Building upon and continuously improving your reputation as a business is at the core of what inspires growth. Customers turn to online resources before even reaching out to a business. That includes consulting the business website, social media presence, and of course, reviews. In fact, 81% of users report that they check Google reviews before engaging with the business.
Most reviews are captured and read on Google, Yelp, and Facebook, but depending on the business type, there may be specific sites dedicated to your industry, such as Thumbtack for home services businesses.
Why you need to care about reviews
No matter what your business is, people are going to rate their experience with you. Be it a product they received from your shop or a tune-up for their air conditioning system, for better or for worse, customers are going to share how you did.
Even healthcare is getting in on the review action, with over 71% of patients using reviews to pick a provider and most offices asking for reviews after treatments.
Reviews provide a look into your business and what customers may experience if they utilize your product or services. They also supply social proof for your audience, build trustworthiness–especially for search engines, and they play a big role in your revenue growth.
Why reviews need to stay in rotation
Reviews, both positive and negative, have an expiration date. No matter what customers have said about their experience with you, in a few months, it’s going to be obsolete. From our Locally Grown podcast episode, Why your business needs a customer review strategy, “85% of consumers define online reviews older than three months as irrelevant.”
You need to have a process in place, if you don’t already, to help encourage customers to leave a review for your business, so you always have fresh information for your target audience circulating online. If you only have old reviews, people may question if you’re still in business or performing at your peak. New reviews also help you stay relevant for search engine sites like Google. Once you get reviews, you need to make sure you’re monitoring them and responding to them so customers know you care about their feedback.
How Scorpion’s review monitoring can help
Our Reputation Suite gives you access to a review monitoring system that lets you stay on top of your reputation at all times. Our system instantly alerts you when you’ve received a new review and consolidates all your review platforms in one centralized location, so you can see everything at a glance.
But that’s just information about your reviews. We take it further by providing you with reports about how your reputation is fairing against the competition, so you get better visibility with real-time data and reports about what people think about you online.
Ready to get started with review monitoring and all your other marketing needs? Reach out to Scorpion today to get the help of a team of experts who are ready to help you put your best foot forward.
