88% of consumers incorporate reviews into their purchasing decisions<\/a>, trusting online reviews as much as personal recommendations. And people are most likely to read reviews for restaurants and cafes<\/a> over any other type of business.<\/p>\n That means your restaurant\u2019s reputation is more sensitive to the opinions of customers than any other type of business. Since the ultimate goal is, of course, to make more money, you cannot afford to wait until someone leaves a nasty comment to devise a plan for reputation management. Instead, here are three steps to create a proactive online review strategy.<\/p>\n There are hundreds of review sites on the internet, so how do you know where you should have a presence? When it comes to restaurants, there are four biggies you should focus on according to data received on the NGAGE marketing platform<\/a>. They are:<\/p>\n Some runners up you should also consider:<\/p>\n If your restaurant is not listed on the top four, stop reading this post. Seriously! Take 10 minutes to create a profile on each platform, then come back for the rest of our online review strategy.<\/p>\n Back so soon? Great!<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to know that on most review sites, anyone can create a listing for any business. Your best friend\u2019s cousin could create a Google business listing for your restaurant. Research at least the top four sites to make sure that your business is represented accurately.<\/p>\n If a listing has already been created, you\u2019ll need to claim it. Claiming your listing is the process of telling the review site that you are an official representative of that business. Some sites, like Google, will require a verification postcard or phone call to make sure you are who you say you are. While this process may seem tedious, don\u2019t skip it! Claiming your listing ensures that you receive notifications when someone posts a new review and gives you the ability to respond to it.<\/p>\n Check out our Ultimate Guide to Restaurant Marketing that walks you through creating a marketing strategy to bring in new customers.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Negative reviews can feel like a punch in the stomach. You\u2019ve poured your heart and soul into building and running your restaurant, and it feels like all that effort is diminished when someone leaves a nasty comment. Having a plan for responding to negative reviews, even before you ever get one, ensures that you can tackle this challenge quickly and professionally.<\/p>\n Here are some do\u2019s and don\u2019ts when responding to a less-than-stellar review.<\/p>\n Do:<\/p>\n Don\u2019t:<\/p>\n And remember, you\u2019re not just speaking to the person who left the review, you\u2019re also speaking to every other person who might read that review before deciding if they\u2019re going to head over to your place for their next meal. Responding to negative reviews positively and sincerely shows existing and prospective customers that your restaurant cares about providing an excellent experience for its diners.<\/p>\n Not all shoppers will take the time to sort and read through your reviews. Instead, some will take a quick glance at your star rating to decide whether or not your restaurant is worth the experience. If your overall star rating is in the dumps, you can wave that new customer goodbye! Even if your star rating is average, increasing it by even one star can lead to as much as a 9% increase in revenue<\/a>!<\/p>\n Improving your star rating is simply a numbers game. Take, for example, IndoorMedia\u2019s Google rating<\/a>. In May of 2019, we generated 36 positive reviews for a total of 200 reviews. Our star rating went from 4.3 to (drum roll, please) 4.4! That\u2019s right, 36 positive reviews only increased our rating by .1 star\u2026<\/p>\n You should take our metrics with a grain of salt. The fewer reviews your restaurant has overall, the fewer positive reviews you\u2019ll need to go from unsavory to delectable!<\/p>\n To generate positive reviews, you\u2019re going to have to encourage customers to share their input. Here\u2019s how to do that:<\/p>\n Online restaurant reviews can have a big payoff (literally), so don\u2019t avoid them just because they can be uncomfortable to deal with.<\/p>\n Finding the best ways to advertise in your local area is key to driving new customers through the door every single day.\u00a0Learn more about some of the top restaurant marketing tactics and how to apply them to your restaurant<\/a>.<\/p>\n The post The Importance of Online Reviews for Restaurants<\/a> appeared first on IndoorMedia<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For better or for worse, online reviews have an immediate impact on your restaurant. Positive reviews can directly grow your profits while negative reviews can drive people away for good. Don\u2019t think this applies to you? Think again. 88% of consumers incorporate reviews into their purchasing decisions, trusting online reviews as much as personal recommendations. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":232270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12023],"tags":[13407,2485,24339,24340,12767,3698],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-232269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advertising","tag-importance","tag-online","tag-online-advertising","tag-restaurant-advertising","tag-restaurants","tag-reviews"],"yoast_head":"\n1.List Your Restaurant on Review Sites<\/h2>\n
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2. Handle Negative Reviews like a Boss<\/h2>\n
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3. Keep Your Eyes on the Stars<\/h2>\n
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Put Your Strategy Together<\/h2>\n
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