Reputation

Go ahead and type your business name + city into Google (e.g., A1 Plumbing Minneapolis). What shows up? If your website is there among the top few results, congratulations. If your Facebook page is there, good work!

But what about online reviews? Have customers left reviews of your business that are tarnishing your reputation?

If you have zero reviews, that’s bad. Nobody wants to patronize a business with zero reviews. They’ll keep looking for a business that has been reviewed, so they know they can spend their hard-earned money at that business with confidence.

Worse – what if a disgruntled customer left a poor review – and your business is showing up with just one or two stars by its name? It may have been a bad day – for you or the customer – and that review isn’t a good reflection of how your business typically performs. But perception is reality for the consumer.

Unfortunately, you can’t legally or ethically have that review removed. Customers have the right to vent about bad service, and that’s how the rest of us are warned to seek other potential places to take our dollars. Yikes.

Benefits of a 5-Star Online Reputation

• You are the clear choice to do business with in your business niche
• You must have reviews to compete with other businesses in the Google Map Pack
• You’re consistently attracting more referral business
• You can demand premium pricing due to the trust you’ve gained in the market
• Happy customers attract more happy customers
• Increased ROI on other marketing initiatives
• Decreased cost of customer acquisition

Consequences of a Bad Online Reputation

• You become the clear choice to AVOID
• You will lose customers to your competitors with better reputations
• You will have to decrease your pricing to make your business more attractive
• Decreased ROI from other marketing efforts
• Increased customer acquisition costs

Fortunately, previous bad reviews can be controlled, and the damage lessened, with a proactive reputation marketing program. Let Social Karma Marketing show you how to encourage great reviews, earn some 4-5 star ratings, and mitigate any damage that’s been done to your online reputation.