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Education

Why you must grasp Word of mouth has moved online

the new rules of small Word of mouth is still the No. 1 way people find local
businesses, but in the digital age, that conversation has
moved online to sites like Yelp, Facebook, Google, and
business marketing TripAdvisor. These days, 97 percent of consumers read
online reviews on local businesses, so being active on
review sites is no longer optional.

Even in the off chance that traditional "shout" marketing
messages actually reach their intended audience, those
customers still rely on online information to find and
validate local businesses. If your merchants' online
information is incorrect, if their reviews are old or they
have a poor star rating, they are actually paying for their
customers to go somewhere else to buy.
Control, engage, target

That's why we recommend that small businesses implement
the following three steps, in the following order (and don't
skip steps).
Step 1: Take control of your 'online presence'

By Barry Davis As I wrote earlier this year ("Brick-and-mortar mer-
Womply chants must own their 'digital storefront,'" The Green
Sheet, April 09, 2018, Issue 18:04:01) it's vital that brick-
occasionally hear from small business owners who and-mortar merchants take control of their online pres-
tell me they don't need marketing or don't have ence. They need at least a basic website, with their cor-
the time to conduct proper marketing. "We're too rect business location and contact information. They
I busy, and we don't need it anyway," they say. need to claim their business's pages on all the popular
Unfortunately, in the digital age, no business – even a small review sites, and monitor and respond politely to every
mom-and-pop shop – has the luxury of avoiding marketing review.
altogether. But the rules have changed, and every merchant
level salesperson (MLS) needs to be aware of this signifi- Beyond that, merchants need to have a plan to generate
cant shift. more reviews from satisfied customers, which may be
as simple as spinning up a simple customer feedback
Competition for local markets has never been stiffer. program. Seven out of 10 customers will leave a review
According to Statista.com research, the Amazons and if asked. Owning the business's online presence is the
Walmarts of the world are spending billions of dollars foundation of all marketing efforts and makes the fol-
every year figuring out how to win even more of your lowing two steps more effective.
merchants' local customers. Every business needs a
marketing plan and a dedicated budget. (We recommend Step 2: Use modern tools to engage customers for re-
small businesses spend 7 to 8 percent of gross revenue on peat business
marketing, which aligns with counsel from the U.S. Small
Business Administration.) When your merchants have optimized their online
presence, they will start attracting more customers. The
However, how your merchants should spend their next key step is to keep customers engaged for repeat
limited budgets has fundamentally changed. Many small business. Returning customers are the lifeblood of lo-
businesses are still spending every marketing dollar on cal retailers, but up to 80 percent of satisfied customers
traditional "shout" advertising methods like radio ads or never come back. As foot traffic to local businesses has
direct mail, which are no longer the top of the funnel for dropped, the value of each customer visit has tripled.
local businesses.
Your merchants must build and maintain an accurate
As an MLS, you can be a hero by guiding your merchants customer list, including contact information, and be-
toward a more effective marketing paradigm and offering gin reaching out to those customers and incentivizing
products and services that fill your merchants' most them to return. The easiest way is with simple email
pressing needs: more customers, more time and more marketing, as 86 percent of customers want to see pro-
money. motional emails from businesses they patronize.

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