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What’s the half-life of your content marketing?

What’s the half-life of your content marketing?

Scientists know the exact half-life of a Hydrogen-7 molecule to be around 2 Jiffies (and yes that is a measure of time).
 
They also know that Carbon 14 has a half-life of ~5730 years which is handy for Carbon dating all manner of ancient things.
 
When we produce content it is useful to consider what the half-life of that content will be.
 
Will our market still be talking about it tomorrow, next month, next year even?
 
Or, will it more likely fly past their eyeballs as they scroll through the endless feed filled with insignificant noise, hunting for that next distraction?
 
Over the last few years, there has been a move towards publishing more material, more often with less thought.
 
It’s what you need to do to satisfy the algorithm, social media experts will tell you.
 
Post daily, no twice daily with videos shot live.
 
But what would happen if you decided to produce just one piece of hero content, that captured the attention of your audiences and changed the way they saw both your brand and perhaps even themself.
 
Well, it seems someone has answered this question for us! Australian Lamb puts the majority of their marketing efforts into creating a single hero video each year, that captures the zeitgeist and poke holes in all the things we love about being Australian. It is funny, clever and contemporary, and let’s face it what’s not to love about Lambassador Sam Kekovich being suitably offensive? This content grabs all of our attention and sinks into our culture.
 
Yep, they’ve got a big budget. Yep, they’ve trained us all to wait for the Australia Day drop. Yep, they’ve got a big name in Sam.
 
But wouldn’t you rather focus all of your attention on producing something that connects than posting another 200 Canva posts that slide through your audience feed, never gaining attention, let alone traction?
 
If you’re ready to Rethink your approach to content creation, get in touch with us. We’d love to discuss your ideas and share a few of our own with a view to creating something that really connects with your market.
 
Oh and if you haven’t already seen it make sure to check out this year’s video. I love Mark McGowan’s map at the very end.
 
9 Ways To Get More 5-Star Reviews

9 Ways To Get More 5-Star Reviews

9WaysReviews

9 Ways To Get More 5-Star Reviews

Did you know that 53% of customers won’t consider dealing with a business that is rated less than four stars?

What if you have no google reviews or only a handful of reviews scattered across Facebook, Trip Advisor and Product Reviews? A single negative review could bring your whole star rating down, which would have an immediate impact on your online reputation and your ability to win over a potential customer.

Actively managing your online review profile is a critical marketing skill that business of all sizes need to master. In this article, we’ll explore why 5-star reviews are essential and how to get more 5 star reviews.

Why Are 5 star reviews Important?

With 92% of people who read reviews before they push the buy now button, it’s critical to your online reputation to get more 5 star reviews. That’s because 80% of customers treat customer reviews as if the review was coming from their friends or family.

When you are looking to buy a product or employ a service provider you have never used before, one of the first things you do is ask your friends. “Who do you know that…?” 

You are more likely to take the advice of your friends over an advertisement. Most people, when conducting a Google search for a product or a service, one of the first things they also do is look at the reviews. Five-star reviews give them the confidence to make a buying decision.

Your online review profile affects both your position in the search results and the probability that someone will click on your listing. Think about this…research by the CXL institute found that review stars in the search engine results page (or “SERP”) helped traffic uplift by 35%. Your star rating and the number of online review you have earned has also been flagged as a ranking factor in the Google Local Search Results 3 pack.

In short, your business needs more five star customer reviews to give your potential customers the confidence to do business with you rather than your competitors.

Spray and Pray Marketing Doesn’t Work – 5 Star Reviews Do!

Although most marketing managers and business owners know the power of getting reviews, many still rely on spray and pray marketing. You know how it goes, throw an advertisement out there, cross your fingers, and hope it works. 

 You offer an excellent service at a great price; cross your fingers and pray the customer will write you a 5 star review. How often does this happen? Not very often. Sometimes this works, but with only a few reviews coming in over months, it’s not enough to make an impact on your business.

Then what happens is, among the trickle of reviews, you get an angry ant who wants to blast your business into oblivion. You don’t want someone looking to sully your reputation all because they had a bad day. You need to fight back and get more five-star reviews, so your online reputation doesn’t plunge from a 4.4 rating to 3.7 overnight.

Now that you know the value of getting reviews let’s look at how to get more five-star reviews.

In order to have a meaningful impact on your search ranking both the volume and velocity of your online reviews need to be consistently better than your competitors. For many businesses, one or two reviews every week will put them well ahead of the competitors within just a few months.

9 Ways to Get More 5 Star Reviews

Collecting online reviews is an easy way to grow your reputation online. They improve your SEO and sales conversions. Let’s face it, 5-star reviews are like gold. They are the currency that builds trust and confidence and helps your business grow. Almost every customer will use online reviews to pre-screen your business. 

When asking for reviews, be open, honest, and authentic. Let them know how much their opinion matters to you-time to learn how to get more 5 star reviews.

Here are nine helpful tips on how to get more 5-Star reviews for your business.

Just Ask

The most obvious way to get reviews, a testimonial, or feedback is simply to ask. Consider the countless times you knew a customer was happy with your products or services and you forgot to ask for a google review. 

Firstly map out the customer journey and pick the point where their satisfaction levels are the highest. At that point, ask them an open question such as, “How was your experience today?” If it’s positive, follow up with the question, “Would you mind leaving us a review? It’s really simple and easy. We just send you a link which you click on to leave your google review.”

You can’t get around the fact that you probably just need to ask for 5-Star reviews. You’d be surprised how many of your satisfied customers are happy to leave you a google review. Make it easy. Direct them to a website or app, pre-populate some of the information, so it’s quick and easy to complete a review. Emphasize the words quick and easy, and they will be happy to oblige.

Incent Your Employees To Ask

Another simple tactic to getting more 5 star reviews is to train your people to ask. Tell them what to say and do and make it easy for them to ask as well. They too love to see 5-star reviews, especially if they are personally mentioned in the review, it boosts their morale.

The minute they complete a sale and ensure the customer is happy, have them ask for a google review. Build this into your business processes.

Make Your Customers an Ambassador For Your Business

Referral business costs nothing; it’s the cheapest form of advertising. All it takes is a focus on customer service and customer care.

When you service your customers well, they will naturally become brand ambassadors. Take a photo with the happy customer and get their permission to share the photo on your website or on social media. Not everyone will give you permission; however, imagine the impact on your reputation of those who do. Remember to add the hashtag #happycusotmer or #satisfiedcustomer and share it on social media or use it in an advertisement.

Send an Email With a Link to Your Google Review Page

Once you are sure the customer is happy, send them an email to show them how to conduct a review online. By making it easy for them to leave a review, the more likely they will leave a review.

Provide them with instructions on how to leave a review. For instance, if you wanted them to leave a review on Google, guide them through what they need to do.

Firstly they need to sign in to Google and navigate to your business listing before they can leave a review. Give them easy to follow instructions such as the following:

  1. Sign in to your Google (Gmail) Account.
  2. Search for your business name on Google (provide them with the exact name)
  3. Click to leave a review.
  4. Select a star rating, write the review and submit. 

Be careful about asking family and friends to leave a review if you sold them any of your products or services. When tapping friends and family on the shoulder to leave a review, be careful the reviews don’t look fake or spammy. 

If you have the customer’s email address, send them an email with instructions on how to leave a review along with a review link. 

Don’t wait too long before sending them a link to leave a review. According to a Gartner study, feedback collected immediately after a purchase results in a 40% more accurate review.

Send an SMS

Many people prefer SMS to email. Therefore if you have the customer’s phone number, send them an SMS instead.

To reach out to customers for reviews via SMS means you need a system to collect phone numbers. You also need their permission to send an SMS with an option to opt-out. 

For many businesses that use SMS to communicate with customers, you’ll already have access to these numbers.

Remember to send a text as soon as possible after the purchase is completed while the experience is fresh in their mind.

Send Reminders

If the customer didn’t leave a review, send them a reminder via text or email.

Take a moment to share your experience and leave us a review.

Hello Mary,

Thank you for your recent (purchase) from us. We sincerely hope you were happy with your (purchase – service).

Your feedback means everything to us; it helps us listen to our customers to develop a better service and experience. Here’s a link where you can leave your feedback. It’s quick and easy.

Thank you for putting your trust in us; we appreciate your business.

Sincerely,

XYZ Company

Then insert a link or a button where they can write their review.

Online Testimonials

Written testimonials are great; video testimonials are even better. If you have a website, ask your delighted customers if you can record video testimonials to post on your website. It’s amazing how this immediately boosts your reputation online. If they agree, be sure to send them a gift card or something else thanking them for their testimonial. Showing your appreciation in this way also means they will become one of your best brand ambassadors.

Invest in Reputation Management Software

Gathering more 5-star reviews definitely turbocharges your reputation online. For every 5-star review you get, this enhances the trust value potential customers see in you and your business. 

As your business grows, consider investing in reputation management software. Your reputation is everything. It only takes a string of bad reviews to damage your reputation. Reputation management software works in your favour, whereby you can use 5-star reviews to transform feedback into a competitive advantage.

Build a Review Building Process

5-star reviews don’t happen unless you focus on them. Therefore you must build the review process as you would any business process. 

Instore Presence

  • Ask for feedback in person.
  • Ask for customers’ emails and phone numbers via tablets.
  • Add a link on your receipt asking for feedback.

Integrate Reviews Into Packaging

If you are sending products directly to customers, include feedback stickers on the packaging. Let your customers know you care about their experience, so you want to know if you met their expectations or exceeded their expectations.

Online Presence

Send an email or text as soon as possible you are sure they have received the service, download, or products. Follow up with a phone call, email, or text to get their feedback. Encourage them to leave a review about their experience.

Platforms You Can Use to Get More 5 Star Reviews

Here is a list of five platforms you can use to promote reviews for your products and services.

  • Google My Business
  • Facebook Recommendations
  • Trust Pilot
  • Tripadvisor
  • Yelp

Consider the best review platform that suits your business model. Then set up a profile on the review platform that best aligns with your industry and business.

Yes, you will get a bad review from time to time. The important thing is not to hide negative feedback; it’s more helpful to learn how to deal with negative reviews. Choose what you are willing to do to fix the issue and draw a line in the sand about what you won’t do. 

Conclusion

As you can see, there are many ways you can get customers to leave a review. Take every opportunity you can to ask for a review or testimonial and build this into your business processes.

Sometimes managing this process can be difficult for a business owner, but it is still critical.  At Rethink Marketing, we can take this process on for you, liaising directly with your clients to get feedback and drive reviews.

Learn how to get more reviews with a systematic approach to soliciting positive feedback from your customers.

ReThink Marketing – ReThink Reviews!

When is it time to evolve your logo?

When is it time to evolve your logo?

Your logo is what your target audience is first greeted by. It’s something you’d want an immediate recall, convey your personality, and continue to bring your customers back to you, so when is it time to update? Evolving your logo doesn’t mean you need to start from scratch. Instead, it could easily mean some tweaking, such as a simple refinement to the icon, changing the font, colours or how it is laid out. 

When you created your business, you spent the time to make sure your logo gave the right message, and you felt proud to be standing next to it. But over time, just as we age, it has started to date, no longer relevant or appealing. An excellent way to begin the process is to call a team meeting, get a group of friends or colleagues to discuss where they think it needs to be updated. Listen carefully to all the feedback, it’s very valuable to you in deciding the next steps to take. Consider whether your target market has changed, your business changed focus, does your logo reflect you now and into the future and if you have merged with another business. If you have limited skills in designing, I recommend employing the services of a graphic designer. A trained designer can visually communicate your logo, know what colours and fonts work, and supply your logo in all the formats required for print and digital channels. 

Ready to take the journey of evolving your brand? Here are some do and don’t in succeeding. 1. Do your research – Use your feedback to evaluate your position in the market. Make sure it will reflect your business. 

  1. Don’t change everything at once – Keep it simple so your existing audience knows it’s still you, just with a facelift. 
  2. Guidelines in place – Rolling out the new logo, make sure the logo is consistent and following the guidelines, so make sure the previous logos are removed from all digital, print and equipment to keep your brand strong. 
  3. Don’t be too trendy – Following the fashion trends will outdate your logo very quickly and you’ll be back refreshing it sooner than you think. 
  4. Don’t add for the need to add – Keep the changes simple and make an impression instead of over complicating it and confusing your audience. and 
  5. Consider who you get to do the logo – Sometimes it comes down to your budget, but going the cheap way through an online option as an example, can end up being more expensive as you may need a designer to fix the issue that arises. 

There is no defined time when you should evolve your logo. But you will feel things just aren’t working for you; then, it is time to reassess. A strong, evolved logo will continue your business into the future, and all it took was a tweak.

Top 50 Review Sites for Australian Businesses

Top 50 Review Sites for Australian Businesses

Here’s a list of the top 50 websites that your customers may use to review your service.  

WebsiteDomain Authority
google.com.au100
maps.apple.com100
facebook.com95
foursquare.com93
houzz.com90
onewed.com64
aboutus.com62
tripadvisor.com62
truelocal.com.au61
communitywalk.com57
yelp.com.au57
brownbook.net55
freecampsites.net55
agfg.com.au52
au.showmelocal.com51
rentalo.com51
cybo.com50
lacartes.com49
lawlink.com49
referralkey.com49
foodio54.com48
yelloyello.com47
tupalo.com46
parkbench.com46
2findlocal.com45
au.enrollbusiness.com43
lodging-world.com43
australia.myhuckleberry.com42
dentagama.com41
whodoyou.com41
businesslistings.net.au40
iglobal.co38
find-us-here.com38
wordofmouth.com.au38
goodvetandpetguide.com38
travelindex.com37
tuugo.biz33
fonolive.com33
nationaldirectory.com.au32
cylex.com.au32
fyple.biz31
misterwhat-au.com30
localbusinessguide.com.au30
askmap.net29
australianplanet.com28
superpages.com.au28
nearfinderau.com24
infoisinfo-au.com22
pathlegal.com21
homeownerscircle.com21
Should you put your prices on your website?

Should you put your prices on your website?

It’s a question that every small business needs to make when planning their website. There are many valid arguments for and against to putting your pricing online. To provide some clarity, we’ve busted a few myths that people tend to carry when considering the pricing question.

The #1 Reason you should publish your prices on your website…

 

If it matters to them, then make it easy.
Price is often an important decision-making criteria, so if publishing your price on your website makes it easier and faster for them to decide in your favour, why would you get in the way?

Publishing your prices doesn’t show your value. It won’t improve your branding. What it can achieve is to assist customers on their buying journey, getting you closer to a yes (or no) decision.

Your website needs to sell as well as your best salesperson. If you don’t trust it to communicate the value you offer (which should be bigger than the price you charge), you’ll need to fix this much bigger problem.

<h2>Seven reasons businesses don’t put their prices on their website.</h2>

Seven reasons businesses don’t put their prices on their website.

What if my competition sees my price points?

What about them indeed. Most serious players in most industries have a pretty good idea as to where they sit relative to their competition. Ask yourself, do you know roughly where you expect the competitions pricing to be on the next job you both quote on? If you don’t then you have some work to do on your competitive intelligence.

While their website is a good place to start, you could also ask your customers, their customers, industry colleagues or look at the cost structures they have in their business and make an educated guess as to where they should sit if they were to be making an acceptable margin. There’s no doubt that they’ll be going through a similar process when looking at your prices. If you are doing something unique, and have a fundamentally different cost structure, pricing your services can show that differentiator. If on the other-hand your cost structures are much higher than your competition and deliver no additional value to your customers, get down to work fixing these, or creating more value.

In short, price is everywhere today, and customers expect to see it, up front.

My sales strategy relies on customers calling for a price

Perhaps you think that you need the prospects to talk with you first so that you can demonstrate the value your product or service offers, before quoting them a price. This is an argument we here all too often from salespeople, and perhaps it is a little bit of self-preservation. If your website is well structured, it will prove to a visitor whether you can solve their problem and that the price you charge is worth every cent. Effectively the website is becoming a valued part of your sales team, creating value for your customers and streamlining the sales process. When a prospective customer finally does call you, they’ve already been pre-sold by the website and your sales teams role is to reinforce the understandings of the value you offer and close the deal. If a sales rep needs to speak with me, it’s because they think the product or service “needs explaining,” or that they need to “handle my objections.” Neither is a good excuse to waste my time on something that doesn’t need explaining or should have been explained thoroughly on the website. If you’ve done the work to understand the objections and handle these before I raise them, then top marks, this is what a website should do.

What if they see the price and suffer sticker shock?

You’ll know from your own experience sometimes the price of a good or service is enough to send you searching for the nearest AED. Immediately your interest is crushed, and you’re walking (ok running) out of the short at top speed. It happens even faster on a website, just click that back button and you’re out of there.

In any contexts, no price looks even more expensive, than a high one. Imagine walking into a high-end fashion retailer that had no prices, for most of us the message would be…if you need to worry about the price you’re not welcome here. For their target market though this would be the perfect signal.

My product/service is much to complex to be able to offer an online quote

Some services and products (like many that we offer) are tailored and priced according to each client’s needs. In many of these instances, people don’t expect to see a price. What can work however is a price signal. Pricing signals can be explicit such as price ranges and from prices, or implicit, through the use of colours, style and design to convey a message. -When using price signals, make sure that they are consistent with the reality of your offering. You’re setting your customers up for a disappointment in for example making your cheap second-hand store look like a high-end antique store (or vice versa).

Cheap competitors will just copy my price

Sometimes businesses fear that a competitor, who offers an inferior product or service will see their higher price as a green light to increase their own prices. In the absence of any other quality signals, customers may be induced into thinking that the competitor is “almost as good” as a slightly lower price. If you’ve done the work creating and demonstrating the real value you offer, don’t worry. Do the work to help your target market discern the difference you offer. Build on your testimonials, prove your differences, and show the value you deliver. The “cheap” competitor, starts to look very expensive when the customer can see the value you offer,

My only differentiator is price, I can’t afford to give it out

If you feel that your service or product is no different from that which your competitor offers you have a problem. This is called a commodity. Commodities are regarded as being for all intents and purposes the same, regardless of who is selling them (think about fuel, wheat or iron ore). By being clear on what makes you unique, and better than your competitor, you avoid being seen as a commodity. In marketing lingo this is called your Unique Selling Proposition. If you don’t have one, get one. In almost every instance it’s there, you just might need a hand teasing it out.

What about people shopping on price

If your website visitors are only shopping for prices, chances are they are not your customers. If you’re only winning customers over because you’re the cheapest, you’ll lose them as customers as soon as someone else is willing to cut their margins deeper or adopt a lower cost business model. For these customers, including your prices on your website, Facebook page or Google Ads, is an excellent way of helping them to qualify themselves out, before wasting your time.

My product is ultra-premium and customers don’t care about the price

If price really doesn’t matter to your target customer, then don’t include it on your website.  But before you make that jump, consider the fact that Rolex, Gucci, IWC and many other Premium Core and Super PRemium brands, do include prices on their sites.  Graff and Leviev don’t but then again, when they start at USD$50,000 for a ring why would they, if you need to ask, you can’t afford it.

So should you put your prices on your website?

There are lots of reasons not to put your prices out, and many of them might seem valid. The only thing that should ever matter when it comes to making the decision is what do your customers expect of you?

At Rethink Marketing we’ve worked with hundreds of small businesses in both consumer and industrial markets, offering products and services that vary in their complexity and price. We are yet to find a product (or service) that we can not provide a quote or at least signal a price range.

Indeed, we have most experiments we have conducted we have found that being up front, transparent and indeed open about pricing has boosted both the quality and quantity of leads generated. I guess the end customer is just rewarding our clients for their transparency.

<h3>Your customers want pricing.</h3>

Your customers want pricing.