Often, I talk to business owners and they are overwhelmed with all the options there are available for marketing their business. To the extent that I often find that one of the cheapest and cost-effective methods of marketing is often overlooked.
When measuring leads into our business the feedback we often receive is the reason that a potential client chose our business is due to google reviews. The reason often given is due to the fact that it allows the potential client see that you are currently assisting other clients who may be in a similar situation to themselves which raises their confidence that our business could assist with what problem they are looking at solving.
Overall the benefits I have found in my business from an increase in google reviews are:
Increase of Social Proof
As mentioned above the google reviews provide the social proof (so it isn’t just us saying it) as to the services offered and the experience a potential customer can expect
Google Business reviews increase online exposure & local SEO
Google algorithms are complex and I will leave this to your digital marketing expert to explain. I know from the reports we receive the benefit we see with the google reviews
Customer Feedback
The google reviews provide highly valuable feedback as to why customers are happy and what areas of service, they truly value in the business. This not only allows for us to ensure we focus on these areas within the business and make sure that they don’t slip, it also allows for feedback of where you are doing well, which people may not always tell you.
I have learnt that you need this to be organic i.e. that clients complete as and when they feel the need. You should be asking your clients for a google review but ensure that you don’t aim to have a significant number in a short term as google may not see these as unique.
My challenge for you today is to look at your google reviews. Who could you ask for a review this month? Who could you provide a review to this month to help their business?
