Local SEO Marketing: How To Influence Consumers

I know I am preaching to the choir, but at time it needs to be said. The purpose of a local SEO marketing company is to increase growth and viability for the organization that they serve.

The power of reputation marketing, when leveraged fully, probably has the best long-term ROI of any marketing in the world. 

How To Influence Consumers? Be The Obvious Choice

To win over more customers, you have to position your brand as the obvious choice. While design and features can win over hearts and minds, more and more consumers are relying on their B.S. radar to detect bad products, hyperbole, and the inability of a brand to deliver what they promise. 

Google's research into consumer behavior (The Zero Moment of Truth) found that online reviews, good or bad, have a big impact on how your brand is perceived before they ever call you or visit your store. 

A solid reputation, clearly and effective demonstrated within the media channels that consumers frequent, will always be a winning strategy. Let's look to 10 reasons why reputation marketing is crucial in positioning your brand as the obvious choice. 

1. Be where the audience is. Reviews are where tens of millions of eyeballs are at. Yelp, Google My Business, Trip Advisor, Angie's List, etc. is attracting ten's of millions of visitors per month. 

2. Reviews are channeling hundreds of millions of dollars in consumer spending, often switching consumers from one brand to another.

3. "Consumer generated content" (i.e. reviews) has a trust factor of 10X over paid ads.

4. In public relations, you cannot create a lasting effect without buzz being spread about your brand. Success stories are the ultimate proof of concept.

5. Online reviews is an area that 97% of brands are REACTIVE. When they become PROACTIVE, this becomes a distinctive competitive edge. 

6. A ongoing and positive ongoing engagement with online reviews gives a 8.3% boost to the brand's SEO and website ranking in search engines, per Moz.com. 

7. Positive reviews are the best content to repurpose on social media, the brand's website, email campaigns, videos, and within their blogs.

8. Reviews are evergreen. They last forever and continue to represent the brand 24/7. Paid advertising does not have that capability.

9. When great reviews are shared with your employees, stock holders and partners, it bolsters their morale and increases their pride in the brand that they represent.

10. When a consumer cannot choose one brand from another, because they are unsure or confused, peer-to-peer reviews (quality and quantity of) will typically be the deciding factor in which one they purchase. 

I help brands become the obvious choice.