Does Your Business Need Reputation Management?

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customerserviceIf you’ve been in business for any length of time, you’ve realized that you’re not going to be able to please 100% of your customers 100% of the time. You’ve got to expect that you’re going to get a bad review or two on online review sites, or social media. But there comes a point when you may need to do some serious work in order to repair the reputation of your business.

According to a Neilsen study in 2012, over 70% of consumers believe that online reviews are authentic. These reviews can influence a consumer’s purchasing decision. In the past word-of-mouth often influenced a person’s buying decision, and that can still be applicable today. But the ready access to the net can bring up a review of any product in seconds.

Whether it’s the fault of the business, or the fault of the consumer, it doesn’t really matter once the negative reviews start coming in. It’s time to take charge and do some repair. What are some signs that you may need to have reputation marketing done for your business?

If you have one particularly spiteful consumer, they can post multiple negative reviews on each website, under different user names. These reviews are usually much easier to have deleted, as the ISP trail can be tracked back, but it takes time contacting each site.

If it appears that more than one consumer is in agreement about an imagined wrong-doing on the business’s part, it may be time to ease the public’s mind. If it was a one-time incident, you’ll need to assure the public it won’t happen again.

If there was an issue with your business that repeatedly happened, but now you’ve fixed the problem, you’ll want to get the word out that you’ve changed your products, or your processes, and invite your customers back.

Selling faulty products can make consumers angry. It can be a difficult choice as to whether to mail out replacements, or to remove the product from the shelves. Either way, you’re going to lose money.

Most likely you’ve read in the news about serious infractions, such as refusing service to a person, or firing an employee over being sick, pregnant, or fishing something out of the garbage to eat. These are all recent headlines, and they can damage the reputation of a business, as a corporation is seen as having power over a person. Slights and discrimination are some of the worst ways that your business can be damaged, as masses of people are going to get together to boycott your business. What’s worse is that your business may hold strong morals and ethics, but the beliefs of one employee can tarnish your business.

Direct West Media Group can help you to rebuild a bad reputation through marketing and social media techniques. Contact us today to find out how we can help you get started on creating a positive presence on the net.

Be Wary of One Size Fits All Advice

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startupgraphicIf there was a golden entrepreneurial template, everyone would be lining up for a share of the profits. Unfortunately, in today’s economic climate, there are no guarantees that what works for one entrepreneur will work for another. Two similar ideas may result in the clumsy business startup succeeding over the carefully crafted business plan, for no apparent reason other than one business opened at the right time. A budding entrepreneur may be facing some of their worst difficulties over the conflicting advice they’re receiving.

The best business plan begins with research. The new business owner will learn from authoritative sources, including books, journals, blogs, and successful entrepreneurs in a similar field. However, over time you may realize that common advice may be the worst thing for your startup launch. You’ll receive many tips during your new business launch, but not all of them will work for you. Be wary of one size fits all advice, particularly from the well-seasoned millionaires who have forgotten what it’s really like implementing startup tactics in today’s competitive market.

Delegate, while strategizing.
One of the main problems with the “delegate first” school-of-thought is that it doesn’t take into account that most new businesses today are lean startups, and there are few funds in the budget to include personnel. There’s nothing wrong with getting your hands dirty, after all it worked for Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. The only person who understands your vision is you, not a CEO for a big box company.

Content marketing will pay off in the end.
Unfortunately, you could hire a celebrity writer to produce the best content for your website, but that’s not what’s going to attract customers to your door. Most new businesses work by word-by-mouth. You’ll get new business when your happy clients recommend you to their needy friends. Great content can attract the attention of your customer base, but don’t forget to focus on your great products or services first.

Buy a time travel machine.
Being everywhere, particularly when you’ve just launched your business is going to be both costly, and time-consuming. Focus on one particular region and find out where your customers are coming from. From there, decide whether it’s profitable to focus on a new target market, or to attract local customers.

Become a salesman.
Most entrepreneurs are not good with salesmanship, nor is it required to have a successful enterprise. Steve Wozniak preferred to stay behind the scenes, while Jobs went out to do the selling. If your products have value for your target market, they’ll sell themselves. Most customers are turned off by harsh elevator pitches anyway. The soft sell is what works today, and as you build trust for your potential client base, you’ll discover that you don’t really need to close the deal, so to speak.

If you need help planning effective marketing strategies tailored to your new business startup, please contact Direct West Media Group.

Seven Signs That You Need Help with Your Marketing

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ConfusedWhen new businesses start out, they can benefit from an effective marketing campaign. There’s not one type of business that is guaranteed to pull in the customers, so advertising and marketing gets the message out to your audience. As your business grows, it’s also important to add advertising to your business plan, so you can meet your goals.

If you’ve neglected the marketing area of your business for too long, you may start seeing signs that it’s time to spend some effort on your campaign. Here’s a few signs that indicate it’s time that you need to get some help with your marketing and advertising needs.

1. If you’ve been neglecting your advertising or marketing needs, then likely you either don’t have time to handle it, or you don’t know how what to do. It could be time to call in an expert, who can help you focus on where you need to get started.

2. Are your telephones too quiet? This could be an indication that business is slowing down. Since we’re heading into fall, this could be troublesome, as the fall should be a busy season. It may be time to jumpstart a new marketing campaign, to draw more visitors to your business.

3. If your website is getting few visitors, it may not just be the overall design, but it could be because your potential customers just aren’t on a laptop computer anymore. Many people have made the switch to tablets and smart phones. If your website hasn’t been optimized for mobile usage, you could be turning away customers with your bulky website. It may be time to set up a mobile website to handle your ever-changing market.

4. If you’re starting to scribble your phone number on pieces of paper, it may be time for some brand new business cards. But don’t just reorder cards from ten years ago, order new ones with your business’s social media accounts, as well as website and full contact details. Business cards are changing with the times.

5. A coffee shop or restaurant should never be quiet. People eat at all hours of the day and night, and you can see that at busy franchises. So, if your restaurant is getting quiet, it may be time to start a new social media program to start drawing traffic your way, through a special promotion.

6. Are even your employees heading to the competition? If you own a restaurant or a store, and your employees are heading next door to do business, it may be time to dust off your signage. Perhaps you need some interior signage to spiff up the place?

7. If you’re way too busy to tackle your social media, it may be time to hire someone to do it for you. Just because your business is busy, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be continuing to market your company. Be sure to constantly keep your business in the public eye, so it’s never quiet.

If your business is suffering any of these seven signs that you need help with your advertising or marketing needs, now is the best time to give Direct West Media Group Inc. a call so they can help your business to thrive and grow with the times.