the digital world of local SEO advertising and build an online reputation strategy? Tommy House Studios is ready to help. Call us at 334-310-2915 or 1-877-246-1315 and we will walk you through the steps to keep your business booming in this digital age.
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