Every Business Wants to Have Reviews

Reminiscent of a favorite 80’s tune, today’s topic could have a lasting impact on you and your business.

Want more of these? It takes tenacity, innovation, and time but it's so worth it! 

SALES CALL SHOCKER

I recently met with a potential client whose main interest is generating more reviews for his business. As the Inside Salesman for Alt Media Studios, my priority is to find the best way to help this client achieve his business goal––to get more reviews on Google. Potential customers are using Google for over 90% of their online search activity, so this makes perfect sense.

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He was frustrated that he's been in his service-related business for 29 years and has only two reviews on his Google My Business Page. Those two reviews–one five-star, the other a one-star–leave him with a score of just 3.7 stars. To add insult to injury, the name and situation of the one-star reviewer didn’t even ring a bell.

But it was the client’s next story that left me shocked. He told me that he was approached by a very well-known business that offered to "get more reviews" for him. That sounded like a good deal, so he signed up for a package with them. One way that the company claims to generate reviews begins by having our client’s technicians hand out QR-coded business cards to homeowners after a job is complete. Here’s where things get murky. Once scanned, the code will take their customer to the vendor’s landing page–the company selling the review-getting service–and give the option to write a review. I wanted to check this out for myself, and after leaving a review I was also given the option to share the review on Google. Well that’s the ultimate goal, so of course I tapped on the Google icon. But instead of being directed to our client’s business page, the link only brought up search results–it was obviously broken.

So, essentially, there could be loads of reviews out there that never reach our client’s Google page. This was a known issue and he’d spoken to the vendor many times, but to no avail–nothing had been fixed. I wanted to get to the bottom of this client’s problem, so I met with the Alt Media Studios team to get a better idea of what was happening. They informed me that all those reviews actually go back to the vendor’s website and serve to improve their ranking, doing little to no good for the business they're claiming to generate reviews for. 

A CRYING, FEARFUL SHAME

There are so many ways to generate organic reviews for your business, but what this company is doing is the worst method I've ever heard of. The most unfortunate part of the story is that this approach is all that most people know––for them it’s mainstream. But I'm out to change that. I’m hoping that I can help those of you reading this article to know that there are better ways to manage your reputation, directly on Google. Granted, it takes effort, collaboration, and follow-through with your customers. But at Alt Media Studios, we know how to accomplish this for you. 

How Can Alt Media Studios Help You Get More Reviews?

• Web Development - There are development improvements that we can build right into your website. These will encourage people to review you directly on Google, Facebook, or wherever else you prefer us to point your site’s visitors.
• Print Marketing - Our Graphic Design team can create custom print materials that will leave an indelible impression on your satisfied customers. And we can easily provide you with your own QR code that links customers directly to your Google listing.
• Posters and Banners - Do you have a brick-and-mortar storefront? As a Google Partner in the Cleveland area, we can utilize Google's tools to create items such as banners and posters to prominently display in your store. These signs will remind customers to leave a review.
• Individual Solutions - There are so many other ways that we can help your company with reputation management. 

At Alt Media Studios, we provide the above services under a multi-faceted Digital Marketing product that is geared toward improving your company’s online presence and marketing. We can help to make your marketing efforts count while you’re successfully running your business. 

In the end, the lyrics speak truth: everybody wants to rule their world. Call or email us to learn more––we'd love to help you reach that next level!