Reputation Marketing

Build – Your reputation is the foundation of your business.

SWS helps you build your online reputation the right way; with real customer feedback & real reviews. This foundation is what supports your growing business & client relationships.

SWS create a customised feedback page specifically for your business, where your customers can leave their feedback and then choose between 3 specified review sites to post their review to. We also provide the means to contact past satisfied customers to obtain reviews and a media centre with ready-to-print, custom reputation marketing materials and QR Codes. We have integrated the ability to incorporate surveys. For example, “How did you hear about us?”, “Who was your salesperson?”, “What are your thoughts on our customer service?”. These questions can range from open-ended (comments to essays) to closed-ended (yes/no, multiple choice, rating scale, etc). You can also use SMS feedback requests.

Whichever method you choose to collect feedback and reviews, it will only take a few seconds for your customer to complete the actions required to leave their feedback.

What We Do

Manage

Administration, Systems & Reports. Every business needs continous care, maintenance & a watchful eye. SWS puts in place systems and reports that continuously monitor your online reputation. This means that you will receive regular updates & alerts to reviews posted online on major review sites. This helps protect reputation and helps retain existing clients.

Market

Your Positive Reputation is the most powerful marketing strategy to use. We market genuine positive reviews that showcase your business, highlighting your best business attributes to your potential clients. This is tailor-made to each business based on their industry type.

Train

Train by culture, education and inspiration. Culture impacts how your brand is perceived, online and offline. While it may be the employees as a whole who create culture, your brand reputation is determined by customers and clients. We educate & train your team to obtain & promote online reviews, as well as the necessity of providing an excellent customer experience, leading to higher customer loyalty and increased word-of-mouth referrals. We initiate kick starter meetings, monthly reviews and constant training.

Reputation Marketing & Social Media Statistics

Latest Statistics on the Consumer Buying Habits

Key Statistics from the Local Consumer Report 2018.*

86% of consumers read reviews for local businesses (including 95% of people aged 18-34)

Consumers read an average of 10 online reviews before feeling able to trust a local business

40% of consumers only take into account reviews written within the past 2 weeks – up from 18% last year

57% of consumers will only use a business if it has 4 or more stars

80% of 18-34 year olds have written online reviews – compared to just 41% of consumers over 55

91% of 18-34 year olds trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations

89% of consumers read businesses’ responses to reviews

*Source:https://www.brightlocal.com/learn/local-consumer-review-survey/

Role of reviews and reputation on sales and revenue

  • A one-point increase in a hotel’s average user rating on a 5-point scale (e.g., from 3.8 to 4.8) makes potential customers 13.5% more likely to book that hotel. (Cornell University’s Centre for Hospitality Research)
  • “Travellers spend an enormous amount of time researching hotels online. On average, hotel consumers made twelve visits to an OTA’s website, requested 7.5 pages per visit, and spent almost five minutes on each page before booking.” (Cornell University research).
  • 92% of internet users read product reviews and 89% of people say that reviews influence their purchasing decision. (e-tailing group)
  • Inbound marketing costs 64% less per lead than traditional, outbound marketing (HubSpot)
  • OTA shoppers who visit hotel review pages in OTAs are twice as likely to convert. (Source: PhoCusWright as reported by TravelWeekly.)
  • “On Expedia.com, good reviews of 4.0 or 5.0 generate more than double the conversion of a review of 1.0 – 2.9,” Jennifer Davies, Expedia (hotelmarketing.com)
  • Consumers were willing to pay between 38% more for a 5-star rated hotel than for a 4-star rated hotel. (comScore/Kelsey)
  • Reviews are a particularly important factor in what hotels will be able to charge through a third-party site. “A 1-point increase in a review score equates to a 9% increase in average daily rate.” – Brian Ferguson, VP of Supply Strategy and Analytics at Expedia (as reported by HotelsNewsNow.com)
  • More than one third of consumers will not book a hotel room without reading reviews first. (LateRooms)
  • 90% of travellers avoid booking hotels labelled as “dirty” in online reviews. (LateRooms)
  • 53% of TripAdvisor users say they won’t book a hotel if it has zero reviews. (PhoCusWright)
  • An appropriate response to reviews from hotel management is more likely to make TripAdvisors book (57%), improves their overall impression of the hotel (84%) and makes them feel the hotel cares (78%). (PhoCusWright)
  • 70% of consumers would be prompted to leave a positive review if hotel staff were friendly and helpful. (LateRooms)
  • 90% of consumers write reviews to help others make better buying decisions, and more than 70% want to help companies improve the products they build and carry. (Bazaarvoice / Keller Fay Group)
  • 90% of consumers online trust recommendations from people they know; 70% trust opinions of unknown users. (Econsultancy)
  • 2 out of every 3 online traveller reviews are posted to an OTA. (PhoCusWright)
  • TripAdvisor reviews are viewed 3 times more often on partner websites than on TripAdvisor.com (Tnooz)
  • Friends and family are the leading source of hotel recommendations among travellers that book directly (WIHP)
  • 69% of online shoppers said they trusted the internet for advice, versus 43% for magazines and 35% for TV (Yahoo)
  • 78% of internet users conduct product research before making a purchase (Pew Internet)
  • Consumer reviews are significantly more trusted — nearly 12 times more –than descriptions that come from manufacturers.  (eMarketer)
  • The average consumer mentions specific brands over 90 times per week in conversations with friends, family, and co-workers. (Keller Fay, WOMMA)
  • 83% of all holiday shoppers are influenced by customer reviews. (ChannelAdvisor “Consumer Shopping Habits Survey”)
  • When asked what sources “influence your decision to use or not use a particular company, brand or product” 71% claim reviews from family members or friends exert a “great deal” or “fair amount” of influence. (Harris Interactive)
  • 75% of people don’t believe that companies tell the truth in advertisements. (Yankelovich)
  • 87% of TripAdvisor users feel more confident in their decision when they read the reviews and 98% say they find them “accurate of the actual experience.” (PhoCusWright)

Overall usage of online reviews

Role of social media networks and publishing

  • 1 out of every 8 minutes online is spent on Facebook (Comscore)
  • A negative review or comment on the Twitter, Facebook or Youtube Web sites can lose companies as many as 30 customers (Convergys Corp)
  • Over half of Britons online users are active on Twitter & Facebook (Office of National Statistics)
  • 55% of Facebook users use the site to get travel advice (Bank Of America Merrill Lynch)
  • LinkedIn generates the most conversions for B2B companies, Facebook generates most conversions for B2C companies (HubSpot)
  • 64% of Facebook users have become fans of at least one company (ExactTarget)
  • 51% of Facebook fans are more likely to buy from the brands they are a fan of (Imoderate Research Technologies)
  • 79% of Twitter followers are more likely recommend the brands they follow (Imoderate Research Technologies)
  • 85% of executives use social media during a purchase decision (Forrester research)
  • 53% of people on Twitter recommend companies and/or products in their Tweets, with 48% of them delivering on their intention to buy the product. (ROI Research for Performance)
  • 30% of travellers who use social networks report soliciting trip-planning advice from their networks. (Source: PhoCusWright as reported by TravelWeekly.)
  • 81% of respondents said they’d received advice from friends and followers relating to a product purchase through a social site; 74% of those who received such advice found it to be influential in their decision. (Click Z)
  • 64% said they use social media to make their travel plans and within the 25-34 year old participant group, the number is even higher; 76% look to popular social media sites to plan their next getaway. (Sheraton Survey)
  • 67% of shoppers spend more online after recommendations from online community of friends. (Internet Retailer)
  • 35% of social media users changed their hotel after browsing a social platform (source: World Travel Market,  reported by Tnooz)