Here is Why Online Reviews & Content Marketing Win Every Time

In the last 5 years, the number of smartphone apps has grown dramatically to over 2 million available apps in both Apple App Store and Google Play. In September 2016, Apple announced that 140-billion apps have been downloaded from its App Store since its launch in 2008. No wonder every business wants a piece of this pie. We tend to forget and discard, at times, that even if we had 1000 apps on our phones (I’m almost confident such thing exists), we would only be using a small fraction of apps that we consider the most “useful”. Here comes the “app fatigue”. Not surprisingly, big boys like Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon are maintaining the lead in app usage and the trend will continue as long as they continue to deliver the services everyone needs.

What does that mean to your business? It means that in order to be successful, you need to be found online. Your organization must have an accurate business listing in as many online directories as possible, in order to be found and to be trusted. Inaccurate business listings generally contribute to consumer suspicion and potentially leads consumers to mistrust. In addition, not only does your business need online reviews, you must care enough to respond to those reviews, in order to encourage your other customers to do the same,  hence promoting your brand and building trust. Yes, you heard me, you must respond to both negative and positive reviews unless customer engagement is not on your agenda.

Is developing an app or joining an app based community like Home Stars or Houzz, or any other that covers your industry makes sense for your business? Would it be the best investment? Probably not. Why? Because not everyone will download an app, or will use it even when it’s installed. Alternatively, most people, whether loyal customers or future customers, will search for your product or service online, be it on their smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop. If you are not present in Google search results, you do not exist and someone else, who cared enough to make themselves visible online, will be serving your target audience while growing their business. Your competitors will indefinitely steal a good amount of prospects, leaving your business in a ditch.

With the winter holiday season approaching, hopefully you will have some downtime and will spend it with your family and friends. Whenever you have some free time, try to think about some of the ways to improve your online marketing strategy and win over your consumers in 2017. In most cases, beating your competition is affordable when you choose the right digital marketing partner.

​Happy Holiday Season from all folks at the Reputation Mart!
Steve Driz




References:
Statista.com - Number of apps available in leading app stores as of June 2016
Statista.com - Cumulative number of apps downloaded from the Apple App Store from July 2008 to September 2016 (in billions)
Techcrunch.com - App Fatigue