Posts Tagged ‘forum marketing’
Dos and Don’ts of Dealing with Negative Online Reviews
Thursday, March 13th, 2008
Nothing will make you more proud as a business owner than seeing a local media source or customer publish a great review of your business online. On the other side of the coin, there is nothing more frustrating than seeing a bad review posted about your company.
Many business owners who see a negative review are often angry, hurt and want to do something about it. Unfortunately, many of them do the wrong things.
Here is a look at some Dos and Don’ts of dealing with negative online reviews:
* DO look for merit in the review - While your initial response may be anger or feeling hurt by the review, take a deep breath and read it again. While you may not like what you are reading, you should look at it with an open mind.
Is there any truth to the negative online review? Instead of looking at it as an insult, you may want to look at this as constructive criticism and grow from it.
* DO try to make it right - If you find that your business made an error, try to make it right. Mistakes happen. The important thing to do is to try to fix the problem. Some reviewers do not point out that they had a problem to you, but just post the negative reviews for others to read.
While you can’t control the fact that they didn’t give you a chance to make it right before they made their posting, you can fix it after the fact - and give them a chance to change their review to a more positive one.
* DO get involved in positive conversation - Many review posting websites allow others to post comments onto the reviews. This is your chance to talk to the reviewer about their experience. Remember, you have to keep a very calm and open-minded conversation tone relating to the review.
Discuss the review intelligently and carefully, making sure not to sound angry. You may be able to use this as a way to let the poster, and all other readers, know that you are willing to correct the problem.
* DON’T attack the poster - The first instinct for many business owners is to post an immediate reply, attacking the person who made the negative review. They want to discredit the person behind the review and rip apart all the negative words.
This is not the way to handle the situation. It only makes you look mean and vindictive over what someone says was their honest opinion.
* DON’T go after the website - The other inappropriate action taken by some business owners is to go after the website that is hosting the negative reviews. Many upset business owners will threaten the website and tell them they will sue if the postings are not removed. These are hollow threats, as there are plenty of protections in place to back the website owners.
If you feel that you are being maliciously attacked in a review, contact the website and calmly explain your situation. Then ask them what type of help they can offer. It is better to keep them as an ally instead of making them into an enemy.
Negative online reviews happen. No matter how great your business is, chances are good that there will be at least one or two customers who are not happy with your company.
If they decide to post a negative review, your response to that posting can say much more about you and your company than the original posting ever did.
Tags: E-Commerce and E-Business, forum marketing, Leeia Ladipoh, Marketing, online review sites, tips advice
Posted in News & Articles | No Comments »
Get to Know Your Customers by Building an Online Community
Monday, March 3rd, 2008
One of the best ways to make sure your business is catering to its customers is by communicating with them on a regular basis. In the digital age, this is easier than ever with plenty of online opportunities to reach out to and interact with customers. Getting feedback from those who have purchased from you or are thinking about making a purchase is the absolute best way to ensure that your business is meeting the needs of your target market. Whether it’s the new product selection or the ease of online ordering, by building online relationships with your customers you’ll have the chance to get feedback on every aspect of your business.
Online forum - Having an online forum is a great idea for bringing customers together to talk about similar interests or aspects of your business. For instance, if your website sells environmentally-friendly products, then some of your forum sections could be: Ways to live greener, Favorite green products, Backyard composting, etc. In order to keep the conversations flowing, one or more employees of your site should ask questions and post answers. You’ll be amazed at how much information you’ll learn about your customers’ interests and how you can incorporate that into your product or service lineup.
Blog - Having a blog not only works wonders for increasing your search engine ranking and bringing in traffic, but it’s a great way to interact with customers and establish yourself as an industry expert. While topics should focus on the industry of your website, they shouldn’t completely center around your particular business, products or services. However, it’s fine to occasionally mention new products or a new service if it is relevant to the topic and isn’t a blatant sales pitch. The most important things to remember if you start a blog is 1) be a regular contributor, 2) try to respond to as many questions as possible and 3) write quality content.
Interactive surveys - A fun way to get your customers involved with your site is by creating quick online surveys that they can take part in. This is not the same as a ten-minute marketing survey; it’s just a quick question like: "Are you interested in environmentally-friendly products for your pets?" Answers could be displayed in a graph so visitors can see what everyone else is saying. Anything that gets your visitors involved in your site will help to establish a stronger bond with them.
Social networking sites - More and more businesses are setting up pages on online social sites like MySpace, Face Book and Second Life, and why not? It’s a great way to talk with customers on a more personal level as well as gain exposure for your business. Getting started is easy and they’re a great place to have photos of employees, silly videos, special coupons and more.
Building relationships with customers not only helps you mold your business to their desires, but it’s fun too! Your customers will get to see the people behind the website and see that you share in their passion too. Using these online tools for your company’s advantage doesn’t cost much, but it will require a regular commitment of time, otherwise your customers will end up feeling abandoned.
Tags: Blog, Carrie Hinkel, customer appreciation, E-Commerce and E-Business, forum marketing, online communities
Posted in News & Articles | No Comments »
Forum Marketing for Small Businesses
Monday, January 7th, 2008
Looking for an inexpensive way to spread the word about your small business online? Forums can be a valuable resource for getting the word out about your company’s products and services, establishing credibility for yourself and your business, and driving traffic to your website.
Forum marketing has the perfect price tag for small business owners. It’s free to participate in forums, so this activity can easily fit into your expense budget. However, benefiting from forum marketing does require time, effort, and consistent activity.
Find the Right Forums
The first step to effectively market your business through forums is to identify the most appropriate forum websites for your purposes. Start out by conducting online research to identify established, heavily trafficked forums that are relevant to your business and that appeal to your target market.
The best way to identify appropriate forums for your marketing purposes is to spend some time surfing the Internet looking for forum websites relevant to your business. For example, if your business provides corporate logo embroidery services for small businesses, it’s a good idea for you to look for good small business marketing discussion boards.
Spend a few days monitoring the forums that appeal to you, and see what kinds of discussions take place on them. To start with, choose one forum that seems to be the most active and appropriate for your business, and register as a user.
Keep in mind that you are participating in this forum as a representative of your business, so choose an appropriate username. If your goal is to brand yourself or your company, it’s a good idea to use your real name or your company’s name as your username.
Create Your Signature Line
Before you make your first post on the forum, you’ll need to create a signature line. This usually consists of two to three lines of text that show up on every post you make. Look at the other posts in the forum for examples of signature lines that are appropriate for the board. Typically, the best signature line for marketing purposes is one that contains your name, a brief tag line, and a link to your website.
Establish a Credible Presence
The same principles that apply to face to face networking opportunities also apply to online networking. You have to build credibility with the participants of your selected forum by contributing to the conversation in a helpful and productive manner. People participate in forums to get to know other people with similar challenges and to find useful tips and advice. You can’t approach forum marketing as a direct sales avenue for your business.
When you’re new to a forum, you have to establish trust and credibility with the participants by offering useful information, tips, and advice without asking for anything in return. As the other forum participants get to know you and see that you have valuable contributions to make, they’ll grow to respect you and become interested in learning about you and your business.
However, if your first posts on the forum are obvious attempts to sell your own products or services, you won’t be welcomed into the community with open arms. As a matter of fact, you’ll likely be viewed with disdain and suspicion by the regulars. If you come across as someone who is participating in the forum just to try to sell something, you’ll never win the respect of the other participants.
Comply With Forum Rules and Policies
Most forums contain a post near the top that clearly spells out the rules and policies for participation. It’s important to read and understand this information before you begin posting messages. Regulations may vary significantly among forums, so don’t make assumptions without checking the written policy. If you fail to comply with the rules, knowingly or unknowingly, you can get banned from participation.
Be A Consistent Participant
To enjoy the maximum marketing benefit from your forum posting activities, it’s important to participate on a consistent basis. It will take time for you to build name recognition and credibility with the other members. The best way to make progress is to post helpful replies or original questions on a regular basis.
Try to set aside a few minutes each day to catch up on the latest forum postings. Time spent reviewing your chosen forum and making relevant posts is time dedicated to an important marketing activity for your business. Remember that every time you post to the forum, if there’s a link in your signature line, you’re creating a backlink to your website. This helps your website’s ranking with the search engines.
Additionally, as other members see your continued activity on the forum, they’ll begin to get interested in learning more about who you are and what you do. Eventually, forum participants will start clicking on the link to your website, where they just might decide to do business with you.
Tags: advice, E-Commerce and E-Business, forum marketing, Marketing, Marketing Your Business, online marketing, Rebecca Button, search engine optimization, SEO, small business, tips
Posted in News & Articles | No Comments »