Yelpers have written more than 108 million reviews by the end of Q2 2016. Yelp uses automated software to recommend the most helpful and reliable reviews for the Yelp community among the millions we get. The software looks at dozens of different signals, including various measures of quality, reliability, and activity on Yelp.

A recent lawsuit and subsequent ruling over whether or not negative posts on Yelp about a law firm should be removed, are causing a free speech debate and raising the eyebrows of the likes of Microsoft, Facebook and others.

Two years ago, a judge ruled the posts removed and some technology industry pundits worry that this particular “ruling against Yelp could stifle free speech online.”  Lawyers for the law firm are surprised by the outrage and have said that the case is about removing posts that “lie” on Yelp –which would not affect users’ abilities to draft negative or positive reviews. [Read more…]

Managing a corporation’s reputation is no small task in today’s often complicated world of instant online communications.  The internet and social media sites such as Glassdoor and LinkedIn – not to mention the myriad of blogs and traditional media, makes the process of monitoring and managing a corporate reputation a formidable task that requires a serious strategic investment of time and budget, not to mention, proactive planning.

Many experts are of the same mindset: if a corporation assigns a dedicated and cross-functional reputation management team, risks can be managed and mitigated more easily.  If that team is not in place – reacting to a crisis may well be more-costly and harmful to the company’s reputation and even bottom-line. CR magazine reports, “… since risks can emerge from any area, a variety of perspectives is ideal for identifying and addressing reputational risk.”  This can include the PR and marketing teams but also departments such as security, legal, finance, quality control and much more. [Read more…]

Ryan Lochte, a 12-time Olympic medalist and the second ranked American swimming champion behind Michael Phelps, is battling an international PR crisis and criminal charges.

Lochte is accused by Rio de Janeiro authorities of literally crying wolf.  The swimmer claims that he and three other swimmers were robbed at gun point by thieves dressed as officers of the law.  However, as the Atlantic reports, “Officers in Brazil found security tape of the moment when Lochte and swimmers Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger, and James Feigen stopped at a gas station, and instead of a robbery, they said the three swimmers vandalized a bathroom.” [Read more…]

The Pew Research Center recently published a new study to illustrate the increasing amount of people searching for work online.  As a matter of fact, the study stated that many are not just using personal computers to search for work and write resumes, but are using mobile devices as well – even for basic job hunting tasks, such as filling out an application.

Pew found that “Americans who have looked for work in the last two years, 79% utilized online resources in their most recent job search and 34% say these online resources were the most important tool available to them.” Many job seekers admit that the internet is one the most important resources when looking for work.  It may come as little surprise that the younger the demographic, the higher the propensity to use online and mobile sources.

The Pew study said that the largest group to use social media and online sources were 18-29 year olds, followed by 30-49 year olds.

[Read more…]

It might not be a surprise any longer, but smartphones are moving ahead of PCs or laptops as the digital device of choice for a majority of users.  A survey of 2,147 U.S. adults by Local Search Association (LSA) and Thrive Analytics cited several statistics to show why and how mobile phones have become so important.

LSA said that Mobile Fanatics (active users) tend to shop – a lot – and that 60-percent of adults use their smartphones for information on where to go and find products and services.

LSA also cited the US Commerce Department, which said that “roughly 70% of the nearly $18 trillion US GDP is driven by consumer spending that occurs within 20 miles of home or work.”  In 2014, $300 million of that was e-commerce (still lagging behind offline shopping) but the number demonstrates the increasing importance of online retailing and the numbers growing even higher as mobile users are increasing their activities along with the heightened e-commerce numbers.  LSA stated that “…40 percent of consumers use a desktop PC or laptop when looking for local information online, a nine percent decrease from 2014.” [Read more…]

Do you ever wonder how your customers find you?  In today’s digital age, this seems to an easy answer, Google Analytics and Adwords provides a lot of valuable tools that business owners can use to gain insight, but the issue is there are so many ways to promote a business that figuring out the ones that get the most conversions and create customer loyalty in a fragmented online marketplace is the multi-billion dollar question.

MarketingSherpa recently highlighted a Chart of the Week where they displayed the findings from a survey of 2,147 U.S. adults to help identify effective channels for local marketing.

The big winner in this survey showed that when it came to searching for local businesses or services, search engines won out – 65% indicated that search engines is the first place they would turn look for a business.  That said while 65% is nothing to sneeze at, MarketingSherpa did mention that there were still 30-percent of people NOT looking at search engines.  So where are they going? [Read more…]

Over the past 20 years, email and text messages have become an important part of people’s work and everyday communications.  Not a moment goes by when people are not getting emails from friends, co-workers or the myriad mailing lists they may have signed up for to hear the latest national news, special sales or industry specific information.

So if you are business owner or manager who wants to grow your email list for more customer acquisition and add to the never-ending list of emails that people receive each day, how do you go about doing that?  And even more importantly, how do you grow a qualified email list that is beneficial to both the customer and your company?

Many companies use several methods to grow their email lists.  MarketingSharpa for instance produced a number of charts that demonstrated that tactics such as Website registration, Facebook registration, online events and other methods seemed to be the most effective means to expand an email list.

MarketingSharpa also interviewed Mary Abrahamson of Ferguson Enterprises, to get her thoughts on expanding a company email list.

Abrahamson said, “I feel a lot of marketers answer these questions with the thought of ‘What was easiest to implement?’ or ‘How am I going to get the most people?’ However, having this type of thought-process isn’t always most effective when it comes to choosing your email acquisition strategy.” [Read more…]

I am sitting on an airplane right now returning to New York City and hoping to start the New Year with fewer than twenty emails in my inbox.  It is a mighty task, as I often use my inbox as a notepad of things I need to do, people I need to call and information I need to remember.  It is a reminder that after a decade or more, email marketing today is still the most effective mode of marketing – even if you are “marketing” to yourself!

Nearly every business has a list of customers, retailers, shoppers, distributors, vendors, and even friends and family where email is the only (and often the best) way to communicate.  Frequent communications also help proactively address customer service failures and issues that can contribute to negative reviews about your business online.  Your customers are more likely to hit reply to an email to report an issue than go find your business on a search engine and leave a negative review.

MarketingSherpa recently shared a report by Litmus which analyzed both B2B and B2C emails to ascertain the secret sauce for getting their marketing emails opened and in some cases — responded.  While B2B emails may be selling to a more professional and niche audience and B2C targeting consumers looking buy products and services for everyday use, Litmus found that whether analyzing B2B or B2C, the emails that have the most power were “viral.” [Read more…]

Every generational group is analyzed and studied so marketers know how to target different demographics. As technology moves at the speed of light, many are looking at how Millennials are different from Baby Boomers when it comes to mobile devices and other technology such as laptops versus the smartphone and what does that really mean when selling to groups born a few decades apart.

Neustar did a study of 1200 shoppers (who spent at least $250 online, purchased …at least four times annually and owned smartphones) to ascertain how Millennials’ shopping preferences were different from those of Baby Boomers using mobile devices as the catalyst.

Considering the wide divide between the age groups of the two generations and the cultural differences that comes with such an age difference, the one thing Neustar did find out is that marketers often underestimate how much technology use and knowledge Baby Boomers actually use.  As a matter of fact, Baby Boomers use technology, but in different ways.  It is important for companies and marketing professionals to understand how different demographics interact online to develop any effective brand management or social media marketing strategy.

Here are a few findings as it pertains to mobile phone usage:

• Recent research suggests that mobile email “opens” have surpassed desktops for the first time, according to Neustar and that smartphones will eventually out-purchase laptops. This is true with both Millennials and Baby Boomers.  Neustar also reported that shoppers over 55 plan to clip on “more mobile” ads on smartphones this year – more than any other year.
• Research also indicates that all groups will increase mobile activity over the next few years but the big difference is that younger shoppers are likely to view retail advertising. In addition, Neustar stated that Millennials are three times more likely to use social media on a device –than Baby Boomers — 33% versus 11%.

[Read more…]

It has been said for decades that the customer is king – however, if you ask many shoppers, some will say that is not always the case.  Some companies have made customer service a hallmark of their brand or service and continue to increase their efforts.

The Internet has certainly changed things and given customers more power:  unhappy customers can make their thoughts readily known to large audiences through Yelp, Tripadvisor, Amazon and other sites where people can review their retail experiences.  You don’t want to see your business go viral for all the wrong reasons, we have all seen how customer service failures can quickly turn ugly on social media.

That said, given the ongoing struggle between offering good customer service and what is feasible for marketers, MarketingSherpa performed a survey in 2015 to better understand what customers really want improved in their buying experience and what marketers can actually do to respond to their customers.

According to MarketingSherpa, the survey asked specifically: “In which of the following ways, if any, can retailers improve your shopping experience?  Please select all that apply.”  Here were the top answers:

• Free shipping (74%)
• Easy return process (53%)
• High-quality customer service (52%)
• Fast shipping (49%)
• Not requiring registration for an account in order to make a purchase (38%)
• Real-time delivery tracker (37%)
• Easy transition between shopping online and shopping in the physical store — e.g., providing in-store pick-up and returns of products bought online (34%)
• Credible reviews of products from professional, unbiased reviewers (33%)

[Read more…]