Need a Denver public relations firm that can handle your PR, reputation and business reviews? In the loud and turbulent world of business communications, getting your message noticed is not easy. That’s where the Marketing Resultants Group comes in. We make sure your message is heard, read and seen.
Our Denver public relations clients get results because we specialize in creating communications that are heard above the din. What all of this boils down to is simple: public relations issues should be anticipated and resolved with clear, concise, and direct solutions. A plan for creating awareness of a company and its messages should be part of your annual strategic plan.
We are your Denver public relations firm that helps build awareness of companies, products, services, technologies, people and issues among key audiences and influencers. We help companies create an identity in the industry, media and community.
Our Denver public relations team will provide you with an effect PR strategy, develop the content and get it syndicated. We can also work with you to get you interviewed by key media within your industry to get you noticed, build your brand awareness and get you to be perceived as an expert.
Reputation Marketing Overview
You’ve spent years building your business. You’ve invested time, sweat, and tears. You’ve missed dance recitals and soccer games as you’ve toiled to create it. You finally feel as though you can relax… until the day when the phone calls stop, the new customers vanish, and you can’t understand why.
You’re still providing excellent service and your existing customers love you, but your business is struggling. Finally, you learn from an existing customer that your company has some very negative reviews posted online. It dawns on you that your online reputation is presenting a twisted perception of reality that is really killing your business.
Sound like the plot of a B-movie drama? Unfortunately, it’s true for hundreds, if not thousands, of businesses across the country.
Local Business Reviews = Reputation
What people say about your company online has become the single most important reflection of your company’s quality, reliability, and skill. It doesn’t matter if you’re a dentist, a plastic surgeon, a carpet cleaner, or a painter. In Nielsen’s most recent Global Trust in Advertising study, 70% of global consumers indicated they trust online reviews from strangers when making purchasing decisions.
Improving Your Reputation Should Be Your #1 Marketing Priority
Your number one marketing priority should be developing a 5-star online reputation. Why? All your other marketing efforts, whether they be online such as SEO, social media, PPC, or offline such as direct mail, magazines, radio, or TV, will ultimately lead the consumer to learn more about you online. There, you’re less than sterling or non-existent reputation drives them away.
Most business owners fail to realize is that what consumers want is information that will help them feel confident they’re making the best, most well-reasoned purchase. Today, quite a bit of that confidence comes in the form of online reviews reflecting others’ experiences.
The 3Rs and 2Qs of Local Reviews and Reputation
When it comes to taking an active role in developing, building, and protecting your online reputation, you need to keep five points in mind:
1. Range – While it might seem as though getting a few positive reviews on Google+ or Yelp is all that’s needed, we advocate a wide-ranging approach to online review management. Your business is too important to you and your loved ones to let its success be dictated by one or two companies with no vested interest.
2. Real – Make sure real client reviews are getting posted. It’s tempting to game the system and pen some glowing reviews, however, it’s not only unethical, you’ll undoubtedly get caught, and that can have some unintended consequences). Encourage your customers to be as specific as possible. A hallmark of fake reviews is vagueness.
3. Recent – It appears that more recent reviews weigh more heavily by the search engines in terms of ranking. For this reason alone, creating a steady stream of new, positive reviews makes sense. Additionally, the fact that more recent reviews pack more powerful social proof with potential customers than older reviews, and you simply must put systems in place to continually gather reviews.
4. Quantity – Ask yourself: If one dentist has 25 reviews with a 4-star average and the next best has one 5-star review, who are you going to call? Reliability is proven with consistency, particularly where reviews are concerned.
5. Quality – This one is pretty obvious: The higher your reviews, the better your status will be – within reason. A business with nothing but 5-star ratings can look suspicious but, in general, the more favorable your reviews, the better. We are the Denver public relations needs that can help you execute this strategy successfully.
One Hidden – but Powerful – Benefit of Positive Reviews
Clearly, your business needs to put a review-gathering, reputation marketing culture, and process in place. The investment you make will return profits from the new customers you’ll attract. But there is one other “hidden” benefit that an outstanding online reputation will bring: pricing power.
For years, nearly every business has struggled to defend its price in a world of “me too” competitors. Imagine how easy it will be to respond to “Why should I pay more for your service?” when you can simply reply, “Have you taken a look online to see what our customers say?”
Companies need to leverage the power a 5-star reputation brings. You’ve worked hard to establish your business and sacrificed plenty along the way. Are you willing to let that hard work get flushed down the drain because of one or two disgruntled customers or a competitor who posted a negative review?
We’re a Denver public relations firm that helps to ensure your biggest fans are louder than your biggest enemies; the payoff is worth it.