Yelp Reviews Are Mission Critical For Your Business
By Rick McNeely...
Consumers Expect Brands to Respond to Reviews...
If you are a business whose Yelp reviews and Yelp business page are not being managed every day, you’re leaving money and knowledge on the table.
Some Statistics That Might Change Your Mind...
- 53 percent of customers expect businesses to respond to negative reviews within a week. However, 63 percent of customers say that a business has never responded to their review.
- 45 percent of consumers say that they’re more likely to visit a business if it responds to negative reviews.
- Negative reviews drive away customers. As a result, 94 percent of consumers say an online review has convinced them to avoid a business.
- Customers don’t really trust businesses with lower than 4-star ratings. That said, 80 percent of consumers say the star ratings they trust the most are 4.0, 4.5, and 5 stars.
- A consumer is 21 percent more likely to leave a review after a negative experience than a positive one.
There are More and More Positive Reviews
Data reveals that review sites are increasingly shifting from places to complain to places where consumers can recommend businesses after a positive experience.
The popularity of third-party review sites like Google, Facebook, Yelp, and TripAdvisor is driven by customers’ genuine desire to engage with businesses.
Yelp Reviews, Customer Sentiment & Operations, oh my
Yelp Reviews combined with customer comments on your site, social media and other review platforms, allow you to gather important customer sentiment data. Simply stated, reviews enable you to hear what people are saying about your business!
Yelp reviews and other review sites can help your business operations by exhibiting trends. For example, if you are seeing repetitive negative reviews concerning a product, your service or delivery, you have identified an operational opportunity. Negative or positive, reviews can exhibit trends and opportunities in your business operation.
Where do I begin and what are my next steps?
1. Claim your Yelp page
2. Wait for your page to be confirmed by Yelp
3. Review and submit all relevant information to complete your business page
4. Add pictures and share your business personality
5. Begin to manage reviews by commenting, thanking and addressing problems
6. Promote your Yelp page with POS materials, email signatures and links on your website
Do you need to find a partner to help with the management of your Yelp Reviews and Yelp presence?
If you’re not managing your online reputation or allocating marketing budget to reputation marketing, we would highly recommend you do so. The cost of having your in-house team (or an agency) monitor your presence and make ongoing efforts is a great investment. Of course, if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to send me an email at rickmcneely@operationreputation.com.