So, what is referral marketing? Referral marketing is a tactic of gaining new business through word-of-mouth recommendations. Have you ever had a friend rave about an amazing experience they had at a local business? This is the backbone of referral marketing. Getting your customers to share their positive experiences with friends, family, co-workers, etc. 

It is in our nature, as humans, to want to share our experiences with others when we socialize. According to Nielsen.com, 92% of customers trust recommendations from friends and family above all other forms of advertising. Consumer opinions posted online are 2nd to recommendations from family and friends, but when we shop online, we may have to spend a bit of time reading various reviews to get the best idea about a product or service. On the other hand, when someone shares an experience with a friend, it may only take that one single interaction to convince them about the quality of that same product or service. 

This is why referral marketing is such a powerful tool. Ken Krogue, President of InsideSales says, “A direct referral lead is over 36X more valuable than a lead generated by a cold call, 10X more valuable than a trade show lead, and at least 4X more valuable than a web lead.” As a local business in a small community, this impact is even greater. Cold calling within a community can quickly earn your business the reputation of being bothersome whereas referrals throughout the community can rapidly build trust. 

While we mentioned above that it is in our nature to share experiences with others, not everyone does. This is where referral marketing comes in. As a local business, you want as many of your customers as possible to share their positive experiences others. Let’s take a look at some ways you, as a local business owner, can ensure you are generating as many referrals as you can. 

Make the Experience Something Worth Sharing 

Whether it is the product you are offering or there service you are providing, you need to give customers a reason to get excited about sharing their experience with your business. Start by making sure your product or service is perfected. If what you are offering needs work, or is incomplete, it will be very difficult to generate positive referrals. Make sure you iron out any kinks in what you are offering so that customers are truly happy with the experience you are providing.  

Always be sure to provide outstanding customer service. Go above and beyond what your competitors are doing. Even if a customer doesn’t end up buying what you are offering, you may even generate positive referrals based on your service and attitude towards your customers alone. If your product is perfected and you are providing exceptional service, you are likely creating an experience that customers would be happy to share. 

Always be Asking for Referrals 

You may be providing an experience that blows your customers away, but as we mentioned, sometimes people simply don’t share their experiences with others. The best way of increasing your chance of someone sharing their opinion with others is just to ask!  At the end of a sale, customers are often the most excited about your business or their experience. Think about buying a car. It can be a bit of a stressful experience but when everything is said and done and you take the keys, the stress fades and the excitement of driving off in your brand new car takes over. These are the moments you should capitalize on. Ask your client if they don’t mind sharing their experience on social media, or leaving a review on Yelp or Google for you. Mention your referral rewards program, which leads us to the next point. 

Reward Your Referrers 

You can ask your customers for reviews as much as possible and you will certainly generate more than if you were not to ask, but a referral rewards program can boost your referrals tremendously. The rewards program can be simple and it doesn’t have to be much, but that little extra incentive can go a long way. 

You can offer your customers 5% off their next purchase if they leave a review on Facebook for you. Offer $10 off for any client that sends you a direct referral. Enter clients into a monthly raffle where anyone who leaves a review or sends a direct referral is entered into a drawing for a $50 gift card. Rewards do not have to be large. Keep them simple and make it easy for your clients to participate. 

Referral programs are also a great way to keep in contact with clients. You may ask that customers join the referral program using an email or phone number so that you can send them details of the program. Not only does it serve as a reminder to post reviews or to refer you to friends, but it provides you with a way to contact clients down the road. Let your customers know that when they sign up for the rewards program, they will get additional notifications with sales, or coupons, or news about your company. This is an excellent way to stay in front of past clients. 

Referral marketing is one of the most highly effective forms of marking any local business has at their disposal, and the costs are minimal. Create an experience that your customers will want to share with everyone. Always ask your customers to do so and incentivize them to give that little extra push. If you can do all of this, your reputation in your local community will soar and so will your business.

The post Capitalizing on Referral Marketing as a Local Business appeared first on 220 Local.

The local pack includes some important at-a-glance information about your business. This includes your most basic contact information including your business name, address, and phone number (NAP). Additional information such as your business hours and star rating based on Google reviews can also be displayed. You may find other information is displayed for different industries. For example, restaurants may give information on whether they offer dine-in or carry-out options. Below you will see a typical local 3 pack for the search term “pizza.” 

Why is visibility in the local pack so important? According to a study by SEOClarity, the local pack is displayed in the top position in 93% of Google search results. By landing in the local pack, this makes your business the first thing a potential customer sees in 9 out of 10 search results. Equally as important, Google shows that 76% of people who do a local search on their mobile device will contact a business within 24 hours. 28% of those searches result in a consumer making a purchase. 

How Does Google Determine Local Ranking? 

There are three primary factors that Google focuses on when determining who makes it into the local 3 pack which are relevance, distance, and prominence. 

Relevance  

Relevance is how well your local business profile matches the search that a user makes. To ensure you are appearing in the local pack for searches related to your business, it is important to accurately complete your Google My Business information. This includes: 

• Phone number 
• Business name 
• Physical address 
• Business categories  
• Business hours 

It is also important to verify your location and to manage and respond to reviews left on Google. All these things give users confidence that you will be open and available when needed. 

Distance 

Distance is how far you are from a specified search location or from a searcher’s current location if one is not specified. Of course, there is not anything you can do to change your physical distance from a search location, but it is important to know how certain search terms can cause Google to place more weight on the distance factor. For example, you can see below how the results change when you add “near me” to the search conducted earlier. In the original search, Capri Pizza and Grill may have appeared due to having a higher prominence factor. However, when placing more focus on distance, Giant New York Pizza was favored. 

Prominence 

Prominence is a combination of factors that equate to how well known a business is. Google gathers information about a business from various places such as your own website, online directories, articles, and links to evaluate prominence. Additionally, prominence is affected strongly by the number of reviews you have and the positivity of those reviews. The organic placement of your website will also have an impact so be sure to keep your website updated and you adhere to SEO best practices. Maintaining accurate business information across as many online directories as possible is also important for helping Google understand your business. Inaccuracies can lead to confusion and difficulty evaluating the information that is available about your business. 

Local SEO is more important than ever and as more searches are being done on mobile devices year after year, it will only become more impactful. If you are not ending up in the local 3 pack, it is time to take action. Take a look at your Google My Business page and determine if you are providing the most accurate information about your business. If changes need to be made, do not hesitate to make them. Work on gathering as many positive reviews as you can. Be sure to monitor and respond to new reviews as they come in to inspire confidence in potential customers. Stay on top of these things to ensure you work your way into the local pack and your business is seen.

The post The Big Three of Local Ranking: Relevance, Distance, Prominence appeared first on 220 Local.