Reputation Management

Let’s say you’re about to make a big (or even small) purchase. What’s one of the first things you do? If you’re like most people, you probably look up reviews online. Because who are you going to trust more…the salesperson who makes a profit on your purchase or the honest reviews of people who’ve already bought the product or used the service?

“Survey: 90% of consumers say buying decisions are influenced by online reviews.” Wow! Word of mouth has always been a key to success in business. Today the medium to do that has become online reviews. According to a survey from Dimensional Research (an independent market research company specializing in technology), based on over 1,000 responses from persons in the US, 90% of consumers who had read online reviews claimed that positive reviews influenced a decision to buy with almost that many (86%) saying that negative reviews had also influenced buying decisions.

The new year 2019 is right around the corner, so we thought it would be good to look at what some experts are seeing as the future trends in digital marketing. Marketing is no longer a static activity, where a billboard or ad in a magazine or telephone directory was all businesses needed to do to attract customers or clients.

A new year is a great time for evaluation of current strategies and practices in many areas of our lives. If you’re part of a small business or organization, take some time over the next few weeks to think about your marketing strategy goals to ensure that you’re ready to start the new year.

Today, as always, the primary role of marketing is to attract visitors, convert them into potential leads, assist sales personnel in closing them as clients, and keep them coming back. But in our current landscape, customers are moving away from consuming traditional media and are depending more on the digital world. And so, we must ensure that we’re utilizing the most impactful online marketing technology to reach our customers where it really matters. While there are many tools in the digital marketing landscape, we’ve narrowed it down to 7 fundamental ones for your 2019 marketing strategy.