Why Do You Need Reputation Marketing?

President & CEO at B&FPS
Daniel is a Search Marketing Consultant with 20+ years of expertise in Search Engine Optimization and Brand Development. He has a Master’s (MS) in Interactive Technology from the University of Alabama, a Bachelor’s (BPA) in Public Administration from Barry University, General Business from the University of Michigan-Flint School of Management; specializations from the University of Michigan, professional development from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, and is a proud Belen Wolverine!
Daniel P. Borbolla
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When you’re looking to purchase a local online service or product, what do you usually do? Well, if you’re like 90% of online consumers, you’ve likely performed online research and read some reviews before you were able to trust that business.

This is because prospects tend to trust customer reviews rather than information from skewed ads and so-called “expert opinions.”

In this article, we’ll briefly cover what Reputation Marketing is, and how it can assist you in turning everyday web searches into valuable leads for your business.

What is Company Reputation?

Several digital marketing agencies offer Reputation Management (i.e. Online Reputation Management) services, while others offer Reputation Marketing services. So, what’s the difference?

Reputation Management is the attempt to influence the public perception of a company by managing information like online content, reviews and social media interactions.

On the other hand, Reputation Marketing pairs Reputation Management alongside brand marketing to closely monitor what customers are saying and acquire additional reviews that they can then market to generate more sales.

What Can Affect Brand and Business Reputation?

The bottom line is that customer reviews affect how your business is perceived by the public. When this aspect of your online marketing approach is neglected, it’ll result in lost sales, higher customer acquisition costs, lower search engine/visitor trust and customer retention rates.

Here’s some eye-opening statistics taken directly from BrightLocal’s Local Consumer Review Survey:

  • 82% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses
  • The average consumer reads 10 reviews before they feel they can trust a business
  • Only 53% of people would consider using a business with less than a 4-star rating
  • The average consumer spends approximately 13 minutes and 45 seconds reading reviews before making a decision
  • 97% of consumers that read online reviews also observe how businesses’ respond to those reviews

How Google Reviews Impact Your Business Reputation

Receiving reviews from websites like Facebook and Yelp is important, but the most prominent review platform by far is Google as they’re the number one search engine year-over-year (and it’s no contest).

An expertly managed Google My Business (GMB) profile can help you:

1.) Establish Brand Identity. Making sure that your GMB profile is complete and displays customer reviews contributes greatly to your brand’s online development.

2.) Improve Search Visibility. Maintaining a fresh and steady flow of positive reviews and responding to each and every one of them signals to Google that your business is active and extremely responsive, which aids in increasing your local search ranking.

3.) Increase Trust Factors. As your company builds momentum by receiving consistent positive feedback over time, you’ll find it gets easier to convince prospects to do business with you.

4.) Influence Consumer Decisions. Not only do reviews help build up trust, but how you choose to respond to those reviews will either leave a good lasting impression, or turn away potential business.

Conclusion

If you’re not investing time and energy into building your company’s online reputation, you’re essentially leaving it up to the reviewers to decide, and one negative review can cost you thousands in lost business opportunities!

In addition, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused major economic shifts due to social distancing and stay-at-home orders. Now more than ever, it’s vitally important for businesses to start investing in Reputation Marketing if they haven’t done so already.

For a limited time only, we’re offering Review Generation services at a discounted rate to help businesses affected by COVID, so reach out to us if you need assistance. And don’t forget to subscribe!
We hope you learned something today about Reputation Marketing. Visit our blog for more articles and subscribe to learn more about search engine marketing!