Marketing 101 By Mary Moberg
Be A Part of the Movement – Social Media and Online Reviews I
never thought I’d be one of those peo- ple who would prefer to shop online. I enjoy going into a retail store, looking over the items and then selecting what I want to purchase. I chose the store based on my experience or perhaps a recommendation from a friend. I would frequent a business based on the lev- el of customer service they provided, if they had a fair return policy, how much inventory was available, and did I recog- nize the employees.
I’m not sure how it happened, but over the last few years I’ve turned to the inter- net more and more for most, if not all, of my shopping needs – from clothes to wine, to side mirrors for my car. Turns out I’m not the only one. Actually, I’m pretty late to the party.
Shopping online is easy and fast – and I can do it on my phone from anywhere! But before making a purchase, I routine- ly check out the business and/or product reviews and only purchase from those that have positive reviews. I look on the business website and social media sites like Yelp, Google, and Facebook. Recent statistics show that 90 percent of shoppers say they are influenced by online reviews and 88 percent trust them as much as a personal recommendation from a friend. The Bright Local Consumer Review found the following:
Survey 20171
• 49 percent of consumers need at least a four-star rating before they’ll choose to use a business;
• Responding to reviews is more im- portant than ever, with 30 percent naming this as key when judging local businesses;
• 68 percent of consumers left a local business review when asked – with 74 percent having been asked for their feedback;
• Yelp and Facebook are local consum- ers’ most trusted review sites, followed by Google &
BBB.org;
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• 32 percent of consumers read local reviews on mobile apps in 2017; and
• Consumers read an average of 7 re- views before trusting a business – up from 6 in 2016. So, let’s get down to the matter at hand – how are your business reviews on Yelp, Facebook and Google My Busi- ness? It’s important to monitor your ac- counts often and manage your reviews. Even if you do everything right in your business positive reviews can be sparse. The reality is that negative reviews will happen, and you’ll need to address them head on. Often customers are sur- prised when businesses reach out and you can turn a negative to a positive. If you don’t have your business set up
on Yelp, Facebook and Google My Busi- ness, it’s important to get started as soon as possible. The steps are pretty easy and there is an abundance of YouTube videos available if you need some help. Let’s start with the basics: 1. Establish a presence on Yelp, Face- book and Google My Business. Each site has tools available that will lead you through the process.
2. Update or create a company profile and make sure your information is con- sistent across all three sites.
3. Include all relevant categories for your business.
4. Add photos of your business includ- ing photos of your yard, sales counter and location.
5. Make sure to include details on your business paying special attention to key- words to help people find your business. When choosing your keywords, think about the words someone would type into a search engine to find businesses like yours and incorporate those words into your listings. This will result in high- er search rankings, more clicks and hope- fully, more sales!
Don’t have the time or inclination to set up and monitor these social media channels yourself? Good news! There are plenty of vendors out there who can help you manage your online reputation. There are vendors who will work with your customers to encourage positive re- views or alert you if you have an unhappy customer. They offer a range of services and price points so it’s important to do the research to find the best fit for your business.
Participating in Yelp, Facebook and Google My Business social channels and managing your reviews will result in a pos- itive online presence for your business and the Automotive Recycling industry. Another way for you to “Be a Part of the Movement!”
1.
www.brightlocal.com/learn/local-consumer- review-survey/#Q17
Mary Moberg is the founder of Monarch Events MSP, a meeting and event planning company located in Minneapolis MN. Mary was the Director of Marketing at Hollander for over 8 years
where she developed and launched the successful Hollander Innovation Summits and Hollander Training Summit series. She continues to be very active in the automotive recycling industry including participating on the industry team which developed the ARA Awareness Campaign. Contact her at Mary@
MonarchEventsMSP.com or (763) 300-4907.
March-April 2018 • AUTOMOTIVE RECYCLING
iStockphoto.com
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