Mondays always gets a thumbs-up. 👍 In today’s Rocketfuel, let’s talk about why online reputation is critical to your success as a local business and the difference reviews make to your bottom line.

“Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” – Jeff Bezos

Ever heard about “review zombies?”

These are people who rely solely on Facebook recommendations and Yelp! reviews before trying new businesses or buying new products.

This relatively new phenomenon shows just how important managing your online reputation should be to your day-to-day operations.

You can use a good reputation to catapult yourself into better digital marketing practices and do damage control on bad reviews or negative opinions.

A simple “We’re sorry that this happened, please contact us at 555-867-5309 so we can make this right” will do wonders on how people perceive your customer service. This single factor can influence their decision to sign up, shop, eat, purchase your products, visit your store or more.

It’s not enough to just make sure your Yelp! page is going well, online reputation management encompasses social media and communication strategies as well as monitoring online reviews.

Word can travel fast in communities — especially for a local business. A few bad experiences blowing up your Google Business listing can literally end your company.

How do you protect yourself? Make sure you have plenty of good reviews to cover the occasional mishap. That means encouraging your loyal customers to get the word out for you. Make it simple for them to let other people know that your company is trustworthy, high-quality, and reputable.

Challenge

Only 40% of small businesses encourage customers to leave positive reviews. Are you in that 40%? If not, get going.

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Let’s grab coffee soon,


Drew Horine, Founder & Chief Creative