Social Media Tools That Will Help You Reach Your Marketing Goals

Whether you’re a solo marketer, startup or multinational enterprise, you'll find it's nearly an insurmountable feat to manage your social media without the help of some third-party tools.

It's these tools that make it possible for you to reach marketing goals, track results and engage more efficiently across a multitude of platforms. And, more and more, they're a necessary step, given that 52 percent of online adults now use two or more social media sites, and the average social media user maintains five accounts.
The good news is, when you're getting started, is that there are plenty of mobile apps and web-based tools to choose from; they range from specialized to multipurpose.
Below, I’ve compiled a list of my top five most recommended social tools for managing your marketing campaigns and making scaling your online marketing efforts that much easier.

1. Hootsuite

Hootsuite is considered to  a leader when it comes to managing social media. The platform offers everything you need to monitor social chatter and manage content publishing and multiple accounts. It also offers detailed reporting and collaboration features.
Each of your accounts can be displayed side by side in multiple streams for quick monitoring. This is especially helpful when big trending topics and conversations are taking place across all of your social channels. That listening ability is a big part of social engagement, and Hootsuite makes it easy.
“I use social media as an idea generator, trend mapper, and strategic compass for all of our online business ventures,” says Paul Barron, founder of Digital CoCo.
Hootsuite is available in a free plan as well as via multiple paid-plan options, and can be used on a desktop web environment or via mobile app.

2. Flickr with Creative Commons search

This is a go-to source for great stock photos for any kind of social promotional purposes, content marketing, branding and more. It’s ideal for blogs and presentations. With its advanced search feature, you can browse photos that have been made specifically available under Flickr with Creative Commons licensing, which allows you to use photos with attribution.
Visuals are an important part of social and content marketing. When people hear information, they’re likely to remember only 10 percent of it, according to data collected and analyzed by John Medina in his book Brain Rules. But if a relevant image is paired with the same information, that retention rate jumps to 65 percent -- even three days later.
For slightly higher-grade photos, I recommend purchasing images from Shutterstock.

3. Bit.ly

Bit.ly is the dominant URL shortener, and in my opinion it’s the best choice for the function it offers as well as its value-added benefits. Bit.ly's tracking and analytics are on point, though I recommend utilizing a shortener whenever possible. The “+” feature is a nice perk, as well: By adding the “+” to the end of any bit.ly URL, you can see how many times it has been clicked on and who clicked on it.
It’s a great way to check in on trending topics, find influencers and even keep an eye on your competitors if they're using the service, as well.
Because creating unique bit.ly links is so easy, the tool is also a great way to do A/B testing, on real-time social networks like Twitter.

4. TubeMogul

Video is a big part of social engagement; that’s why sites like Facebook have upgraded their services to incorporate native video-uploading as well as live streaming. Twitter has done the same thing since its acquisition of Vine back in 2012, and Periscope in 2015. Video provides a means to engage your audience with fun, entertaining content -- content that drives social shares.
“The play button is the most compelling call to action on the web,” -- says Michael Litt, co-founder of Vidyard.
TubeMogul takes the demand of manual upload and simplifies it so you can upload a single video clip directly to dozens of video sites. In addition to faster upload, it gives you comparative statistics on the number of views and the length of each view, site by site. It’s a fantastic tool for moving beyond individual video upload into strategic video optimization as part of a broad social media strategy.

5. Notifier

Notifier scans your content for the names of influencers in your posts and gives you one-click access to generate @mentions on social media. It’s a simple and effective way to notify influencers (and their audience) that you’ve mentioned them within your content.

Four Must Have Apps

If you want to simplify your daily investing ventures, then I truly believe that you need to have a few of the right apps to help you along the way. The right app can simplify investing, help you stay connected with the outside world and expedite the entire trading process for you. Here are four of the best investing apps for any trader to consider.

1. iPhone’s stock app.

Let’s start with the basics. The iPhone’s basic default stock tracking app is actually a pretty good tool that you can use to keep an eye on the major indices throughout the day as well as select stocks in your portfolio. This isn’t an app that you should be using to do analysis and make buy or sell decisions. But it will help you keep your finger on the pulse of the market no matter where you are. The top mistake investors make is not checking in with the market frequently enough. That’s how small losses become major losses. So even when you’re away from your desk or do not have access to a trading dashboard, even a simple tool like this could save you a lot of money.

2. eTrade.

If you haven’t tried the eTrade app to manage all of your trades, then it is time that you start. This app is super convenient and it puts all of the wealth-building tools you need right at your fingertips. When you want to make quick trades on-the-go, this is one of the tools I suggest you turn to. Plus, it is filled with tons of information and analysis features to help you make smart decisions.

3. StocksToTrade.com.

When I need a program that can help with scanning stocks and examining charts, I use StockToTrade. This software program claims to be powerful enough for a hedge-fund, but that it’s built for the average Joe investor and in all reality, I agree with them. I love this software program. It is super powerful, it’s easy for my students to use and it’s easy for me to use when I need to make huge trades from my home office or whenever I’m traveling. StocksToTrade also has scans for news as it relates to trading setups and patterns. One of my favorite features is being able to sort stocks based on a multitude of characteristics such as share price, market cap, etc. The pre-programmed scans for certain trade setups also make it very easy to build a trading strategy.

4. Entrepreneur.com.

When it comes to the tools I rely on most for investing, there is nothing quite like Entrepreneur.com. This is a prime example of it being about more than just apps, this site simply makes it easier for me to invest. I truly believe that investing without knowledge is risky. This is why I am always reading and always finding out new information. I spend a lot of time studying the articles on Entrepreneur to see what is happening in business. 

And now, for the one app that I don’t use…

5. Robinhood free broker app.

I am always willing to look at different apps in order to find programs that can help me in my everyday investing ventures. Some apps are great, others are just OK, but this app is one that I simply won’t use. I warn all of my students against using the Robinhood app, for a few reasons. This app has bad executions, weak short-selling options and it tries to lure people in by being “free.” Be careful with this one. Plus, there are no after-hours trading. In my opinion, it is better to just pay for quality.


Keep these apps in mind whenever you are looking for a new program to help you with your investing ventures. The right app can help make all of the difference in how easy it is for you to handle your daily trades with ease.

Social-Media Mistakes Your Business Can't Afford

Social media marketing is something you need to be doing. It’s too effective when it comes to growing your business to ignore it. As more businesses make it a larger component of its marketing strategies, I see more mistakes being made.
Here are four mistakes you don't want to make on social media.

1. You're not interacting with followers.

Guess what the number one line of communication is for customer service? Social media.

The majority of consumers are constantly plugged into social media, which is the reason social media is a major customer support tool. I see a lot of businesses that understand this, but its social media feed is just a long list of support replies.

Since your followers are plugged in around the clock, use it as an opportunity to create raving fans of your business. Every business is going to have a different audience and target market, so you need to think of content that your followers would be likely to engage with.

For example, if your audience is millennials, memes might be a good play. Memes spark engagement, like comments and social shares, generating buzz about your business. Remember, your social media posts don’t have to be traditional advertisements to convert followers into customers.

2. You're overly promotional.

Continuing where the previous point left off, don’t post ad after ad, and expect your followers to stick around.

An offer here and there is fine, but if your followers feel that all of your posts are glorified advertisements, they will find other accounts to follow and leave you behind. They don’t need you. You need them.

3. You don't include calls-to-action (CTAs).

Collecting followers alone isn’t going to magically translate into increased sales and revenue. Every social media profile gives you a place to put your website link, yet so many businesses miss out on an opportunity to collect leads, or push traffic directly to an offer because it simply puts its website’s homepage URL in these sections.

Don’t do that. Instead, put a link to your newsletter offer, downloadable whitepaper or a direct-to-purchase offer. Most clicks originating from social media and hitting your homepage are wasted clicks. Nobody has time to try to find offers. Send them directly to your offers, and this will greatly increase your conversion rates.

You should also mix in some CTAs in your posts. CTAs don’t have to be promotional.

Let’s assume you created a very informative infographic for your blog and want to drive traffic to it. Most businesses would just post the URL on social media and hope people will check it out. By including a strong CTA, such as, “You have to check out this cool infographic we just did -- especially point No. 3,” will drive significantly more traffic than just listing the post title and a link.

4. You spread yourself too thin.

You have to accept the fact that you more than likely can’t be active on all social media channels, unless you have a dedicated social media team or outsource your social media to a digital agency.
It will benefit you much more if you are great on three social media outlets, rather than mediocre on more. Pick the social networks that your business thrives on, and focus on making your impact even bigger.
With just a small handful of social networks to worry about, it makes answering messages and engaging with your followers much more manageable. The faster you can reply and the more you can engage, the stronger that connection will become. Social media is a great tool to build relationships that create life-long brand supporters.

Using Linked In Efficiently

Social media is a double-edged sword for many business owners and entrepreneurs. On the one hand, it promises so much, but on the other hand, it can take up a lot of your valuable time -- especially if you don't have a proven social media plan. But if you're mainly selling to other businesses, then there's one place you definitely need to be -- LinkedIn.
With more than 400 million users and the ability to connect with new leads, new partners or influencers who can help you spread the word about your brand, it's the obvious choice for B2B.
But are you getting the most out of it or are you just tinkering around at the edges? Here are 11 giveaway signs that you've mastered LinkedIn.

1. You know your objectives.

So many people go round and round in circles in LinkedIn. Not you. You know exactly the outcomes you desire, and you go after them.

You understand that you need to do less to get more, so your focus is on three main areas -- getting more media exposure, creating partnerships and generating leads for your business. Your effort is focused on these three areas, and anything outside of this does not attract your attention.

2. You know who you're targeting.

Because you know your objectives, you know exactly who you want to connect with. You don't connect with people willy nilly hoping that somewhere, sometime, someone will get back to you. You know who you want to connect with, what they do and where they're based. You're not interested in spending time on building a network of people with half-hearted profiles. You're after the movers and shakers, the "A" Graders. Guesswork is not part of your approach.

3. You have a structured approach.

Because you know what you want, and because you know who can help you, your approach can be much more structured. But not only one approach. Each approach is dictated by your needs (e.g. increase exposure, identify partners, generate leads). Each approach is clearly structured and is tailored towards a successful outcome.

Ultimately, you know exactly where you want to get your connections. Whether that's on a phone call or a face-to-face meeting, it's a structured approach that isn't left to chance.

4. You're focused on relationships.

Selling yourself, your expertise or your products and services is your ultimate goal. But there's a time and place for that. People rarely buy on first contact. That's why your approach is built on creating trust and building a relationship from the start.

5. You're committed to content.

You understand the value of world class content, and you offer this to your networks. Because you know your expected outcomes, you understand the challenges and the problems that your target audience face. You create content that addresses these issues.

Whether that's regular LinkedIn Updates or longer LinkedIn Posts, you create world class content to make sure that you stay front of mind with your target audience.

6. A solution-focused profile.

Your profile isn't a dry read that looks like an online CV. Instead it reads more like a set of solutions that you can offer. When your connections come to check you out, they see that you are a solution provider. They see that you understand their needs and that you are a credible partner for them.

Your profile pops with your own media, whether that's articles, photos, videos or presentations.

7. You segment your contacts.

You've got several objectives, and that means several audiences. Not all of them will be interested in the same content. That's why you segment your contacts to make sure that they only get the content that's relevant to them.

8. You don't preach to groups. You ask questions.

Whether you're running a group or you're a member of a group, you understand that asking questions is more powerful than promoting your own content. You understand that asking questions elicits responses in ways that posting content to a group doesn't, and it allows you to direct them to useful resources.

Sure, you know there's a time and place to make a pitch. It just isn't here.

9. It's your comfort zone for cold calling.

One of the reasons you use LinkedIn is because you hate cold calling. You hate the way that it's unpredictable, intrusive and annoying. That's why you prefer a structured approach based on known objectives, targeted outreach and high value content.

10. You're patient.

It would be great if you could just hit it out of the park at the first attempt. But you know that's not going to happen. Building relationships and creating trust takes time. That's why you're patient and methodical. You know that things need to occur in a certain order, and that if you're in too much of a hurry, your prospects will notice.

11. You enjoy it.

Finally, above all else, you enjoy developing meaningful relationships based on mutual benefit. As much as you enjoy growing your own business, you enjoy sharing your knowledge and helping others solve their problems and grow their businesses. For you, this is where LinkedIn really comes into it's own.
LinkedIn is powerful. If you're selling to businesses, it's the place to be. But just going in all guns a-blazing isn't going to work. Whether you're looking for more media exposure, partnerships or new leads, you need to know your desired outcomes and have a structured plan in place to achieve your objectives.
LinkedIn works best for people who understand their outcomes, and people who understand who they want to work with and they have a structured plan to engage with them.

Content Is King The Same Old Fact

Writing shallow, generic content is easy, requires minimal research and demands little prior knowledge of the subject -- all of which are selling points for content writers. However, clients are looking to stand out from their competitors and demonstrate to their audience why they are the right choice; readers are looking to be informed or entertained with something new; and Google ranks unique content high in search results. Content that just scratches the surface fails to please all three.
The problem is that there is a huge amount of content already on the web, making it difficult for writers to create something completely original. However, by taking a different approach to content creation, you can intrigue your readers and provide value to your audience. Here are a few ideas how to avoid being generic and go deeper into your subject matter.

1. Write from a different angle

You can turn even what may at first seem like an uninteresting subject matter into an exciting piece of content when you consider how you feel about the issue.
Most Creative People recommends sticking to topics in which you already have some interest; however, we understand that this is not always possible. In the case you do have to write on a subject you find boring for a B2B company, never allow your audience to feel your despair. Liven up the content by finding aspects that make the subject compelling, taking an angle you've never tried before. You may not be an expert on the subject matter, but this has no bearing. In fact, limited knowledge can often be beneficial, as you are even more likely to have some fresh ideas that your client's readers had never considered.

2. Infuse pieces with your personality

Nothing makes for more shallow content than facts presented in a bland, dry tone. Your content may be completely free from grammatical or comprehensive errors, but this does not necessarily mean it is well-written.
Enhance your content by allowing your personality to shine through. Pay attention to your choice of vocabulary, style and structure to ensure your writing reflects who you are, while still taking an appropriate tone and voice to meet your clients’ requirements.

3. Experiment with various formats

Mix things up by trying out a variety of formats for your content. For instance, if search results on your subject are turning up many pieces in data analysis form, try a Q&A, opinion piece or how-to instead. Simply by presenting the information differently can be inspiring and may lead you to coming up with a range of new ideas or penetrating the subject in greater depth.
Whether you are tackling a completely new issue or returning to a topic that you have covered many times before, it is always possible to put a new spin on the subject. Keep your clients happy, encourage their readers to come back for more, and improve search engine rankings all by creating something fresh and thoughtful.

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Why Linkedin ????

Today, that means using LinkedIn (and sometimes Facebook and Google) to try to get to someone. And going in warm is almost always better than going in cold.

How to Linkedin your way to success.

If used correctly, LinkedIn is a powerful tool that can lead to plenty of great contacts and successful sales and deals. You can literally get deals done on LinkedIn -- if you just know how to navigate it.Here's how you do it.

Your Profile: Make sure you have a professional looking Linkedin profile. It goes a long way to someone wanting to do business with you. That includes a profile picture, summary, job history and your education. Plus, if you can get some good recommendations from colleagues, that's a big help. Make it look good so people want to do business with you.

Getting to someone: If you want to get to a specific person, type his or her name into LinkedIn. When you get to their profile, see if you have any "common connections."
If you find a common connection, congratulations. Now you have two options.

1. Ask your common connection to make an introduction for you. If they're willing to do so, that's great. But remember, you're now on their timetable. And besides, they may not know each other very well... they may just be "LinkedIn friends."
2. Your other option is to simply reach out to the person you're trying to get to. Of course they may not respond, but...and it's a big but, when they see that you have a common connection or two, they'll assume that you're someone worth being connected to. In other words, that common connection is essentially vouching for you without even knowing it.

If you don't know anyone in common, that's ok. Now you just have to dig a little deeper. Go through their profile and maybe you have something in common with them, whether it's their college, a previous job or an interest.

Company search: If they work or used to work for a decent sized company, you can search that company on LinkedIn. You'll get a list of everyone on LinkedIn at that company -- as well as what level of connection you are to each of them.
You can even connect with random people at a company, so that when you try to connect to the person you really want to get to, it appears to them that you already know people at the company, so they are more likely to accept your request.
The Pro version of LinkedIn, while not cheap, is worth the investment if you're serious about connecting with people and building your network. You can even test it free for one month. You can use that month to expand you base of contacts and see if it's a worthwhile investment for you.
Another benefit of the Pro version is that you can see when someone looks at your profile. Not everyone you reach out to will look at your profile, but it's nice to know when someone does. At least you know you've got their attention.


For some reason, the mobile app lets you send connection requests with fewer steps and to more people than using the website. Strange as that may seem, it does appear to be the case.
To start you off in the right direction, send me a connection request on LinkedIn -- that way, you'll be one step closer to my 1,365 contacts and your own LinkedIn success story.

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)

So you’re thinking about adding Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) to your website? Stop thinking and start doing! Of course, it is all about how you implement AMP, but we'll get into that.
If you’re unfamiliar with AMP, it’s an open-source technology that enables pages on your site to load quickly for users on a mobile device. This happens with the help of a JavaScript library and some additional HTML markup.
Here are five reasons why you should add AMP technology to your website:

1. AMP is essential for good mobile SEO.

By now, you already know that if you want your site to rank well, you need to make sure that it’s mobile-friendly. That’s also why you need AMP. Think of it as the latest iteration of mobile-friendly design.
With AMP, your pages and blog posts will load quickly on mobile devices. That will not only give your users a better experience, but it will also give Google a good reason to rank your site well in the mobile search engine results pages (SERPs).
But it’s not just about organic ranking with AMP. Your site could be featured at the very top of the SERPs. How? With Google’s carousel that displays AMP pages -- and only AMP pages -- at the very top of the results list.
If you take your mobile device right now and Google a keyword related to current events, you’ll see that the results include a carousel of AMP pages at the very top of the SERPs. That’s where your page could be, but only if you adopt AMP.

2. AMP is so fast, it will reduce your bounce rate.

Don’t you hate a high bounce rate? When people visit your site, hang around for a few seconds, and then go somewhere else, you’re obviously not doing something right to inspire them to hang around for a while.
One reason people bounce -- the site is just too darned slow. That’s why AMP is so valuable. It will load your pages in a flash so that users will have one less reason to run away.

3. AMP could help you monetize your site.

Do you know why some sites are agonizingly slow? It’s because they’re loaded up with ad technology. It’s ironic, really. Websites increase ads to generate more revenue, but in the process the increased load times caused by the new ads also cause people to leave the site. That means, in all likelihood, less revenue in the long run.
Of course, some users who really like ad-overloaded websites will install ad blockers just so that the sites load faster. That’s also a problem for publishers because their ads won’t be seen, and they’ll lose revenue.
Enter AMP. It was designed with ad monetization in mind.
Here’s what the folks who started the AMP project have to say about their technology as it relates to advertising. “A goal of the Accelerated Mobile Pages Project is to ensure effective ad monetization on the mobile web while embracing a user-centric approach. With that context, the objective is to provide support for a comprehensive range of ad formats, ad networks and technologies in Accelerated Mobile Pages.”
The idea is that mobile pages -- even ones with an abundance of ads -- will load quickly with AMP. As a result, mobile users won’t see any reason to install ad blockers. AMP is great news for advertisers and publishers alike.

4. AMP offers analytics.

By now, everybody in the online marketing universe knows about the importance of analytics. Those are key metrics that offer insight about the effectiveness of specific marketing campaigns. AMP offers analytics as well.
Using AMP, you can track important information about visitor counts, new versus returning users, clicks, conversions, video engagement, link tracking and more.
Even better -- AMP analytics offer built-in support for almost every marketer’s favorite analytics tool, Google Analytics. Specifically, you can easily track three request values with AMP -- page views, events and social interactions.
If you’re really a hardcore GA aficionado, you can even use AMP to send custom dimension parameters to Google Analytics. That way, you can track very specific data points.

5. Google loves AMP so you should too. 

If you want to maximize the visibility of your website, then you need to play nice with Google. And Google absolutely loves AMP.
Just within the past few weeks, Google has made it easier to split-test AMP pages, announced that it will display AMP errors to site owners in search results and announced that AMP pages will be added to Google’s organic search results.
And that’s not all. If your site doesn’t support AMP, you might log in to the Search Console and see the following message -- “Google has detected that your site has many pages that may benefit from being served as AMP pages. Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) are HTML pages that are optimized to load fast on mobile devices. Learn more about AMP benefits in the resources below. Valid AMP pages on your site will be eligible to be shown in search results and receive special badging in search results.”
In other words, Google really wants you to use AMP. Why not get started today?

It's pretty clear that AMP is here to stay. They are even making AMP possible for e-commerce websites now.

How does SME sector helps Improve Business ??

The SME sector is the backbone of India’s growth contributing to 45% of manufacturing output, 40% of total exports and targeted to contribute to 20% of India’s GDP by 2020. Backed by the government via the Digital India initiative, this sector is likely to embrace technology in a big way to promote growth. Irrespective of segment, there are numerous research reports that provide statistics on the link between technology adoption and the SME sector growth with some stating that SME’s who were early adopters of technology could increase their annual revenue 15% faster than their competitors.
This article explores the five leading ways in which technology will encourage growth in the SME sector:

1. Creating a digital business: SME success depends upon creating early differentiators. Thinking through and executing a digital business model could mean getting that ticket to differentiation. This requires a fundamental shift in strategy in favor of leveraging digital, to either bring out a new offering or take the existing offering to market in newer ways.  This means being able to explore technologies such as IoT for say creating a new business offerings, leveraging robotics for say faster plant output, analytics for a deeper understanding into the internal and external business environment to leveraging social for customer outreach or cloud for flexibility and lower capex. The option are numerous. It only requires very strong business understanding to be able to analyze the existing business models, analyze what the ecosystem looks like, have a very strong understanding of the customer and their unstated expectations to then be able to devise an appropriate strategy to create the digital business model.
2. Hiring the right talent: Senior management of SME’s need to change the lens with which they view enterprise talent. Digital talent is not only about technical skills, but goes much beyond permeating business processes, to deal with the new requirements brought about by changing customer expectations. As a famous quote goes “Even in such technical lines as engineering, about 15% of one’s financial success is due one’s technical knowledge and about 85% is due to skill in human engineering, to personality and the ability to lead people.”  Transforming business by leveraging digital is a huge opportunity provided that the SME equips itself with the right talent that is able to accelerate the pace of growth.
3. Information Management to increase productivity: With fully automated business processes, the SME creates a paperless office, where the right information to execute a business process seamlessly is available to the right user when they need it. No longer do they need to clamor for information – everything that they need to deliver process cycle time is available to them on their fingertips including complete automation of workflows and integration to the ERP or back end applications. What this really leads to is significant increase in productivity and doing more with less.
4. Understanding the customer / customer outreach: What used to be a last channel of resort for customers is now turning out to be the natural and most immediate touch point for progressive brands.  According to some studies, companies with social care experience see a 5.6% increase in the first contact resolutions, 6.5% increase in agent productivity and 17.5% increase in SLA attainment. Social is being leveraged by SME’s like never before to gain a good understanding of the customer. With social and sentiment analysis, SME’s in the B2C space are not only able to better understand customer’s perception of a brand and their expectations, but also leverage it for generating leads, managing engagement with prospects to delivering customer service in newer ways.
5. Lower capex with cloud: Rather than owning assets, SME’s can leverage cloud to be operators of those assets owned by an external provider. This enables quick readiness and faster ‘reach to their enterprise goals’, thereby making it a significant driver for SME growth.

The SME segment plays a very crucial role in the socio-economic growth story of the country, and technology is likely to become a sine qua non for driving business growth. Taking a lead early on in this respect will make a big difference between the also-rans to those who are really going to drive a new wave of growth enabled by technology.

Growth Strategies Hiring Technology Small BizTips Small Businesses

Buying Needs Social proofs

These days consumers are influenced by other people more than they realize it is also that  social norms influence consumption behavior and even private interests, including one’s taste in music. This is what makes the concept of social proof a powerful one.

What is social proof?

In Science social proof is described as a psychological phenomenon in which people follow the actions of others in an effort to reflect what is considered correct behavior for any given situation -- including online experiences. Simply put, social proof influences people's decisions on how they should behave.
We've traditionally turned to a variety of useful sources as social proof. These include credible experts, thought leaders, celebrities, friends and the wisdom of the crowd. But today's diners rarely go to a restaurant without first visiting Yelp, and shoppers seldom make a meaningful purchase without first reading what verified buyers have to say. Online reviews have significant effects on purchasing behaviors. Predictably, they've emerged as one of the most potent forms of social proof.

When customers read reviews on various sites such as Google, Amazon or TripAdvisor, they depend on star ratings to determine the quality of a product or service. They read others' comments and ask increasingly specific questions.

• “Will this bank location help solve my problem the way it solved others’ problems?”
• “Is the food as good as advertised? What do previous diners really think?”
• “How long will I have to wait before I see the doctor? How long did others have to wait?”
• “Based on others’ experiences, what potential issues or problems might I have to face when I decide to buy this product?”

Do reviews really guide purchase decisions?

According to a survey nearly eighty percent of consumers in the United States read reviews before making a purchase decision. The report reinforces findings in a previous study that found that 87 percent of consumers trust online reviews as much as they trust friends and family. On the other end of the spectrum, four out of five consumers reverse their purchase decisions based on negative reviews.

People take positive reviews and high ratings as social proof a product or service is worth the purchase. They reason, “This has great reviews, so I’m buying it.”

How do reviews shape perception and future feedback?

According to a study published in Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, the average rating for a hotel with 11 to 20 reviews is 3.5 out of 5 stars, with “terrible” reviews (a rating of 1 star) at close to 12 percent. Interesting, as a hotel sees 101 reviews or more, its average star rating increases to 3.9. The feedback pattern, therefore, favors quantity. The more your business is reviewed, the likelier you are to receive higher ratings.
Apart from providing social proof for customers looking to make a purchase decision, reviews also provide social proof in other ways. These online testimonials shape how people perceive brands. And reviews also influence what people think they should say, when it's time to add their own voice to the conversation.
A customer’s opinion about a Yelp-listed restaurant with 100 reviews and an average rating of 4.5 stars is less likely to go against the grain and offer a counterpoint to all the positive feedback. The consumer thinks, “This has great reviews, so I’m going to say the same about it.”

How should you manage and respond to reviews?

To stay competitive, you must be able to effectively manage your online reputation. Track and monitor your reviews. Know when and where your customers are talking about your brand. Respond to customer feedback, both positive and negative. Dive deeper into the comments to look for useful insights and information that will help you improve the customer experience.
Related: Why Big Businesses Must Proactively Manage Their Online Reputations
Here are a few tips on responding to negative reviews:

• If you or your staff made a mistake, apologize. Even if you didn’t make a mistake, apologize and thank the reviewer for taking time to tell you what he or she thinks. Social proof is most potent when you’re able to turn unhappy customers into loyal fans. If someone wrote a harshly unfair comment and gave your business a low rating, keep your head up, say sorry, and tell them you hope they’ll come back so you can offer a better experience.
• Address all parts of the review. For example, if the reviewer writes the bank teller was rude or your bank’s app is buggy, acknowledge the issues and address them individually in your response.
• Ask the customer to reach out to you directly. Explore whether there’s anything you can do to make up for the customer's bad experience. There's a caveat, though: Never offer bribes or incentives for customers to change their review's sentiment.

Of course, harnessing the potential of reviews as social proof isn’t only about righting wrongs or recovering critics and detractors. It’s also about activating happy customers and promoters. Keeping that in mind, here are some equally important tips on maximizing the social proof inherent in positive reviews:

• Say thank you. If a customer took the time to present social proof for other prospective customers to see, expressing your gratitude is the very least you can do.
• Reinforce what customers love most about their experiences. In your response, explain that the delicious cupcakes actually are homemade. Let them in on how you grow your own arugula, or tell them others also have commented on the amazing views from your resort's cliffside swimming pool.
• Respond in a reasonable amount of time. Seven days or less is an ideal time frame to start.

Customers who are active online can influence others’ attitudes, beliefs and behaviors. While there's no way to control what people say about your business online or offline, you do have the power to change the conversation. Managing customer feedback and leveraging the right kind of social proof ensures you account for the positive opinions shared by your happiest customers.