Claim and Optimize Your Free Business Listings

Part 2by Mary Anne Baker

What You Will Learn in This Class:

● Important Marketing Tools Found in Your Claimed Listings:○ Google Places/Google Plus Local○ Yahoo Local○ Bing Business Portal○ MapQuest○ Yelp○ FourSquare○ TripAdvisor

● How to Track, Respond to, and Promote Your Reviews

Google+ Local● Offers

○ Google Offers allows you to reach potential customers near your business. Using their mobile device, these customers can find your offer and visit your business right away. And it’s free,for a limited time

○ Customers simply show you the offer on their phone and you apply the appropriate discount at checkout.

○ You can see how many offers have been saved and redeemed in the Offers tab in your Google Places account.

● Go to www.google.com/places, and login to your Google account. Click on the top right blue tab that says "offers." Follow the simple guidelines to post your offer.

Yahoo Local

● Go to http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/dashboard/○ Look at Reputation Tracker Tab (mentions and

reviews)○ Look at Local Visibility Tab for other Local Listing

opportunities○ No mobile promotions available on Yahoo for Small

Business

Bing Local● Go to www.BingBusinessPortal.com● Login to your Bing account ● Preview tab:

○ A mobile version of your website○ A QR Code for your website○ A window sticker to download and print

● Mobile tab:○ Mobile content - list your specials here

● Click blue marketing tab at the very top:○ Then click on "Deals" to set up an offer that can be

displayed on your bing listing and on the mobile version.

MapQuest (formerly known as AOL Maps)

● https://listings.mapquest.com/apps/listing● 1 out of 5 map searches are done on

MapQuest.● Make sure your listing is current and

completely filled out to reach your potential customers who are searching for you on MapQuest.

● No mobile deals/offers available on MapQuest at this time.

Yelp Your business account is located at: https://biz.yelp.com/● Activity tab: Learn about your audience.● Reviews tab: Monitor and respond to your

reviews.● Check-in Offers tab: Create an offer that

appears on your business listing in the Yelp Mobile app.

● Go into the "Account Information" tab to set up your email notifications to be notified when a new review is posted.

FourSquare● http://foursquare.com/login● Features include:

○ Share an update to have it appear:■ When people view your location■ After people check in■ In your loyal customers’ friends tabs■ Share your update to Facebook and/or Twitter

○ Find out how many customers you have on foursquare, how many times they've checked-in and who your mayor is (the customer who has checked in the most times in the last 60 days)

○ Set up a special offer for mobile devices.

TripAdvisor ● Go to www.tripadvisor.com and login.● Click on "Your Business and Account", then "Your

Business." The Management Center is full of tools, including:○ Manage your TripAdvisor Page: Enhance your

listing, upload photos and videos; update business details, rates and booking info; track performance, and more...

○ Manage your Reviews: Know what your customers are saying about you and post your reply.

○ Free Marketing Tools: Use downloadable badges and widgets on your own website to display your TripAdvisor ratings and reviews, encourage customer reviews and create photo slideshows.

Responding to Reviews

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.”

- Warren Buffet

Fact: Consumers are far more likely to believe the review (opinion) of a stranger than the

advertising message of a business.

Responding to ReviewsKeep these three things in mind as you're crafting a message to your customer:

○ Your reviewers are your paying customers○ Your reviewers are human beings with

(sometimes unpredictable) feelings and sensitivities

○ Your reviewers are vocal and opinionated (otherwise they would not be writing reviews!)

Responding to Positive Reviews:

● ALWAYS respond to positive reviews.● Your purpose should be simply to deliver a

human thank you and let them know you care. ● That's it. No gift certificates. No mailing lists.

No event invites. No reactions to the minor complaint in their review. No requests for them to tell more friends about your business.

● Remember, this customer already likes your business -- just use this opportunity to thank them and introduce yourself.

Responding to Negative Reviews:● Negative reviews can feel like a punch in the gut. We

care deeply about our business, and it hurts when someone says bad things about it. A negative review can even feel like a personal attack.

● Your first instinct is the "double D." Deny and Defend. It doesn't matter whether their account is true, false or lies somewhere in between. Defending and denying will be a HUGE mistake!

● Failure to respond to a negative reviews sends a strong message to prospective customers that you have no customer service and further entices them to stay away. One of the first things I review with a new client is their reviews across multiple channels. When they ask me why they have no business yet their competitors do, this is often where we find the answer.

Stop, Drop, and Roll1. Stop - Don't respond immediately. Sleep on it. Waiting 24 hours can make all the difference.2. Drop - Drop the prideful, defensive and harsh response. Let a trusted co-worker or friend read through your response before posting. 3. Roll - Roll with it. In the end, you can't control the opinions of your clients. Attempt to mend any valid issues this person presented through their review. Keep providing the best possible service and products.

Responding to Negative Reviews

● You have a chance to help the situation and maybe even change this customer's perspective for the better. There are many success stories from business owners who were polite to their reviewers and were given a second chance.

● But be careful here: if your reviewer perceives that you are being rude or condescending, there's a chance he or she could get angry and make the situation even worse. Keep in mind that this is a vocal customer who could well copy and paste your message all over the Web.

Negative Review Response:

● Keep it simple.● "Thank you for the business and the

feedback." ● If you can be specific about the customer's

experience and any changes you may have made as a result, this could go very far in earning trust.

Use a Listening Tool1. Know what is being said about your business.

Negative statements, lies, rumors can spread in an instant. The longer you wait to respond, the more damage will be done.

2. To get notifications sent to you by e-mail, set up Google Alerts for your business name. Google Alerts sends you a notification when you have been mentioned in articles, blogs, reviews, etc. www.Google.com/Alerts

3. Some review sites can be set up to send you a notification when a review is posted (Yelp, TripAdvisor)

Learn From Others

Here are some businesses to study on TripAdvisor. Their review responses - whether to a positive or negative review- are very appropriate and can help you craft your own responses:● High Hampton Inn, Cashiers, NC● Grove Park Inn, Asheville, NC

Improve Your Review Rankings

Loyal and repeat customers can be a huge asset to your online reputation.

When you have a satisfied customer at your business location, hand them an easy review sheet and ask them to share their experience.

Create a Custom Review Sheet

● Select up to 3 of the most popular review sites for your business.

● Include a QR code so customers can find your review site and leave a review from their mobile phone immediately upon leaving your location.

● Include an active hyperlink to the page on the review site for your business, if you prefer to email this document to a customer.

● Make sure the links and QR codes go to the EXACT page on the review site for your business.

● Use a URL shortener to make it easier for customers to find your site in case they need to type in the URL directly.

Handout Resources:Create QR Codes: www.QRStuff.comCreate short URL's: www.Bit.ly

Responding to ReviewsFact: Every Star in a Review Leads to a 5-9%

Jump in Revenues

“Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing.”

- Warren Buffett