Pure open source development is not the future of martech

But it may have an important supporting role to play.

Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.

Source Marketing Land - Internet Marketing News, Strategies & Tips https://ift.tt/338atSo

Effective ways to successfully ask for customer reviews

When making purchasing decisions, potential customers put a lot of weight on the experiences of others. Many shoppers seek out reviews to find objective and unbiased information on products they’re interested in buying. As a marketer, social proof such as reviews from customers organically sharing their opinion is extremely valuable.

It’s essential to incorporate asking for reviews into your marketing strategy to make sure that you’re getting quality reviews from your customers.

The importance of customer reviews

Figuring out how to use customer testimonials as part of your brand’s marketing process can boost credibility through social proof, improve your reputation and relationships with your customers, and improve your brand’s SEO and visibility.

Better brand reputation

Having a lot of reviews can improve your brand’s online reputation and inform new potential customers. Shoppers will see that your brand has helped others solve a problem and use it as a solution of their own.

According to a study conducted by BrightLocal, 85% of online shoppers trust reviews just as much as personal recommendations. So when shoppers see a high number of positive reviews, they’re less likely to have concerns, or second guess purchasing your product.

Increased social proof

Social proof is a concept rooted in customers’ sense of belonging. Customers want to feel good about who they’re giving their money to and they want to feel like they are making the right decision. Having a lot of customer reviews can reinforce potential customer’s feelings of certainty about your brand. It makes them secure in their buying decision by showing them that others have made the same decision and that they are satisfied enough to recommend the purchase to others.

Improved SEO

Once your brand receives five reviews on Google, your business will begin to show up on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). This strategy is most beneficial for local businesses. However, it can also create an advantage over your competitors if you have the most reviews on your Google My Business page. The more reviews you have on Google, the higher your business will show up in local search results.

How to get more reviews from customers

Most brands hope that their customers will love their product or service enough to leave glowing reviews organically. But if you’re not actively seeking out reviews, customers may move on and forget to write them. For this reason, it’s important to incorporate intentional strategies to ask your customers for reviews.

If you’re unsure how to ask for customer reviews, here are some strategies you can use to encourage your customers to provide reviews more frequently.

Reach out to power users or repeat customers

One of the easiest ways to get customer reviews is to reach out to customers who you already know enjoy your products. For e-commerce or B2C brands, follow up with customers who have made multiple purchases. For B2B brands or Saas companies, take note of the people who continually use your service or software and reach out to these power users for feedback or even participation in case studies.

This outreach can be as simple as sending an email expressing your appreciation for their continued support. In this email, ask if they are willing to leave a review and create a direct link for them to use to review a product they purchased.

Make it as easy as possible

The easier it is for your customers to leave their review, the more likely they are to do it. Creating a template or form that the customer can quickly fill out will lower the barrier and streamline the process. While you want the review to be authentic, creating a streamlined process makes it easier for your customers to share their thoughts.

A lot of brands, like Expedia, create forms that give customers the option to rate different parts of the experience. All it takes is a few clicks to rate and review various aspects of their trip.

Offer an incentive

Sometimes people need an extra push to share their experiences. After all, people are busy and leaving a review or testimonial can be time-consuming. Show your customers that you value their time and feedback by offering a small incentive to anyone who leaves a review. This can include things like a small discount on their next purchase, a freebie or a shoutout of some sort.

ActiveCampaign implemented this strategy by emailing their users a request to leave a review in exchange for an Amazon gift card. To promote transparency, they even encouraged customers to disclose that they received an incentive to leave this review.

Create review options on different platforms

To make it even easier for your customers to leave reviews, give them the option to leave reviews on a variety of platforms. If customers are more active on Facebook, they’re more likely to leave a review on your Facebook Page. Some of your audience might prefer to use Yelp or Google reviews and choose to leave you a review there. Make sure that you’ve claimed your business pages on various platforms to allow your audience to share their experience more easily.

Share user-generated content

Keep an eye out on social media for people who are already, organically talking about your brand. If your brand receives a lot of user-generated content, highlight those customers by sharing their posts with your audience. It demonstrates that you have fans who value your product enough to talk about it on their own. You can also show your appreciation for your loyal customers by replying to them on social media and sharing their messages on your accounts.

You can also create a branded hashtag and encourage your audience to share their experiences using that hashtag.

Use a Review management tool

If you’re not sure how to track and manage your Facebook or Google My Business reviews, Sprout’s Reviews tool can help. The tool enables you to manage and monitor reviews across multiple business pages. The Reviews tool makes it easy to keep track of all of your review platforms. In Sprout, you can Google My Business, Facebook Pages and TripAdvisor reviews, all from one easy-to-use dashboard.

Using a review management tool that helps you integrate all of your review platforms can save time and keep you organized. It will also make it easier to respond to reviews and track where they come from. Knowing where your reviews most frequently come from can help create a more streamlined strategy when asking for them in the future.

Create case studies

For B2B brands, creating case studies can be a lucrative way to show how you’ve helped other businesses. Case studies are much more in-depth than standard testimonials. When done right, they can be an incredible way to showcase your product or service in a new light.

At Sprout, we use case studies to highlight customer success stories and showcase how brands are using our tools to meet their goals. Case studies are mutually beneficial for clients because they also highlight the other business. They also demonstrate new ways existing customers can use product features that they may not have thought of previously.

Creating a case study will require more of a time commitment on your part and on that of the client. You may need to conduct multiple interviews and it helps if you have been tracking the client’s progress over time.

Things to remember when asking for customer reviews

Yes, asking for reviews is an integral part of your strategy. But you still want your customer reviews to be as authentic as possible. There are some strategies you should avoid as they can promote dishonest reviews and even damage your brand’s reputation. Keep the following guidelines in mind when asking for reviews:

• Encourage honest reviews. Always encourage your audience to be as truthful and authentic as possible in their review. Offering incentives can encourage more reviews, but never pay someone to write a positive review. The purpose of the incentive should not be to sway their review in any way.
• Avoid asking too soon. Wait until your customers have enough time to form an opinion before asking them for a review. Asking too fast or too often could come off as pushy.
• Create a feedback loop. Make sure that you’re engaging with your audience before asking for a review and have a good feedback loop cycle. If you consistently receive negative reviews, find ways to make improvements and incorporate customer feedback into your product before asking for additional reviews.

Customer reviews have the power to propel your brand’s reputation and build trust with your audience. Whether you’re collecting reviews on your website, social media, or another tool, these strategies can help streamline the process. For a more in-depth look at how reviews can impact your business, download our complete guide on Building a Better Reputation with Reviews.

This post Effective ways to successfully ask for customer reviews originally appeared on Sprout Social.

Source Sprout Social https://ift.tt/30aKs2F

The Biggest Challenges With Executing Account-Based Marketing Programs

The two biggest challenges facing companies trying to execute account-based marketing (ABM) programs are data quality issues and a lack of budget, according to recent research from Demandbase. Read the full article at MarketingProfs

Source MarketingProfs Daily: Marketing Strategy https://ift.tt/3jOFnF7

Business as Unusual: Shifting Live Events to Digital and Hybrid Experiences

Unusual times call for unusual thinking and strategic engagements. In the current business environment, to fully realize the objectives of live events that can't take place, take the path mapped out in this article to deliver an experience that exceeds expectations. Read the full article at MarketingProfs

Source MarketingProfs Daily: Marketing Strategy https://ift.tt/3hLNWi1

Search competition: Who are you really competing with?

Assessing your traditional competitors in search is critical, but you also need to analyze who competes with you purely through search rankings.

Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.

Source Marketing Land - Internet Marketing News, Strategies & Tips https://ift.tt/2EwdlOA

Is Radio Advertising Effective?

...

Read More...

The post Is Radio Advertising Effective? appeared first on Search Engine People Blog.

Source Search Engine People Blog https://ift.tt/30ciBzn

Taking the ‘stuff’ out of credential stuffing

Marketers can help secure accounts with multi-factor authentication because it’s likely attackers will turn it on and make it harder to recover from a takeover.

Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.

Source Marketing Land - Internet Marketing News, Strategies & Tips https://ift.tt/2P6jsuV

4 Ways to Get in Front of More People on Instagram

Want more people to learn about you on Instagram? Looking for ideas to expand your Instagram reach? In this article, you’ll find four ways to reach a wider audience on Instagram. #1: Bring a Guest on Your Instagram Live Video to Reach Their Audience Instagram Live video gives you an opportunity to show your followers […]

The post 4 Ways to Get in Front of More People on Instagram appeared first on Social Media Examiner | Social Media Marketing.

Source Social Media Examiner | Social Media Marketing https://ift.tt/3061DCC

Top 5 benefits of a Pinterest business account

Wondering if you should sign up for Pinterest? While each platform has its own demographics that can guide your strategy, there are plenty of benefits to having a Pinterest business account.

When you create a business account, you gain access to a lot of Pinterest benefits that you wouldn’t have otherwise, creating so many new opportunities for your online presence.

Read through this guide to help you understand just how powerful a Pinterest business account can be for your brand.

1. Spot emerging trends

Pinterest is the number one platform where consumers share products, designs and trends that they’re loving. To ensure that your brand is on the forefront of upcoming trends in your industry, you want to maintain an active presence on Pinterest.

Not only should you follow influencers in your industry on the platform to find emerging trends, but Pinterest regularly aggregates categories of popular content for users based on their searches.

Check out these search options that appear when a user clicks on the search bar. For me, it includes curated content from interior design styling ideas to website and business resources.

These aggregate search categories will appear based on your searches, and if you’re searching for things related to your business, you’re likely to see options that will be hyper-targeted to your brand and audience.

Search through these ideas to see which products or services you should be promoting or adding for your customers and clients.

2. Increase brand authority

When you create a Pinterest business account, you get access to a few features on your profile that regular accounts don’t have.

Take a look at my Pinterest business profile below.

There are several elements to this profile that regular Pinterest users can’t access:

• A header full of your own branded pins
• Insight into the number of viewers your pins get
• A verified website

Each of these lend to your brand authority, giving you a more legitimate online presence.

3. Drive website traffic

As I mentioned in the last point, you’re able to include your verified website address on your Pinterest business profile.

This is one great way to immediately start driving website traffic from your Pinterest profile.

To add, a Pinterest business account gives you access to rich Pins, a type of Pin that offers more information about your landing page than a regular Pin. For product Pins, that include pricing information and other product specs.

Here’s an example of a product Pin below.

Pins like this showcase more information about your product, service or blog post before a user saves or clicks on it. Enticing users can lead to more clicks and more traffic.

4. Access your analytics

Another great perk of using a Pinterest business account is the ability to see analytics for your Pins, especially the ones that you’ve saved from your website.

You’re able to view impressions, engagements, clicks, views and so much more. You can also select specific date ranges and view all of your pins or only the Pins saved from your website.

If you’re looking for other Pinterest performance information, you can also check your report in Sprout Social’s dashboard.

Viewing your analytics is a great way to see which Pins are getting the most clicks and generating the most traffic to your website so that you can promote them for even more success and create similar products, blog posts or Pins to replicate that success.

5. Run ads and promoted Pins

Our last top benefit of Pinterest business accounts is the ability to run ads and promoted Pins. Gaining access to Pinterest advertising and targeting features is a major benefit, and can help you to see even more success from your Pinterest profile.

Simply head over to the Ads tab in your business account’s navigation bar to get started.

Choose to build ad campaigns around brand awareness, traffic or conversions, and you can choose hyper-specific interest targeting for your ads.

Because Pinterest is used as a visual search engine, it has really powerful ad targeting options since it knows exactly what people are searching for and interested in. Users are often on the platform researching purchases, and highlighting your products on the network front and center can generate more sales and conversions.

Pinterest advertising is also extremely affordable, and if you have a visual product or service, you should definitely set aside some of your advertising budget for this platform.

Get started on Pinterest today

Ready to take advantage of all of these benefits of Pinterest? Create your own Pinterest business account and check out our 5-step Pinterest marketing guide to get started.

This post Top 5 benefits of a Pinterest business account originally appeared on Sprout Social.

Source Sprout Social https://ift.tt/2BCU64R

How COVID-19 Is Affecting the B2B Exhibition Industry

Nearly three-quarters of organizers of B2B exhibitions say they've had to cancel at least one in-person event because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to recent research from The Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR). Read the full article at MarketingProfs

Source MarketingProfs Daily: Marketing Strategy https://ift.tt/39BFE9M