SEO Portland

Company: Thrive Aesthetic and Anti-Aging Center

Social Media Team: Ryan Lewis, Lisa Peyton, Danielle Hoole

Campaign Length: One year, January 2011-December 2011

Result: 694% increase in Facebook fans, 1,164% increase in Twitter followers, and 50% increase in traffic to website, including 77.4% in search and 18% in referral sources.

The Challenge

In 2011, Thrive Aesthetic and Anti-Aging Center looked to expand their reach and build their reputation as the experts in aesthetic and anti-aging services. Traditional advertising wasn’t adequately reaching the brand’s targeted audience, so Thrive’s staff turned instead to social media. Understanding the potential of digital marketing, they hired Bonfire to expand their digital presence and communicate their expertise, use of advanced technology, and quality of care.

Facebook

Bonfire developed a well rounded strategy to build an engaged Facebook fan base, incentive with monthly specials and exclusive offers, and offer valuable and entertaining content.

Beyond promotions, the page needed a variety of content to provide fans with a well-rounded experience. Bonfire began to create a broad spectrum of posts that increased brand and industry awareness while engaging with fans. Weekly “community conversations” posed questions about fitness routines, skincare regiments, and even favorite spots for healthy breakfast. Other posts highlighted celebrity beauty tips, relevant articles, and news about Thrive’s innovative technology. The page also integrated Thrive’s blog, newsletter promos, and e-mail sign up form, all of which had the ultimate goal of driving traffic back to ThrivePortland.com.

Twitter

Through Twitter, Bonfire could post similar content but interact more directly with followers. Used as a cross-promotion tool with Thrive’s other assets, the Twitter handle became a sounding board for direct messaging and issuing updates. By diligently responding to mentions, thanking users for retweets, and manually following industry-related handles, followers increased exponentially over the year.

Facebook Advertising

A Facebook ad campaign allowed Bonfire to target a more niche demographic than traditional advertising ever could—and with a much lower budget. Ads displayed relevant content about aging and engaging photos to drive click-through rates. Using specific demographic and interest-based targeting, the campaign was focused on Thrive’s target audience. Over the year, the campaign resulted in millions of impressions, and as a result Thrive’s Facebook page began to grow with both relevant fans and potential clients.

Other Platforms

Bonfire took control of the “Doctor’s Blog” and began publishing weekly posts related to the industry. Content varied between the benefits of featured products, weight loss tips, and more community conversations. By targeting competitive keywords, these posts significantly increased Thrive’s website in search results and offered visitors more in-depth information about available services.

Boosting brand awareness was the ultimate goal, but Thrive already had a large pool of regular clients. In order to retain them, Bonfire initiated a lead nurturing endeavor through eblasts and monthly newsletters. Twice a month past clients received the same specials offered to Facebook fans and a newsletter full of rich content. Quotes related to beauty or aging headlined these e-mails, and the monthly newsletter provided healthy recipes, industry-related news, and more exclusive offers.

The Results

After twelve months, Thrive’s social media presence began to reflect the success of the brand. Facebook fans had increased 694%, and its Twitter followers grew 1,164%. The website saw tremendous results as well. Through targeted keywords on the blog and an increase in referral traffic, ThrivePortland.com received 50% more visitors in 2011 than in 2010. The brand’s reach had extended exponentially through new digital marketing endeavors, and the business gained new customers while retaining loyal clients. In all of this, Thrive grew not just as a business but also in prestige as an innovative, expert leader in the industry.

One question that comes up often with clients is “How do I deal with negative online reviews?” In this post I will discuss the best way to put your company’s digital reputation in good standing. Although some of the suggestions require considerable company resources, I can’t stress the importance of managing your company’s online reviews. Social Media and the Internet enables a transparent world that can make or break any company in a highly competitive market.

Why?

Why is online reputation management important to your business? The short answer is everyone researches companies online before making a buying decision. It’s easy, fast and very informative.  Here are some of the most important statistics:

• 70% consult reviews or ratings before purchasing (BusinessWeek, Oct. 2008)
• Traffic to the top 10 review sites grew on average 158% last year (Compete.com)
• 97% who made a purchase based on an online review found the review to be accurate (Comscore/The Kelsey Group, Oct. 2007)
• 51% of consumers use the Internet even before making a purchase in shops (Verdict Research, May 2009)
• 92% have more confidence in information found online than from a salesclerk or other source (Wall Street Journal, Jan 2009)
• 90% of online consumers trust recommendations from people they know; 70% trust unknown users, 27% trust experts, 14% trust advertising, 8% trust celebrities (Econsultancy, July 2009, Erik Qualman, Socialnomics)
• The average consumer mentions specific brands over 90 times per week in conversations with friends, family, and co-workers. (Keller Fay, WOMMA, 2010)
• 61% of people rely on user reviews for product information or research before a buying decision is made. (Razorfish, 2008)
• 34% have turned to social media to air their feelings about a company. 26% to express dissatisfaction, 23% to share companies or products they like. (Harris Poll, April 2010)
• 75% of people don’t believe that companies tell the truth in advertisements (Yankelovich)

(Hat Tip on stats – Moto Message & BazaarVoice)

Your customers are researching, reading, learning and reviewing you right now. They have grown to expect more than just a static company website and many feel it is their duty to update the online community about your business.

What can my company do?

The simple answer is: Be the best business you can by providing outstanding service and products that consumers love. A good start is to ensure you make a superior product and educate your employees about how to best deal with unhappy customers.  If you are a sales organization, this could mean attaching consequences to poor reviews or correlating positive feedback to incentives and salary.

Organic Tactics

One way to help boost positive reviews is to make it simple for new customers to sing your praises. Ensuring that the company website or online store has the capability for customers to submit reviews is essential.  This can be unnerving for some businesses because of the risk of bad reviews, but studies have shown that most reviews are positive. (Across all of Bazaarvoice US clients, 80% of product ratings are 4 or 5 stars out of 5. Across all of Bazaarvoice UK clients, 88% of product ratings are 4 or 5 stars out of 5. – “J Curve,” Bazaarvoice and Keller Fay)

Inciting Reviews for Physical Locations

For businesses that don’t have an online purchase or product, it’s a bit more difficult to ensure customers have the ability to post great reviews.  Restaurants, hotels and other brick-and-mortars  can create on-site computing centers for customers. The photo below is an example of an on-site computing center with signs helping to direct customers to review websites.

Email Follow-Up

Another option for generating additional reviews are follow-up emails soliciting feedback.When using follow-up emails,  remember to give customers several social network options and keep the directions simple.  Google and Bing have their own review systems, but they also aggregate reviews from Yelp, CitySearch, Angie’s List and Dex. Make sure to provide a link to the business listing where you want your customer to post the review. There could be multiple listings for your business on one website so it’s best to consolidate reviews to one listing.  Consolidating reviews will also help overall SEO (search engine optimization) by making it easy for search engines to find and understand your business.

Non-Organic Tactics: Pay to Play

Bonfire does not endorse companies paying for false reviews, however it can be an effective tactic.  Google, Bing and Yelp use complicated algorithms to determine review relevance. If the mayor of a large city that has 2 million followers on Twitter and 500,000 ‘Likes’ on Facebook reviews a restaurant on Yelp, it’s likely the review would be more visible than a review by someone without any community standing. As networks become more interconnected, community relevance will become more important.

Companies that can “fix” or buy a brand’s online reputation use scripted reviews on popular websites to boost awareness. Pricing can range from $5,000-$10,000 over the course of 6 months.

Summary

As you have read, online reviews are important for your business.  A good online reputation is best achieved by encouraging outstanding business practices and providing customers the tools to share their story.  If you have anything to add or know of any other solutions to online reputation management, please share below.

Acronyms. The technology community loves them because they shorten long descriptive names. The problem is many business owners have little understanding of these acronyms. While there are “official” definitions (SEO, SEM, SMO, SMM), the lines are getting blurred between which technique falls under each label. I will try to simplify these acronyms and show the primary differences. continue

Here is a dead-simple guide to getting your business website noticed on a shoestring budget.

1. Don’t pay for SEO on Bing (or Yahoo).
2. Don’t pay for SEO on Google.
3. Start a FaceBook page (they are free).
4. Start a FaceBook CPC (cost per click) campaign. They are very easy and inexpensive to set up. For an example of one that has been done pretty well, check out http://www.facebook.com/SunriverResort ($50-$100 per month).
5. Start a CPC campaign on Google Adwords. This is a little more complicated, but very effective. ($100-$200 per month). continue

Steve Strauss of USATODAY.com and Oregon Business Magazine touched on a very important point in the latest issue of Oregon Business. He analyzes how business are no longer storefronts of local traffic, but visibility online. Strauss uses an example of his friend that runs a SEO business out of Bend, OR. continue

Yesterday Twitter started changing their Title Tags (I would assume also their meta and description tags) to be placed more favorably in search results. Facebook has also started to re-url their user’s profile pages to increase Google Juice. continue

Online advertising is something that is not only increasing rapidly when all other advertising forms are decreasing, it is the future of advertising. The message still seems to be that it’s ineffective. I think this is partially due to it’s non-intrusive nature and the lack of creativity that is inherently associated with it. I also feel it is the traditional marketing and advertising agencies not focusing on the future potential of online advertising. continue