In local markets, many consumers pay a ton of attention to online reviews for local businesses. That’s why it’s crucial for multi-location businesses to have a review strategy in place that helps them improve their businesses.
If you’re the owner of a multi-location, and you’re skeptical about the profound power of local reviews, consider taking some advice from Kevin Mullett, Marketsnare’s Sales and Marketing Manager. In a recent episode of our podcast, he suggested that you ask someone you love and trust: “What do you do before making decisions about purchases or activities that you’re going to do online?” You’ll almost certainly find that people you’re close to rely heavily on reviews.
Kevin’s premise is supported by the following research findings:
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For general purchases of products, 89% of consumers read reviews before buying something.
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For local businesses, 82% of consumers consult reviews to find out more about local stores.
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79% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
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(Note: the previous statistics are from this insightful article by Oberlo.)
In that episode, Kevin really gets to the heart of why a comprehensive marketing strategy is crucial for companies that operate assorted businesses spread across various geographical locations. He knows that owners of multi-location businesses just like you are asking difficult marketing questions such as:
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How will online local reviews help me with my rankings in search results?
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How will they help me with whether people searching for my businesse trust my business?
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How will they help me with converting potential leads into actual sales?
We’re not going to lie, answering those kinds of questions is tricky. Importantly, the answers will change according to what industry you’re in. Chain restaurants and retail chains might have some crossover, but ultimately will have different goals related to their customers. Same goes with, say, estate agents and insurance brokers—they’ll probably share some similar marketing traits, yet at the end of the day are very different businesses.
So where should you start? Admittedly, we here at MarketSnare are rather biased in this area! If you’re keen to learn more about this topic, we recommend reading about our local web presence solutions that include tools to help you with local testimonials and reviews. Also, check out the full episode mentioned in this article.