Have a great reputation and it could be all the marketing your business needs

We are bombarded nowadays with different methods and tactics for promoting our businesses, brands, products and services.  From basic blogging and door-to-door leafleting to social media, video, TikTok and podcasts – many marketing agencies and experts will tell you that you need to be doing all of them.

And it can be a bit overwhelming.

Especially if you’re a small business owner covering multiple roles within your company.

Then there’s the dreaded monthly budget debate – we all know how easy it is to burn precious cash on the latest marketing fad, or even just running a few adverts on Google.

Today I want to talk to you about the single most important marketing tactic you should focus on….

Managing your reputation.

If you have a great reputation for customer service, product quality or whatever it is you’re offering, people are going to come back. And if you have an outstanding reputation then they’re going to tell their family, friends and colleagues too.

Make that happen and it means the marketing is being done for you.

Now it’s not easy.  Anyone can offer a ‘good’ service – that’s the bare minimum your customer wants from you and there are plenty of your competitors doing just that.  You want to look at how you take that ‘good’ to ‘great’, or even better – ‘exceptional’.  Exactly how you do this will be unique to your business or marketing (talk to us if you want some help with this part).  Once you’re at that level though, you’re in the hot zone of being in a position that people are pleased with what you’ve done for them.

Now ask them for a review or a testimonial. Get it public – may be they could leave you a review on Google, Facebook, Trustpilot or Twitter.

Take that 5-star review and show it off to the world!

And repeat.

Companies spend thousands, or even millions of pounds every year on PR (Public Relations). Some of that budget is allocated to damage control. Where things haven’t gone quite according to plan and the brand’s reputation has been damaged. Have a great reputation for being brilliant and suddenly you don’t need to spend all that extra cash on promoting your good side and masking the mistakes.

And people talk. Oh they love to talk.

So beyond that glowing review they’ve given you, they’ll tell people about their experience with you. May be not immediately, but when the topic of ‘who knows a good baker/plumber/accountant/website designer’ when they’re out to lunch.

Your reputation is everything and it needs to be seen.

If I go onto Checkatrade to look for an electrician, what’s the first bit I look at? Their review score, and whether they’ve had any recent positive reviews from other customer. No reviews? Then I’m 100% not using them, even if they’re score is 5/5.

Your reputation is what matters. It’s what people are saying about you and it’s what people are using to make the decision on whether to buy from you…or not.

Nurture it, manage it, improve it and show it off and you’ll find it’s the best form of marketing you can invest in.