Do you have the Reviews feature enabled on your Facebook Page? Are you proactively building your online reviews? Do you have questions about reviews? In this special Facebook Live, brought to you by Bank of America Small Business Community, I share what you can do online and in stores to get better online reviews, improve your reputation and help your business thrive! Online ratings and reviews are a powerful form of user-generated content to help grow your business. See: https://www.facebook.com/marismith/videos/10155397522370009/

1. HOW TO
INCREASE
ONLINE
REVIEWS
USING
FACEBOOK
MARI SMITH – Premier Facebook Marketing Expert
CEO, Mari Smith International, Inc.

2. • Premier Facebook Marketing
Expert
• Hired by Facebook & Fortune 500
Companies
• Globetrotting Speaker
• Brand AmbassadorMARI SMITH

3. @marismith | marismith.com
Hundreds of articles for Small Business owners
Designed to help entrepreneurs and small business
owners grow online and offline.
https://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/
https://bit.ly/bofa_smc
Bank of America Small Business Community

4. @marismith | marismith.com
Facebook &
Yelp = 20%
BBB = 15%
Most trusted review sites for local searches

5. @marismith | marismith.com
87% of consumers say that a
business needs a rating of 3-5
stars before they will use them
9% of consumers won’t use a
business with an average star
rating of less than five
48% of consumers need at
least a four-star rating before
they choose to use a business
Minimum star rating?

6. @marismith | marismith.com
A growing number of
consumers read more than 11
reviews before they can trust a
business
68% of consumers read four or
more reviews before deciding
to trust a business
The average consumer reads
7 reviews before trusting a
business – up from 6 a year
ago
How many online reviews = trust?

7. @marismith | marismith.com
For which business types do you read reviews?

8. @marismith | marismith.com
93% of consumers
read local reviews
to decide if a
business is good or
not – meaning just
7% don’t
(compared to 9% in
2016)
Reviews: is business good or not?

9. @marismith | marismith.com
54% of consumers consider
the average star rating to be
the most important factor
Quantity of reviews is now
the second biggest factor, at
46% (up 11% from 2016)
The importance of
businesses responding to
reviews has increased to 30%
(up 10% from 2016)
Local business reviews factors

10. @marismith | marismith.com
ASK!!
Give clear direction
URL for your Facebook Reviews tab:
www.facebook.com/pageusername/reviews
Monitor comments & posts
Follow up and request a Review
Follow up online & via email
Communicate via Messenger chat bot
See www.mari.chat
Request in-store
Include a card inside shipping boxes
Tips for increasing positive reviews

11. @marismith | marismith.com
The bad news: 
Consumers are 21% more likely to leave a review after a
negative experience than a positive one.
The good news: 
A few negative reviews can make customers trust your
reviews more.
If a business has no negative reviews, 95% of consumers
suspect the good reviews are fake or the bad ones have been
censored.
Negative reviews

12. @marismith | marismith.com
Don't ignore them.
Always reply to a negative review as soon you see it.
Do be understanding.
Express empathy and genuine concern. (Train your staff!)
Don’t go too in-depth in public.
Whenever feasible, strive to move to a phone conversation as
quickly as possible.
Do share the happy solution.
Ask your customer if she’d be willing to update their review.
How to deal with bad reviews

13. @marismith | marismith.com
Example

14. @marismith | marismith.com
How to Boost Positive Online Reviews for
Your Business – And Deal with Those Pesky
Bad Ones http://bit.ly/2Ip51Rb
How to Increase Authentic
Business Reviews on Facebook
http://bit.ly/2rF9pBK
The Bank of America Small Business
Community has expert insights, insider tips,
and the industry knowledge you need to see
your small business thrive
Resources
Mari Smith

15. @marismith | marismith.com
BrightLocal
http://bit.ly/reviews_survey
Local Consumer Review Survey

16. Q&A 