How To Get Reviews for Your Business and Use Them in Your Content Marketing
Are you a business owner with a modest marketing budget? Here’s a great content marketing idea that doesn’t burn a hole in your pocket — gathering more customer reviews.
Yes, you read it right. Online customer reviews can become excellent marketing content, especially for small/medium businesses without a huge marketing budget.
According to Brightlocal, 87% of customers read online reviews for local businesses before making a purchase decision. Customer reviews provide strong social proof for the quality of your products/services. They also help you with search rankings and content marketing.
If you don’t have enough customer reviews, it’s the right time to start. Let’s look at how to get reviews for your business and use them effectively in your content marketing strategy.
Here’s what you’ll learn:
How To Get Business Reviews
Using Customer Reviews for Content Marketing
Turning Negative Feedback Into Positive Content
Final Thoughts: How To Get Reviews for Your Business’ Marketing
How To Get Business Reviews
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Google My Business
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Amazon customer reviews
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Business review websites like Yelp
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Social media
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Website elements
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Email campaigns
With the e-commerce boom, reviews are prevalent online. There are several online platforms for you to garner customer reviews. Let’s have a look at a few major platforms.
1. Google My Business
The Future Shopper Report 2020 showed that 48% of product searches started with search engines, mainly Google. Hence, Google is a great place to start collecting online reviews for your business.
Google My Business (GMB) helps you create a business profile on Google and gather customer reviews. First, you need to set up an account on GMB and verify your business. Once you verify your business on Google, it will start appearing on Google search results.
Some advantages of using Google reviews are:
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Google has over 270 million unique visitors, which gives you immense visibility
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Reviews on Google help you improve your search engine rankings
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Google reviews appear on search results and Google maps
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Positive reviews on Google will boost your online reputation
2. Amazon Customer Reviews
If you sell products on Amazon, you already have an ecosystem to gather reviews. According to Wunderman Thompson Commerce, 63% of online shoppers start their product search on Amazon. Hence, Amazon reviews are highly influential.
Amazon’s review system has evolved during the past few decades. And since Amazon customers are trained to leave a review, it’s a great platform for you to get reviews for your business.
3. Business Review Websites
Besides Google and Amazon, there are several online platforms dedicated to business reviews. If you want to gather more online customer reviews, you should be active on these platforms.
Most review websites have a dedicated page for every business. You should claim your business page and nurture it to gather reviews.
Yelp is one of the most popular business review websites. It has 224 million reviews as of December 2020. You should also try platforms like Better Business Bureau and Trustpilot.
While it’s great to have multiple reviews across different platforms, you could also concentrate on a few niche review platforms specific to your business. These super-focused platforms help you get reviews from your loyal customers.
Here are a few popular niche review platforms you could try:
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Catering Services: Delivery.com, Gig Salad
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Home Services: Angie’s List, Houzz, Networx
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Travel, Hospitality: Tripadvisor, Expedia
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Restaurants: Zomato, OpenTable
4. Social Media
People spend an average of 2 hours 25 minutes on social media. Hence, social media is a great way to get reviews for your business. Your business pages on social media are a great place to engage your customers and collect their feedback.
You should keep posting on your social handles and closely engage with customers. Pay attention to customers’ comments on your posts.
You’ll be able to turn some of them into reviews. Customer reviews on social media might also appear on search engine results pages, helping you drive traffic to your website.
5. Website Elements To Collect Reviews
If you have an online store, your website is a great channel to collect customer feedback. With a few tweaks to your website, you’ll be able to gather a lot of customer reviews.
Here are a few things to try on your website to gather reviews:
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Show a banner/popup after the customer has finished a purchase
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Display a review request whenever the customer completes a download
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Add links to various review platforms on your website
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Place a call to action button to gather Google reviews for your business
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Add widgets of popular review sites on your product pages
6. Email Campaigns
You can use email campaigns to encourage customers to write reviews. Here are a few techniques businesses use to gather reviews through emails.
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Send a review link along with post-purchase ‘thank you’ emails
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Send a review link on every email in your email marketing campaign
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Send random review requests to your loyal customers
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Use email automation to seek reviews from your customers
It’s also a great idea to include a review link in the business’s email signature. That way, every mail you send becomes a chance to collect reviews.
Using Customer Reviews for Content Marketing
People tend to trust other people’s opinions rather than the claims made by a business. That’s why customer reviews have the potential to become powerful marketing content.
But, if you aren’t using them in your content marketing, you are missing out on a big opportunity. Here’s how you can turn your reviews into excellent marketing content.
Create Content From Customer Reviews
Customer reviews are mostly in the form of text. To use them in your marketing campaigns, you should convert them into image and video content. According to a 2021 survey by Venngage, 86% of marketers believe visual content is crucial in their marketing.
You can be very innovative with your customer reviews and create stunning marketing content out of them.
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
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Create a collage of your customer’s reviews
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Make a short video featuring glowing reviews
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Create posters featuring happy customers and their reviews
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Create GIFs from entertaining customer reviews
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Make case studies out of reviews
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Create quotes from customer reviews
You don’t need a big graphics design team to create eye-catchy content from reviews. Here are a few online tools that provide templates to create content from customer reviews:
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Canva
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Pixelied
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Promo
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Fotor
Places Where You Can Use Customer Reviews
Once you have turned your customer reviews into stunning graphics, use them on various marketing channels. You should create a content calendar around your customer reviews. It should include where and when you’ll use them.
On that note, we suggest:
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Posting customer reviews as videos on social media platforms
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Creating posters from reviews and using them in email campaigns
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Making a testimonial section on your home/product pages
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Using visual content created from reviews in paid advertising
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Writing case studies from reviews and using them on your blog
Turning Negative Feedback Into Positive Content
When you open yourself to customer feedback, you should be prepared to receive some negative reviews. Customer complaints aren’t always bad. Some amount of negative feedback will make your brand look legitimate.
A 2021 survey by Power Reviews states that 96% of consumers seek out negative reviews before buying a product. So, instead of being disheartened by a few bad reviews, think of creative ways to use them in your content marketing.
Here are some tips for handling negative feedback and using them positively in your content marketing:
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Quickly respond to negative feedback and address the concerns of the customers
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Create a case study out of how you responded to a negative review by making a change
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Advertise the changes you made after a negative review. It makes your brand look human
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If you get a negative review about the usability of your product, try to make a tutorial out of it
Final Thoughts: How To Get Reviews for Your Business’ Marketing
Customer reviews are a great marketing tool for small/medium businesses with limited marketing budgets. The user-generated content in the form of reviews can be a great starting point to make content for your business.
First, you need to seek reviews from your customers through various platforms. You can use Google My Business reviews, Amazon product reviews and Yelp business reviews. You should also set up your profile on business-specific review platforms and social media.
You don’t need a design team to turn customer reviews into impactful visual marketing content. All you have to do is leverage the free online tools to create content.
Moreover, you can use customer reviews in various marketing channels like:
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Social media
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Paid advertisements
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Brochures
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Website home page and product pages
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Email Campaigns
With a well-thought-out strategy, you can even convert negative reviews into positive marketing content.
So, do you want your brand to shine through awesome review-based content marketing? Check out Bluehost’s content marketing services today.
Source :
https://www.bluehost.com/resources/how-to-get-reviews-for-your-business/
What Is the Facebook Metaverse and How Does It Impact Your Small Business?
Big news came out of Facebook with the announcement of Meta. Meta is the Facebook rebrand where the aim is to continue bringing people together and connecting them. An essential part of this is focusing on the AR/VR world.
And in fitting, it was announced at the Facebook Connect virtual reality conference.
But don’t think that this is the end of Instagram, Whatsapp or Messenger. The announcement means there’ll be more of a focus on creating the Metaverse as it looks like Zuckerberg believes this is the next step for the future.
What Is Facebook Metaverse?
Why Should You Care?
What the Facebook Metaverse Means for Small Businesses
Advantages of the Facebook Metaverse
Disadvantages of the Facebook Metaverse
Final Thoughts: How the Facebook Metaverse Impacts Your Small Business
What Is Facebook Metaverse?
The Facebook Metaverse is what you can imagine seeing in a sci-fi movie. You see someone strapping on a headset, sitting back in their chair, and going into another reality, like in the film Ready, Player One.
Picture yourself walking around as an avatar where you can go shopping, talk and hang with your friends, and participate in leisure activities.
In a video presentation, Zuckerberg also spoke about how immersive learning will become, allowing someone to transport anywhere and at any time just by putting on a VR headset.
Why Should You Care?
We’ve been waiting for the Metaverse for decades, from the first imagining of it in sci-fi books to seeing similar things on the big screen. And we are already in the digital age.
A report shows that the number of video gamers worldwide in 2021 is 3.24 billion. Paired together with statistics of people spending up to 6.4 hours a day on a device connected to the Internet, you can already see there might be an audience for a more immersive world than our games consoles, computers, and mobile phones.
Imagine entering the Metaverse and seeing your favorite artist perform live, and you could walk around them, arms-length away while they play your favorite songs.
Imagine being able to try on different clothes in a blink of an eye and finding that perfect look you’re going for.
Imagine meeting up on the Metaverse with your long-distance relatives and going sledding in some remote corner of the Metaverse or taking a gondola in Venice.
It may take years or decades, but the Facebook Metaverse could dominate life when technology catches up with imagination.
What the Facebook Metaverse Means for Small Businesses
If you haven’t already figured it out, the Metaverse can easily be the next big thing, and with Meta investing millions into tools to build the Metaverse, you can see that this isn’t planning to be an overnight fad.
So how might this change things for your small businesses? Let’s look at some of the pros and cons of the Metaverse.
Advantages of the Facebook Metaverse
Let’s first look at the advantages:
It’ll Help You Connect With Customers.
Removing the location barrier means you can interact more intimately with your customers. If you are a small community-led business, the Metaverse will allow you to meet up with your customers regardless of where you are in the world.
Rather than just being the community owner, it transitions your relationship to something akin to friendship, building more trust.
It’ll Give You Access to a Larger Customer Base.
Again, since physical limitations are no longer a problem, anyone can visit your business. You could have your store on the Metaverse, allowing people to browse what you have for sale, whenever they like or wherever they live in the world.
You’ll Get To Sell Digital Items.
The more people join the Metaverse, the more people will want to stick out, be themselves, and showcase their personality. One way they could do this is with items for their avatars, such as clothes or accessories.
Fortnite, a popular free-to-play third-person shooter, made $1.8 billion in 2019 from microtransactions that come from costume sales.
There is already a demand for cosmetic digital items, so what better way to increase revenues than with company-branded digital merchandise your fans can wear.
Disadvantages of the Facebook Metaverse
Now let’s look at the disadvantages:
The Buy-In Cost for Consumers
For people to enter the Facebook Metaverse, they require a VR headset. A VR headset isn’t something you have lying around the house for most people. Unless you’re an early adopter, you probably don’t have one in your home.
Without the desire to own one, it’s unlikely someone will spend upward of $200 to buy one, getting prepared for the future. So until the demand is high or the cost is low enough for anyone to buy a VR headset, it may take multiple years before millions of people are all on the Metaverse.
The Cost of Entry for Businesses
Depending on what you want to get out of the Facebook Metaverse, you may have to invest. As mentioned before, if you’re creating digital merchandise, someone will have to make them. If you don’t have someone to do this on your team, you will have to outsource it.
And if the Facebook Metaverse explodes, it’s likely the high demand for the creation of virtual items will go up.
Final Thoughts: How the Facebook Metaverse Impacts Your Small Business
Like the changes that COVID made to small businesses, pushing them online, it’s possible the Facebook Metaverse could be world-changing. It could happen in a couple of years or maybe 10, but watching how it plays out or even becoming an early adopter could pay in the long term.
Source :
https://www.bluehost.com/blog/facebook-metaverse-business-impact/
Tools and Resources to Help Build an Online Community
Communities are a support network of people who share the same interests as you or are going through the same journey as you. They play an important role in bringing about essential feelings of togetherness and solidarity. Being a part of a community of friends, peers, and mentors helps to push people in a positive direction.
During this period of social distancing that we are all experiencing right now, the need for online communities is growing exponentially. Face-to-face interactions can only happen within the parameters of staying six feet apart and most major cities are now enforcing their citizens to abide by shelter-in-place laws. For those of us who are part of a single household, the only social interactions we’ve able to have are made possible through the internet.
Enter online communities—a real-time, virtual landscape that allows people all over the world to connect while we’re at home. These communities provide support to individuals who are impacted by the daily stress, struggles, and chaos of life. While online communities differ from the day-to-day interactions of real life, they can still be beneficial to maintaining healthy relationships and our quality of life.
How to Start an Online Community
When you begin the process of creating an online community, there are some key questions you have to ask:
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What is the common interest that will bring your community together?
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What is the purpose and goal of creating the community?
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What are your values and how do they align within the community you’re forming?
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How often do you want to engage with your community (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.)?
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What platform(s) will your community be connected through (ex: text chat, voice calls, video calls, social media, scheduling tools)
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What do you have to offer the group and what do you want to receive from the members?
Having the answers to these questions will allow you to form a concrete plan in moving forward with the creation of the online community.
Types of Online Communities
Online communities can be formed around any subject, interest, passion, or hobby that an individual may have. Your passions and interests could involve playing video games, building a website, being a parent or cooking and there are plenty of online spaces to build communities based on those interests.
One of the strongest examples of online communities in the web hosting world is the WordPress Community. WordPress is an open source project, focusing on core development, marketing, accessibility, and so much more. Since it is an open source project anyone can contribute to developing and enhancing the platform right from their computer. The unifying message behind this community is an interest in creating, building, and enhancing the features of WordPress websites. As the WordPress community is adapting to the changing landscape by providing additional support and resources to help people manage their websites, other communities are banding together to support the growing interest of people online.
In the wake of the current health crisis, the video game community has experienced a massive surge of online players across the globe, tournaments, and gaming due to the ongoing mandate of social distancing. The FIFA soccer video game is a good example of an online community with a large and interactive online community. The community supports one another through multiple platforms including text and video, shared goals that require teamwork, and content creation.
Communities can also explore very niche topics that are great for people who want to build a community for a specific interest. Another example is CafeMom which is an online community of moms sharing blog posts, videos, and other content. The site also features “mom support” which offers advice on toddler, newborn, and prenatal care in addition to an online shop featuring deals from commercial and local retailers.
How You Can Connect With Your Community
The internet is full of various online platforms that can help you connect and build an online community. If you are wanting to start an online community, it’s important to research the platforms that are easily accessible with functions that make collaboration easier for your community. Whether you are chatting on twitter or hosting a video chat, there are numerous resources to stay connected with your online community.
Text Chat
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Blogs
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Message Boards
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Google Group
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Email
Voice Chat
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Discord
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FreeConference
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Skype
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GoToMeeting
Video Chat
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Zoom
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Google Hangouts
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Twitch
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YouTube
Social Media
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Instagram
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Twitter
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Facebook
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Pinterest
Scheduling Tools
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Asana
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Trello
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Doodle
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Calendy
I recommend using a platform or platforms with a mix of each communication method. For example, the WordPress community uses Slack for everyday written communication and blogging for larger updates. The community also uses other platforms like Trello for task management and Zoom for video communication and scheduling meetings.
What tools are you using to build your community?
Source :
https://www.bluehost.com/resources/tools-and-resources-to-help-build-an-online-community/
Ways to Build an Online Community as a Small Business
Online communities have the ability to bring people and businesses together. As the world is experiencing the growing changes that come with the COVID-19 quarantine, people are seeking out familiarity through online communities. When a small business has an online community they are able to build brand credibility, customer loyalty, and engage one-on-one with customers. Online communities can be powerful for small businesses because you are bringing people with similar interests together to discuss your products or services.
How Online Communities Help You Build Your Brand
As you continue building your community online, you always want to create an environment that allows your brand to shine. When you build an online community, you have the ability to create brand loyalty by showing your customers that you care. Your customers want to know that their opinions matter and they can develop a long-lasting relationship with a business that values their feedback. You can continue to build your brand by developing a deeper understanding of your target audience and using that to guide your future business strategies.
Within your community, you can position yourself as a thought leader and expert within your industry by creating branded content that can be directly shared with your online community. You want to create content that is engaging and encourages readers to get active with your brand; so you aren’t just advertising to them. Customers love exclusivity and you can also build your brand by sharing discounts, recruiting influencers/affiliates, or creating a loyalty program that can help you build credibility while reaching new clients.
Connecting with Your Employees
Your employees are the shining stars of your business and online communities give everyone a chance to contribute and stay connected. While many of us are working from home due to the COVID-19 quarantine, communication is more vital than ever. Having an online community provides an alternate form of communicating outside of general email. Online communities can promote social interaction that can be enjoyed spontaneously and reduce the feelings of isolation that can come from remote work. An important aspect of building and maintaining this community for your employees is a dynamic platform that can keep you connected, collaborating, and working.
Bluehost wants to provide you with the products and services that can keep your business connected to your employees in the wake of communities, families, and customers being impacted by COVID-19. We’re currently offering 6 months of free video conferencing with Microsoft Teams and 50% off for up to 10 seats of G Suite – plus Google Hangouts Meet.
Tools for Building Online
As small businesses continue to transition their products and services to eCommerce websites, it’s important to use platforms and tools that can help you connect with your customers. As you are building your online community you want to use tools that allow you to teach your audience about the different products and services you offer. Zoom or GoToWebinar are excellent platforms to host a webinar or e-learning session that feature tools to help your plan, promote, and engage with your customers. Email marketing has the potential to not only help generate sales and leads, but provides the opportunity for you to market services like a webinar to new and potential clients.
Bluehost is partnering with Constant Contact to help you manage your online presence by providing 60 days of free email marketing. Constant Contact features easy to use email templates with drag and drop editing for your digital marketing strategies in addition to website sign up tools that can help you add subscribers and reporting features to help measure your results.
If you’re building a community online, here are a few tips for managing and communicating with your community and clients.
Be Present
Getting to know the humans behind their devices is essential in making the members of your community feel valued and appreciated. You always want to give your full attention to a community you are participating in whether you are hosting a live stream, conducting a webinar, or just chatting one-on-one with a member of your community. Distractions are common and in abundance, but being present with the community and its objectives will help it to successfully grow. Engagement is a key factor in building long-term loyalty with a virtual community so don’t miss the opportunity to learn from your customers.
Be Consistent
If you start a community, you should intend to follow through with it because your clients will be relying on you to facilitate managing and updating them through your chosen platform. Consistency is vital to building and maintaining a healthy online community whether you are posting content or sharing your products and services. This will give the members of the community a schedule and routine, in addition to the feeling that they have a sturdy base to lean on as needed. The internet is filled with scheduling tools that can help you organize and manage your communication so that you can post relevant content and updates within your community on a daily or weekly basis.
Lead Your Interactions With Empathy
We could all use kindness right now. Most of our days are filled with monotony and the same scenery over and over again. Not to mention the anxiety and general feelings of negativity surrounding the pandemic. Lead with empathy, kindness, patience, and care; those in your community could use the positivity and will send it right back your way and to those they are interacting with as well. Whether you’re building your community via social media, a forum, or membership site, you want to be as authentic as possible. The internet can be a hard place to navigate and you want to ensure you’re facilitating positive interactions with your clients so they have a safe space to communicate their thoughts and opinions.
Terms and conditions
Microsoft Teams: The Microsoft Teams promotion is for 6 months only and terminates on the 7th month unless you choose to upgrade to a different plan that already includes it.
G Suite: The G Suite promotion is good for 10 accounts only. Additional seats may be purchased at the regular rate of $6.00/month/license.
Constant Contact: The Constant Contact promotion is good for up to 500 contacts and will automatically renew at the regular rate of $5/month on the 3rd month, unless you cancel. Plans will be billed monthly to the payment method on file when you sign-up with Constant Contact. You may cancel at any time by logging into your account or contacting support.
Source :
https://www.bluehost.com/resources/ways-to-build-an-online-community-as-a-small-business/