Local businesses have realized that their online reputation matters and it can have a major impact on their Local Online Marketing.

Online Reviews are prominently displayed on most major websites and on all local directories.  Just look at the screenshot below.

Notice the reviews in a different color(to make them stand out).  They redirect the viewer back to a page with nothing but reviews about the local business.

78% of consumers trust peer recommendations but…
unfortunately it takes 1 unhappy customer to write 1 review and 100 happy customers to write 1 review.  For this reason, you need to have a Review System or Reputation Management System in place.

As if these reviews did not already play a big role…now the explosive growth of smartphones allows your customers to write a review about your business before they walk out the front door.

In addition…100 Million people per month access Facebook from their smartphones.  Guess what many of them are doing?

They are talking about their experience at a business just like yours.

In addition…

Social Media influences your Search Engine Optimization for organic search.

Each one of these influences the other and in the center of all of it is profits.

The power now lies in the hands of the consumer.  It used to be that businesses had easy access to a list of leads…now customers have easy access to a list of businesses and they can read what people are saying about them and they can ask their friends if they have anything to say about them and they will often decide to do business with you or someone else based on that reputation…that they can access in 2 minutes using their smartphone.

Which of these do you believe to be the most relevant to your business?  comment below.