News

The best time to capture a review from a happy customer is while they are with you at your place of business. As soon as your satisfied customers leave your building, the likelihood that they will place a review on Google Places is reduced.  Business owners have been struggling to establish easy processes to increase their direct Google Places reviews.  Solutions are on the way!

Google introduced Google Hotpot as a way to simplify posting reviews on Google Places.  Until recently there was no convenient way to post a review on Google Places from a mobile device.

Before this app was available, it was a painful process to post a review on Google Places from my iPad.  This new app solves that issue and opens the door to empower business owners to collect more reviews.

Google has just published their Google Places App which is available for download on the iTunes store.  This app will bring a significant change to how reviews are posted directly on Google Places.  It will also bring direct competition to Yelp.com and other platforms that have similar mobile ratings apps.

Google Places does roll-up reviews from many different review websites but my recommendation is that if you need a place to start your IRM process, begin with posting reviews directly on Google Places.

Collecting Reviews Using HotPot

For business owners, this means they can load an iPad or iPhone with the Google Places App which gives them an easy, one click path, to their business listing ratings page on Google Places.

The Google HotPot technology will automatically show all businesses near the location of the mobile device. If you have not played with Google Hotpot, get busy.  It really makes posting reviews for any business a breeze.

For car dealers,  imagine if during the sales and service processes you ask your customers is they have a Google Account. If they do, you can pass them an iPhone or iPad on the public 3G network and ask them to post a review using their gmail account.

The Google Places App makes it so easy for the customer and they are using their EXISTING Google email. You also have no IP address issues that prevent dealers from getting in store reviews from sites like DealerRater.com.  In reality, Google wants consumers to post reviews on the spot.  Did you enjoy your meal?  Post a review.  Did your oil change go smoothly?  Post a review.

I wonder if DealerRater and other automotive specific websites will start to release mobile apps and unshackle car dealers from the duplicate IP address issues that are antiquated.

Soon, you won’t have to pass them an iPad you can just ask them if they downloaded the Google Places App and they can vote from their own phone.  This new app will significantly increase reviews on Google Places.

You Can Also Send Customized Emails

While you are implementing the mobile review process outlined above, you can also craft a special email to your customers that have given you a Google “gmail” address on their customer file.  Since they have a Google account, sending them a link to your Google Places review page. This brings your customers one click away from being able to post a review.  Your email template for these customers should state that since they are Google users, they don’t have to create an account to post a review.  Let them know that its fast and simple.

So if you want more positive reviews, create a mobile strategy for your business and have your customers review your business while they are with you!  Are you ready to be the business in your area with the highest number of reviews on Google Places?  The race is on!

Watch The Google Places App Video

The wait is over. DealerRater.com customers can now rejoice as Google Maps will now include the “star” counts on DealerRater on Google Maps. As you can see from the screen shot below, dealers like Marlboro Nissan with over 300 positive reviews, will benefit from this new change. Prior to this change, Marlboro Nissan had less than 10 review stars showing.

When Google Maps displays listings of car dealers, as shown below, it has been proven that high star counts increase click-through rates.  With over 330 reviews displayed for Marlboro Nissan, their Google Maps traffic will surely increase.  Their Internet Reputation Management program will really pay off now.

And when you click on the details for each dealer, you can see how well DealerRater.com reviews dominate the page:

Reputation Management Services

Congratulations to Chip, Matt, and the entire DealerRater.com team for getting this integration completed.  Dealers looking for assistance and training to setup strong reputation management processes can contact PCG Digital Marketing for an IRM proposal.

I can imagine Austin Powers dressed in a blue velvet leisure suit saying:

It’s Social Media Baby!

If you haven’t noticed car dealers are being pushed off of Google Page One for the cars that they sell. To throw salt in the wounds, it seems that every month another car dealer “review site” pops up.

This means when consumers type in a car dealership name, more sites are vying to capture and suck the equity out of the brand.

In reality, many of these sites are just Google Adwords and banner advertising sites that are making money from optimizing website pages on a car dealer’s name.

There is nothing illegal about this and over 60% of car dealers are allowing their name to be leveraged for other people to profit from.

In the area of car dealer reviews, have you take a minute to see just how many websites seek to be the “authority” for car dealer reviews?

Here is a quick sample of the sites that I have found that want to be found in Google, Yahoo and Bing search for the phrase “Car Dealer Reviews” or “Auto Dealer Reviews”:

Car Dealer Specific SItes

• www.mydealerreport.com
• www.cardealercheck.com
• www.dealerrater.com
• www.cardealerreviews.org
• www.prestoreviews.com
• www.dealerscene.com
• www.dealershipratings.com
• www.carsdealersreview.com
• www.autodealerreviews.com
• www.dealerreviewer.com
• www.autodealerreviews.com
• www.edmunds.com

General Review Sites

• www.my3cents.com
• www.insiderpages.com
• www.yelp.com
• www.citysearch.com
• www.judysbook.com
• www.merchantcircle.com
• www.yellowbot.com
• www.switchboard.com
• www.superpages.com

Automotive IRM Confusion

The reason I bring this trend up on this blog is because it can be confusing for a car dealer to know where to focus their Automotive Internet Reputation Management strategies. So let me give you some practical advice:

1. Look at your own Google Maps listing and see which review websites are being summarized on your Google Maps page. Focus on getting positive reviews posted on these sites first.
2. Of course, getting posts directly on Google Maps should be a car dealers #1 priority because the “star” ratings are directly counted if a consumer posts on Google Maps.
3. Once you have seen which review sites are being summarized on your Maps listing, focus on getting more reviews on those sites via email, calls and in store coaching.
4. To see if other sites are having an impact on your business, Google your exact business name and see which review sites are showing on Page One and Page Two.
5. Any sites on Page One or Page Two should get some attention to build positive reviews.

If a review website is not on Page One or Page Two, I would hold off investing any labor on these sites until the steps listed above are complete. Then, I would add positive reviews to the largest website vendors first and ignore the lesser sites that only have their own self interests in mind.

Summary: There are hundreds of websites trying to capitalize on your car dealership name. Don’t get overwhelmed and just focus on the most visible websites that appear for your car dealership name or the cars you sell in your PMA.

If you need help, call 732-450-8200.