All things being equal, the number of reviews and the quality of your reviews will attract more customers. Studies show that 40% of the buying population pays very close attention to what others have to say about your business. Truthfully, I think the number is much higher than that.
You Get A Gold Star
There is a really cool thing that happens on Google Maps when you generate 5 reviews. Once you reach that magic number, Google shows little gold stars next to your business listing. It’s another way reviews help you stand out in the crowd.
Look at this example for the term “Event Photographer Maui.” Notice how Nancy Nelson Photography stands out. It doesn’t hurt that she’s in the top spot either, but honestly, even if her business was in the last spot on the map, I would still be more likely to click on it first.
I Like What I’m Reading
Standing out is not just about generating lots and lots of reviews. You must have as many 5-star reviews as possible. The better the reviews, the more likely people will be to contact and hire you. I encourage you to read my article on “5 Star Business Reviews: How To Get Them” before you get started.
If you have a bad review on Google or on another site, there are a few things you can do to get them removed from your listing. Please read my article on “Getting Bad Reviews Removed” if this is an issue for you.
Get Their Attention
One of our customers is Regal Car Rental in Ft. Myers Florida. The owner knows the importance of getting great reviews and he does a wonderful job of generating them. To date, all of his reviews are 5-star reviews.
Regal Car Rental is in the number one spot for the term “Cheap Car Rentals Ft. Myers FL,” not because Tom rents cheap cars, but because this is a highly searched term and he wants to get in front of the people looking for inexpensive rentals.
Recently Tom received a review on Google that was titled in all capital letters: THERE IS NOTHING CHEAP ABOUT THE SERVICE. Even though this review was a five star review, it caught my attention because I thought it might be a customer complaint. The review went on to read as follows. “The one and only place to rent a car in Ft. Myers. Friendly service good selection and willing to go the extra mile.”
After seeing this review, it gave me a wonderful idea. People tend to look for bad reviews first to insure that they don’t get ripped off. A great way to give these people what they’re looking for is to encourage one of your happy customers to title their review in such a way that the reader doesn’t know what to expect … but is delighted once they read the review.
I Contacted You After Reading Your Reviews
I can’t tell you how often we hear this from our customers. Once you generate a significant number of positive reviews, you will hear this from your customers on a frequent basis. It’s my top reason for selecting a service provider and it’s the decision making process used by millions of others too.
Get To Work
If you’ve been putting off generating positive reviews from your customers, don’t delay any longer. Reviews may or may not help you get top placement in Google or any of the other highly searched sites, but there’s no question that great reviews will convert lookers to buyers.
Most people would never look at local search marketing as a moral issue. Why should they? It’s just marketing isn’t it?
Pondering Morality
A few nights ago I laid in bed thinking about all the different ways I’ve seen unethical local search marketing companies take advantage of uninformed business owners; I even wrote a very passionate article about it the very next day. While laying there, the thought occurred to me that as a professional local search marketing researcher and speaker, I was teaching business owners how to do the exact same thing; take advantage of their uninformed competitors. Was that the right thing to do?
Marketing Is Not Selling
Local Search Marketing is not selling. Salespeople actively promote their products and services to people who may not be in the process of considering a purchase. They often times generate the sale of a product or service that would not have happened without their involvement. A good example would be that of a siding salesman who persuades a homeowner to improve the value of his or her home by installing siding on their house.
On the other hand, local search marketing targets people who are ready to buy. They don’t need to be persuaded or encouraged to make a buying decision, they’ve already made it. This is where I have a moral dilemma with local search marketing.
Who’s Getting The Business Now And Why?
As things are now, Google and the rest of the search engines show certain businesses on the first page of results for different products and services in each community. They generally show a map along with up to seven business listings. The businesses that are on those maps, and especially the businesses that are at the top of those maps with multiple reviews are getting the lions share of the sales.
These companies base their compensation, employment and future goals in part based on the business they receive from their placement on those sites. Most are generating business from local search and they have no idea how or why it’s happening. And then we come along with our fancy local search marketing techniques and we show their competitors how to take the top spots (at their expense) and bam! we screw everything up. Let me explain.
Rental Car Company – 60 new Customers/Month
I recently helped a rental car company in Southwest Florida improve their ranking for a highly searched keyword on multiple sites where people look to rent cars. In a matter of days, this company went from “just getting by,” to renting two additional cars/day or an additional 700 cars/year, and we’re just getting started with their marketing. For a small rental car company, 700 additional car rentals/year is the difference between making payrole and earning a sweat living.
Wellness Center – 3 New Customers/Month
We have another customer here on Maui who runs a wellness center. She’s picking up an average of one new customer every week based on the placement of her local business listing on just Google. Again, the people who contact her don’t need to be sold on their wellness, they’re ready to buy. It just so happens that now they’re purchasing this service from her instead of her competition due to her placement on Google Maps.
Bed And Breakfast – Zero Advertising Costs
One of the most amazing success stories is the Eva Villa Bed and Breakfast on Maui that uses local search to book their rooms without spending a dime on advertising. This is probably the only Bed and Breakfast in the world that generates 100% of their business on the Internet using Local Search Marketing. They went from struggling to generate business to a full house after their bed and breakfast showed up on Google Maps for the term “Villa Rental Maui” and “Bed and Breakfast Maui.” This new business came at the expense of the bed and breakfast that used to show up in that spot.
So What’s The Problem?
Here’s the moral issue. Every single car that is rented and every new wellness customer came to these businesses at the expense of one or more of their competitors. This new business is just being redistributed to the new king of the hill; to the company that gets their business listed at the top of the local search sites in their community. Is this right? Is this fair?
And The Winner Is
The prize does not go the the biggest or the oldest or to the company that stands at the front of the alphabet line, but rather to the company that understands and takes advantage of local search marketing.
The issue really has to do with scarcity. There are only so many spots where your customers are going to look to find the products and services you offer. If you’re in one or more of those spot, you win the prize. If you’re not in one of those spots, someone else is going to make the sale.
With 97% of all customers looking on the Internet to find a product or service that they intend to purchase locally, you can’t afford to avoid this medium any longer. Problem is, you’re doing it at the expense of your competition.
And here’s the real kicker, if you just happen to be in one or more of those prime spots today, there’s a very good chance that you won’t be tomorrow. Business owners are getting smarter and smarter when it comes to local search marketing and if you don’t secure your position as the dominant competitor in your community, someone else is going to take that spot from you. You are not the only person reading this article.
Take Advantage Of This Information
Here’s what you need to do. Search for the products and services you offer and see who is providing those services in your community. Note that the company in the top spot is getting an unproportional share of the business and that company could be your company very soon.
Then, take the time to learn how local search marketing works and get crackin’. Success does not happen overnight and with a little consistent effort you will see results that you can only imagine.
Local search marketing is not really a moral issue, it’s more of a knowledge and effort issue. Once you acquire the knowledge and make the effort to optimize and publicize your business listing, you will see results that far exceed your expectations and you will see those results for a long time to come.
Tags: morality
What’s all the fuss about Local Search Marketing and do you really need to participate in this new marketing medium? The answer is a resounding, “Yes” especially if you sell to a local market or to people who come to your community to make a purchase, and here’s why.
Results
We’ve been researching, testing and tweaking local business listings on the most searched sites on the Internet and the results have been nothing short of amazing. If you doubt us, read the testimonials provided by the people who have told us how their business has been transformed by local search marketing.
Here’s what we discovered.
- There is nothing in the newspaper that you can’t find at a better value online.
- There is nothing in a magazine that you can’t find at a better value online.
- There is nothing in the Yellow Pages that you can’t find at a better value online.
- There is nothing on the radio that you can’t find at a better value online.
- There is nothing on television that you can’t find at a better value online.
- There is nothing on a billboard that you can’t find at a better value online.
- There is nothing in the mail that you can’t find at a better value online.
- There is nothing offered by a telemarketer that you can’t find at a better value online.
And it’s important to note that “better value” does not mean cheap. Value represents everything you get in return for the money you invest including convenience, service, reliability, ease of use etc.
And that’s why
90% of customers who want to make a local purchase look online for the products and services you offer first before deciding if they want to contact you.
Today, if you’re company is not visible on the Internet, you won’t even be considered for the majority of purchases made by your customers.
Super Cool!
But here’s the really cool thing about local search marketing. You don’t need a website and you don’t need to spend money to attract the attention of highly interested customers when they’re ready to make a purchase. All you need to do is be where you’re customers are looking and it’s not that hard to do. This entire website exists to show you how it’s done.
If you’re a skeptic like I tend to be, do a search for the products and services you offer (just like 90% of the population does) and see what they see.
- Did you find your business?
- Was it the most prominent business listing?
- Was it the most compelling business listing?
- Did you find on all of the 7.8 sites (on average) where people look?
Watch the 10 minute video we created on Local Search Marketing and tell me if this isn’t the most exciting marketing concept you’ve ever seen. Just click on the video icon with my photo (which you will find at the top of the second column on every page) and be amazed.
