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Experienced in SEM, SEO, Social Media, and Traditional Media
7 Simple Strategies To Get The Most From Yelp
Independent review sites are a great move for any business, providing that is, you manage your presence online and garner a following that helps your business to be pushed up the rankings.
Yelp, along with other search-service websites, has revolutionized the way customers search and interact with businesses. From restaurants to cafes, to car mechanics and artisan food producers, Yelp can be a fantastic marketing tool for businesses in San Diego, and indeed, anywhere else in the world.
With 130 million unique visits a month, it pays to understand how harnessing the power of Yelp will help your business.
#1 Quality speaks
Quality service is something that we all look for in a business and when this exceeds what we were expecting as customers, we are usually more than happy to tell others.
Of course, just as people love what you do, there will be some customers who don’t love what you do.
This customer review culture may appear scary, but it can be the catalyst for reviewing and improving the services and products that you have on offer. We also have to remember that customers are intelligent creatures and they can see through ‘one person having a gripe’ as opposed to the whole business being bad.
Having said that, if the complaints are about the same thing, maybe there is something that you need to change.
#2 Create a fantastic Yelp profile
How many business profiles have you created for apps and third-party websites? And here we are, asking for another one on Yelp.
However, if you are serious about harnessing the power of Yelp for San Diego business visibility – remember those 130 million unique searches a month! – then creating an interesting business profile on the website is fairly critical.
This says a lot to potential customers too. The platform gives you plenty of tools and suggestions on how to create a business profile that shines the best spotlight on what you do.
#3 Encourage your customers to use Yelp
Just like we see suggestions in store to like what a business does on other platforms, like Facebook, you should be encouraging people to leave a review on Yelp.
There are occasional scandals with brands paying customers or writers to leave reviews so that it pushes up their review score. While this is dancing on the edge of moral and legal responsibility, there is nothing wrong with encouraging reviews from genuine customers.
#4 Getting the balance
We mentioned earlier that not everyone will love what you do. Giving a business in San Diego a good bashing is all in a day’s work for some customers, therefore, it is no surprise that many businesses have concerns about ratings and reviews on third-party review sites and other platforms.
Here’s the kicker – the more positive reviews you have, the less of an impact an occasional bad review will make. Let’s be honest – stuff happens – and sometimes, people don’t get the best.
The important thing is understanding how to handle this at the time but also how to handle a poor review online. But like we said, if you have plenty of genuine, good reviews, your rating won’t plummet to the bottom of the cliff if someone leaves a poor review of your business.
#5 Don’t be tempted to buy reviews
The temptation is strong but you must resist simply because Yelp has an algorithm that detects fake reviews for San Diego businesses. In fact, one in five reviews is detected as fake, although this algorithm is not perfect. Genuine reviews have been filtered out of the search.
Yelp is also looking at other ways of detecting fake reviewers and although you may want to build your reputation on Yelp, fake or bought reviews is NOT a worthwhile strategy.
#6 Engage and connect with customers
The thing with reviews is that many, many customers take the time to leave a review expecting nothing to happen.
However, we all see the outcome when someone leaves a bad review and the business responds with kind or hilarious reply. But what about when customers leave a complimentary review? What happens?
Yelp and other similar platforms are built on interaction and that means that every San Diego business needs to interact with their customers on the platform. Effectively, you can encourage people to use yelp in San Diego and your business can use it as an open forum for discussion.
As well as reviews so other customers can assess whether they want to buy from you or not, Yelp is a great listening tool as well. What is it that customers are asking for or expecting? Can you change your business to answer their need? Do your products or services need updating?
#7 Use the platform to its full advantage
Yelp offers businesses a range of features that once you understand how they work, you can use to your full advantage.
For example, Yelp Deals is a prepaid voucher system that gives customers discounts off your products and services. For example, a customer may buy a voucher for $10 but the customer redeems it for $20.
Yelp Reservations is another tool that can help restaurants and cafes, ideal for easy reservation services for customers.
More Information On Getting Yelp Reviews For Your Business
Word of mouth is an effective marketing tool and always has been, hard to believe in the digital age. However, platforms like Yelp are transforming this word of mouth into something that can be harnessed online.
Review sites can be both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, you can use your happy customers to spread the word about who you are and what you do. But on the other, a poor review or a series of bad reviews can create difficult conditions in which to trade.
That said, a business with a forward-thinking attitude will look at these reviews objectively, using them as a platform from which to grow their business.
Getting it right also means engaging and connecting with customers. From responding to a poor review to entering into discussion with fans and followers, Yelp is just one platform you can use to push your business forward in the online world.
Speak With Above The Fold Agency Today
If you are looking for a digital marketing agency in San Diego to help you increase your online presence, the team at Above The Fold Agency is here to help. Contact us today to receive a free consultation.
10 Reputation Management Tips for Small Businesses
Ideally, when customers search for your San Diego business online, they should come across your website and social media channels. Positive reviews and mentions are also welcome.
Your brand’s reputation is important, and for small businesses, building this online can make a big difference as to whether people trust you enough to buy from you.
Not all businesses pay full attention to their online reputation. For emerging small San Diego businesses, with so much else to do, keeping an eye on what is being said about you online can fall down the list of priorities. How can you manage your reputation online to build a positive and attractive one?
#1 Optimize your website
From making sure your company name is used in the content of your website to optimizing pages in the ‘background’ with meta tags and descriptions, the more you do to make your website ‘findable’ by search engines, the better.
Use a mix of the first person such as “we bake cakes” as well as your company name, “at Cake Empire, we bake cakes”.
#2 Build on your web presence all of the time
Whilst you cannot control everything about your brand online, being proactive in getting your website onto page 1 of the rankings is time better spent than chasing negative reviews.
Keywords are part of SEO but rather than seeing it as a paper exercise, establishing your small business in San Diego or wherever you’re based as an emerging authority of key areas is critical to diversifying your web presence.
For example, if you’re a small business baking cakes, your blog, for example, might include topics on types of icing, what kind of cake flavors are popular, traditions associated with wedding cakes and so on.
#3 Harness social media
Social media is incredibly powerful when it comes to marketing and small business reputation in San Diego and across the globe. It can also be powerful when people have complaints when they have been treated poorly by a brand and so on.
Essentially, just like your website, you need to capture, control and direct social media around your business. When you have decided which platforms are best for bridging the gap between you and your customers, make sure you maintain a vibrant approach with consistent posts of high quality and value. And stick with it.
#4 Collaborate
For too long, we saw the business world as cut-throat. A business stood alone in a sea of nasty competitors.
As a small business, you do have competitors and clearly, partnering with them is not the right move. But working with a collaborator is.
What other business or social media influencers could you link with that gives mutual benefits online? A cake baker, for example, might want to collaborate with a local party venue or a newly established delivery company might want to partner with a packaging firm, and so on.
By connecting and collaborating online, you are creating a stronger impression and reputation.
#5 Monitor what is being said
From setting up Google Alerts for certain keywords to googling your small business name every month, keep an eye o what is being said online. As well as positive comments, keep an eye out for those negative ones and if necessary or appropriate, you may want to deal with them.
#6 To respond or not? Negative comments…
Negative comments can be hurtful, damning and for some brands, a PR disaster. The first rule of responding to negative comments is to respond within proportion. For example, if ONE customer said they had a rubbish experience, apologise and offer to put it right.
If you are receiving a steady string of negative comments or feedback, there may be bigger issues at stake. As well as telling your side of the story to give some balance to the whole thing, you should also act on the signals your customers are giving you. For example, are their customer service gripes justified? What can you change?
#7 Offline reputation is also important (and linked to your online reputation)
If customers receive shabby service in person from your brand, then you may find that ends up online too, as most things do these days. By making sure all customers, online and offline, get a great service and product, you look after your small business reputation as a whole.
#8 Send out press releases
Press releases are all about PR and by sending them out to new San Diego outlets and popular websites, bloggers and influencers for a mention, you are supporting your growing online reputation. Optimize the press release, making sure your company name is mentioned and you use keywords associated with the content of your website.
#9 Keep an eye on Wikipedia
Whether you hold weight with Wikipedia or not, it seems that Google does. You may have noticed yourself that when searching for products or information, Wikipedia results are common on page 1.
Therefore, consider starting and editing your own Wikipedia brand page. However, anyone can edit and this may mean that erroneous information is put out there as well as commenting on negativities within the guidelines of the Wikipedia community.
#10 It takes times
Negative comments and other issues online can take a long, long time to resolve. It seems the internet never forgets. Even you have moved on, just when you least need it, the string of negative reviews pops up. Again.
There is no quick fix, even with an online management company working with you. Prevention of negative comments etc. online is key to reputation management. Most businesses, especially new ones, will take great strides in doing the best they can for their customers.
But there are occasions when things go wrong. Someone is left with a gripe and they take to social media to let the world now. How you respond is important. It needs to be proportionate and an attempt to resolve the situation.
When it looks likes there is a bigger issue, as a business, you need to listen and put it right. If you do reach this point, you may find that to banish the negativity online, you will need a consistent effort to counter it with positive stuff. But it can be done.
Why Going Cheap on Your Branding Is One of the Worst Mistakes You Can Make
Going cheap on your brand development could not only lead to a disconnect with potential customers, but could also result in your company shutting its doors as a result of low sales.
Your brand has a life.
Believe it or not, this thing you’ve created has legs to stand on, living and breathing every day. While this may sound high-minded, statistics prove otherwise. According to a study compiled by Bop Design, 54 percent of people don’t trust brands. But for those who do, 64 percent cite sharing a common bond with the brand as their primary reason for following or purchasing from them.
Why is this the case? Because your brand is your business’s first impression, and if done poorly, possibly the last. To some, branding seems like a luxury investment (and in some cases, this is true). However, going cheap on your brand development could not only lead to a disconnect with potential customers, but could also result in your company shutting its doors as a result of low sales. It’s a nightmare scenario for most entrepreneurs, which is why I’m going to go over a few reasons why investing in your brand is one of the wisest investments you could make.
A story you can sink your teeth into.
Breathe life into your business with a brand story or mission statement. Let’s be honest, coming up with your brand’s story is not an easy task. It’s going to take a lot of self-reflection and doubt, running through your purpose as to why your business exists in the first place. Additionally, this mantra will be what dictates every piece of copy or content your company puts out, creating a skeleton of how your voice will sound.
Let’s look at Whole Foods. The company could have created a wholesome-looking logo to lure people through its doors, but the multi-national retailer takes careful measures to back up its introduction to consumers. The brand has built a foundation of offering healthy and nutritious foods, and this foundation informs every marketing initiative and company development. From offering in-store educational experiences to teach consumers about food and emerging brands to getting involved in community-building programs through donating food to shelters and supporting local vendors, Whole Foods doesn’t just view its brand story as a marketing ploy, but leans on its pillars to guide the brand forward.
As Kissmetrics points out, there’s an actual science to what we deem as an authentic brand story. This breaks down to what’s essentially called neural coupling, or the emotional connection we feel when hearing a story. However, reaching this point might not be easily solved on your own, especially if you’re in a time crunch to launch.
While it’s up to you to have an agency or consulting firm take over your entire branding objectives, a lot of this is going to come from you. It’s not a bad idea to gain an outside perspective from someone to ask you the tough questions on why you started your business and what it represents, as well as where exactly you want it to head. The love you feel for what you’ve created is something most will understand, which is why having a third party pull the beauty of that out of you and translate it in a way others can comprehend is vital.
Because once you release your brand to the outside world, the perception of what it represents no longer belongs to only you anymore.
Your brand is more than just a logo.
A common misconception by novices in the branding world is making the assumption that a logo and a brand are synonymous. While your logo is one of the most important visual assets for your company — it is just the beginning. From there, you need bring your brand to life by embodying your values through marketing initiatives, product development and customer experience enhancements. Your brand’s goal is to represent an idea or shared truth between you and your audience, and that shared truth should permeate into the ethos of your business. It’s a common bond that drives towards a specific mission, which is something you’re going to miss the mark on by simply going for a cheap logo with the idea you’ll fix it later on.
When it comes to your logo, this symbol is going to represent an ethos that reflects upon how your company is aiming to change the world. Take the Whole Foods logo, for example. Many consumers in every major market across the country not only instantly recognize the green Whole Foods font, but new consumers also immediately recognize what the Whole Foods brand stands for thanks to the homage its logo pays to fruit and natural foods.
There’s plenty of places you can get a quality logo that won’t break the bank (I recommend checking out Deluxe). Remember, your logo is literally going to be everywhere your company is, so make it worth the ink it’s printed on. Plus, when done right, your logo is going to serve the purpose of telling your brand’s story without saying a word. So you have your logo … now what?
People talk, so you should listen.
How your brand is going to interact with the outside world will largely dictate the success of your company. From trade shows to social media, every interaction can give a valid perspective on who your company actually is. As Pew Research notes, more than 68 percent of all U.S. adults are on social media, so the potential amount of feedback you might receive could be tremendous.
Your brand is going to represent that universal truth you share with your consumers. Although discovering this is going to be tough, the rewards will be tremendous. People will no longer just be fans, but evangelists for what you’re about. Which begs the question: Are you ready to not just tell your story, but make it one that can stand the test of time?
About Andrew Medal: He is the founder of creative digital agency Agent Beta. He has helped organizations like the California Education Department, Proctor & Gamble, Microsoft, Warner Bros. and Inc. Magazine.
