In today’s world, social proof is critical for building trust with customers and often times the factor in them choosing to do business with you or a competitor. However, gaining review and having great word of mouth, only goes so far in the digital space. Here are 3 critical tips to keep in mind when building out your profiles and developing your online presence.
- Get Found!
This is perhaps the simplest and most overlooked of the steps necessary to build social proof online. I can’t tell you how many times I have encountered, and heard from friends, that they wanted to engage with a business they had heard about but they simply couldn’t “find” them online. This could range from having incorrect contact information on a website or sub-site/business listing like Google My Business, or improper SEO directing people away from your new website or other asset that you’ve set up. This can also include not being able to navigate properly to your location via Uber or Lyft. Nothing will kill your reviews faster than inconveniences that customers expect as a base of doing business these days. Make sure you have your location setup correctly online as well as cleaning up your digital presence to make sure people can find you and what they’re looking for quickly and easily.
- Not Providing Relevant Information!
Along with having incorrect information for customers, not having the right and relevant information on your social channels or website can be a dealbreaker for many customers. People now have limited attention spans and they’re not going to search forever to see if you’re providing what they are looking for. Make sure you have your menu, list of services, a way to order or checkout online and a user-friendly setup for people to engage with your products and services. So much money is left on the table by businesses because they don’t have a click to call feature embedded in their site or they haven’t taken the time to highlight their top products online. These simple exercises will catapult you ahead of the competition as people are searching for relevant information when making a buying decision.
- Reviews!
Reviews! The all important word on building social proof. You have to get them, maintain the, respond to all of them, and continue to build your standing in the digital world. Having a review strategy in place is critical when training staff and building your business. Employ strategies such as, point of pleasure engagement (when someone is most likely to give a review, make it easy) by having an IPad near your checkout station, if you’re a brick and mortar, and a post sale popup page if you’re an e-commerce business. All of these simply nudges can help you to gain reviews from your customers and strike while the iron is hot. Further, use built in tools, like Google My Business’s review link to make it even easier for customers to engage with your most high value assets. Having a review on your website that isn’t the first asset people engage with isn’t helping you if your Google My Business is the place that most people engage with your business first.
There’s so many more key ways to help build social proof and use word of mouth online. If you’re ready to or need help with, building your reviews, organic social media, want to create Ads and drive ROI, we can help! Reach out to me at john@bluecomet.media. I look forward to helping you reach your target customers more effectively in the digital space!
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