Barcamp Talk: Growing A Business With Online Reviews

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Growing A Business With Online Reviews

description

An introduction to using online reviews, presented at the Barcamp tech conference in Sydney, late 2008.

Transcript of Barcamp Talk: Growing A Business With Online Reviews

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Growing A Business With Online Reviews

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Filling In The Gaps

1.Online reviews2.???3.Profit

What this presentation covers

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Number of years each channel took to reach a market audience of 50 million?

Radio: 38

Television: 13

Internet: 4

Souce: http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/briefing/technology/tech.pdf

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87% of Australians have purchased something over the Internet. 53% of Australians made a purchase in the last month

Source: ACNielsen Global Online Shopping Habits Study

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Source: Consumer survey, JC Williams Group, 2006

91% of survey respondents cited consumer content as the #1 aid to a buying decision

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The crowd is building a new channel to drive their buying decisions

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Customers can get advice from each other directly

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For many businesses, your actions speak louder than your advertising

department

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What Determines Reviews?

• Audience • Market• Product

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Audience Factors

1.Education level (Selling to experts or businesses)

2.Enthusiasm (Customer word-of-mouth)

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Market Factors

1.Long tail or emerging markets (Limited exposure from traditional media)

2.Commoditisation (Ease of comparison)3.Low barriers to entry4.Customer lock-in5.Market maturity (Ability to innovate)6.Lack of incumbents (Brand experience)

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Product Factors

1.Product is sold in volume / Service is repeatable (Reviews are reliable)

2.Expense3.Upfront pricing4.Ongoing expenses5.Complementary products6.Information assymetry (Buyers know

more than sellers)

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Hints For Small Business

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Most Word Of Mouth Is Positive

80% of product ratings on the Bazaarvoice review site are 4 or 5 stars out of 5.

Source: “J Curve,” Bazaarvoice and Keller Fay

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Small businesses usually don't have economies of scale, or well-established brands.  Differentiated on service? Good word of mouth is a cheap way to grow.

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Online reviews magnify word of mouth... 10x, 100x, even 1000x

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How Do You Encourage Reviews?

Got a store? Add a point of sale reminder

 Track how your customers find you:

Referrer logsCustomer surveys

  

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Take Direct Action

• Contribute to an independent wiki page• Add customer testimonials and case

studies to your site• Track blog mentions and embed them as

an RSS feed• Start you own company blog 

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How Do Reviews Fit Into Existing Channels?

Channel Independent Expert Comes To You

Based On Customer Experience

Direct Advertising

Indirect Advertising

Professional Reviews

Amateur Reviews

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Crowdsourcing Is Powerful

Reviews from fellow consumers have greater influence than those by professionals.  

Source: comScore/The Kelsey Group, October 2007

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What Makes A Good Customer Reference?

• Customers who are the most similar to you

• Case studies from impressive customers are not as valuable as case studies from happy, but typical customers

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The internet lets your customers unionise against you

But they don't strike, they just go your competitors.

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Future Of Review Sites?

• Hybrid of professional reviews and moderation atop amateur content?

• May not be entirely advertising supported. Can use referral fees or negotiate pooled funding from businesses

• Niche review sites run by enthusiasts will always have a place

 

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Existing media voices and brands may extend their websites to provide online reviews of their own products, eg David

Jones, Vogue or Microsoft

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Example Australian Review Sites

Review Space Site

General Reviews Yabble

Restaurants Eatability

Teachers Rate My Teacher

ISPs Whirlpool

Web Hosting Hosting Jury

Wikis Wiki Matrix

Employers Revyr

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 Discussion Time

Presented in Sydney, AU on 15 Nov 08 by David SoulOriginally posted on david-soul.com