Houston Independent Automobile Dealers Association October Issue: Marketing | Page 18

7-Step Formula to Build Reviews, Improve Online Reputation & Increase Sales

Improving, protecting and promoting your dealership's online reputation is no longer just "something I should work on." The latest statistics and trends show that 90% of consumers read online reviews and 88% of them trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. If you want to increase sales (who doesn't?) then you need a winning formula to capture your happy, loyal customers' opinions.

More people read reviews as part of their pre-purchase research before buying and this has a direct effect on sales.

•86% will hesitate to purchase from a business that has negative online reviews.

•On average, a 1-star increase on Yelp leads to a 5%-9% increase in revenue.

•ONE negative review can cost you 30 customers.

The evidence is clear that focusing resources on improving, protecting and promoting your company's online reputation pays off.

•Customers are likely to spend 31% more with a business that has "excellent" reviews.

•72% of users say that positive reviews make them trust the business more.

•92% will use a local business if it has at least a 4-star rating.

Now, you may be asking, "This is super valuable info but how do I actually apply it to my dealership?"

I agree that it's a struggle to make the connection from theory to application. I regularly see a huge breakdown in the internal process within each dealership and there are many factors that lead to this. Stay tuned because I have a formula for you to follow that will remedy this dilemma.

There's another school of thought that says, "Great info but we have a vendor that does all that for us."

There are many "solutions" that promise to clear up your online reviews and manage them for you. Given that online reviews and your reputation play such a crucial role in business growth, is it really prudent to hand off your reputation to a 3rd party that doesn't really have their finger on the pulse of your business? (and certainly doesn't make your company's profits a priority?).

Nobody manages your reputation like you do.

The shift in social marketing and online reputation management: taking it internal.

I'm seeing a big shift in how dealers approach their marketing and online reputation. The shift to taking it internally is born out of a need to understand exactly how the process works and whether or not they’re getting a return on their investment.

I know my newer clients all reached out to me because they made the decision to take their power back and create a better online presence for themselves.

Many have hired a marketing manager and/or a small team made up of content creators, reputation managers, developers and designers. With the trend going to digital first, and the frustration I see with vendors who cannot deliver quality products timely, making the shift to internal marketing makes sense for a lot of dealers.

This 7-Step formula will give you the power to improve, protect and promote your online reputation.

No matter where your organization is in the process of digital marketing, the following 7-step formula, when executed well, will help your business build a solid online reputation and pave the way to increased sales.

Step 1: Create a Review Conversion Funnel

Systematically drive customers to one conversion funnel that routes them to the review sites you care about.

You'll need software to create your review conversion funnel. At Kruse Control, we use and recommend Grade.us. I'm not a paid endorser, the software simply works well. Watch the 25-min