by Jennifer | Dec 12, 2018 | Blog
This week, I wanted to revisit the subject of Yelp. It’s been a while since I have posted about reviews in general, and I felt it would be useful to touch on the subject again. A few weeks back a client of mine had a 3rd party write a false Yelp review about his businesses due to a personal issue they had outside of the business. My client, for good reason, was agitated, but (as you may or may not know) Yelp will not remove a review like this, as it viewed as a ‘he said she said’ situation and they prefer not to get involved.
First, I want to remind everyone that ONE or even THREE bad reviews will not make or break your business; don’t waste your time or energy on these type of reviews. If you have multiple reviews reporting the same issues, try using that as a report card and start working to resolve those issues. Here’s the deal, give your customers and potential customers some credit, they are not idiots. Most people read a few 4 or 5-star reviews and a few 1 and 2 stars; this typically will give them a decent idea of what to expect when they visit a business. One bad review will not sink your business.
That said, I think it’s important to monitor your reviews and to respond to most of them. Just remember that you don’t need to acknowledge the obviously crazy! Below are a few best practices on responding to reviews.
Let’s start with good reviews!
Most of the time business owners only want to respond to the bad review. WHY?? Someone took the time to write a helpful and positive review of your business, take a minute to thank them for coming and let them know you appreciate them. It might be fun to share those reviews on your Instagram and Facebook stories.
I would also suggest thanking good reviews using a public response. This not only acknowledges the review writer but it also shows potential customers that you care and that you take the time to respond. Be thoughtful in your responses. I know it would be tempting to create a generic answer, but that doesn’t build a relationship or affinity for your brand. Also, note that your responses are indexed and help you be found on yelp when customers are searching.
Now to the bad reviews:
I like to coach my clients to take a breath before beginning to respond in order to be more objective instead of reactive. These reviews do not need to be responded to in real time. Here are a few ground rules to consider:
1. Take 24 hours – How many times have you responded to an email that you wish you would have given yourself some time to get some space and perspective on? Apply that same rule here. As a small business owner your work is very personal to you. When someone is upset, it’s natural to want to give them an excuse or get into an argument about the review. Give yourself some time to separate yourself from the situation.
2. Investigate: Use these 24 hours to find out what happened, whether it was an issue with an employee, food, etc.
3. Respond: Decide how you’d like to respond, publicly or privately. In most cases we suggest responding privately to a negative Yelp review, you want to take the conversation offline as quickly as possible.
If a review is out of line, you can report it to Yelp and they have made it pretty easy to do so.
To report a review take the following steps:
- Login to your Yelp business account https://biz.yelp.com
- Click on reviews on the left-hand corner scroll to the review
- Select the “…” report review you will have a choice of the following
Contains false information
It was posted by someone affiliated with the business
It was posted by a competitor or ex-employee
It contains threats, lewdness or hates speech
It doesn’t describe the personal consumer experience
It violates Yelp’s privacy standards
It contains promotional material
It’s the wrong business
Here is a link to the content guidelines for yelp
Don’t get into the whole story of what happened; stick to the facts. It’s been my experience if you get into the story of what happens, the review will stand as Yelp does not get involved with ‘he said she said’ issues.
Remember there isn’t one magic pill that will make your business successful, but many elements such as quality product, good service, good reviews, social media etc. all help but one doesn’t make or break you. The only thing that can do that is having bad service or a bad product.
by Jennifer | Dec 3, 2018 | Awards, Blog, Facebook
Clutch recently released the leaders of top Branding & Design agencies, and we couldn’t be happier to be included, as an official California Branding Leader!
Not only are we a branding leader for the whole state, but we also set ourselves apart be being highlighted as a top Los Angeles agency for advertising! It is so nice to see all the hard work and effort we put in this year end with all these accolades.
Clutch’s affiliate site, Visual Objects, also took notice of the work we have done this year. Not through our reviews, but mainly our portfolio items, and we clinched one of the few spots on their platform as well. From just one year of working with Clutch, we are ecstatic with the visibility we have gained and our overall rating of an impressive 4.5 out of 5 stars. We also couldn’t be prouder of the amazing things our clients had to say about us, and we are so grateful!
One said, “In terms of event attendance, we’ve seen increased interest and response. We would sell out a 40-seat event in a matter of days and have no problem selling 50-100 tickets. We attribute this to their comprehensive email list, which boasts over 10,000 customers.”
Another stated, “They’re very strategic and do a great job guiding and educating us in terms of best practices.”
We are very excited to be included in Clutch’s press release and we are excited to continue our work with them in the upcoming months and New Year! Be sure to check out our full profile on Clutch here!
by Jennifer | Nov 27, 2018 | Blog, Facebook, Facebook Ads, Instagram
Have you seen Facebook’s click-to-Messenger Ads yet?
I ran across one for The Boy & The Bear – Coffee Roastery in Culver City, last week AND I claimed my free coffee right away as well as I noticed several other people with the same offer in store. I would love to know how many people came in and just got the free coffee, how many already knew about the coffee shop and did people make additional purchases with the free coffee.
The truth is half the battle is just getting a new customer through the door, I go to the same places all the time out of habit, maybe a click-to-Messenger ad will help change habits and introduce your business to new people as well as create a little conversation about the business.
Maybe a great idea to get new customers in your door for the holidays, below are a few things I like about the ad format.
✔️These types of ads allow your Facebook Business Page to Engage Directly with Your Facebook Community Via Messenger. When a user takes advantage of your offer, they have initiated a conversation with your business. Once the conversation is started, the business page can now engage on an individual basis with the users via messenger. Why is this important you ask? Typically, only a ⅓ of your Facebook fans see your content daily; this gives you another way to communicate with your community. I would caution against overusing messenger; this format will be similar to email when communicating.
✔️Gathers emails for your business database. I also love that this ad format has the users enter their email address, one of the most significant problems in my mind with the different social platform is that we don’t own our database. You spend time and money building up your network, and the truth is it is all dependent on Facebook staying popular the minute the platform goes away or becomes unpopular you will instantly lose your audience. However, building your email list is a beautiful strategy to stay connected no matter which platform is popular.
✔️Retargeting: You may retarget your customers with sponsored messages. These ads target users that have already engaged via messenger with your business. Retargeting can be a powerful way to move your prospects down the sales funnel with additional offers or educational material.
by Jennifer | Sep 26, 2018 | Blog, Email Marketing, Facebook, Facebook Ads, Google +, Social Media
The end of the year is fast approaching, and for many small businesses this is the biggest quarter of the year so don’t wait to plan your holiday promotions. Below are a few tips to get you started.
- Review a calendar for upcoming important dates, make a quick list for reference. Halloween // Voting // Veteran Day // Thanksgiving // Black Friday // Christmas // NYE
- Review past promotions: Look at what promotions you did last year to support the holidays. Did they work? Do you like the collateral you used? Do they need to be updated?
- Freshen up past promotions or come up with new ones. No need to be fancy, keep it simple.
- Prioritize your promotions
- Determine how you will get the word out about your promotions:
- Send out Email Blast // How often and When
- Promote In Store // List out how you plan to do this
- Social Media Post // How often and on what platforms
- Social Media Ads // Consider Budget // Ad Copy // Duration
- Work on the creative: Design and create the flyer, emails, and social media posts.
- Mark your calendar with all promotions and when they’ll go out via social media and email marketing.
I know this seems like a lot but the planning stage should only take a few hours to do. Once this is done, designing the promotions and executing these simple steps will keep you on track and focused on your holiday campaigns.
by Jennifer | Aug 20, 2018 | Awards, Blog
L.A. Social Karma Crowned Top Social Media Marketing Firm
by: Alaina Stevenson
Think about it: how often do you or someone you know check their phone…or use the internet? Online marketing is a necessity nowadays. After liking, tweeting, posting, and maybe even poking, there’s only so much one can do on social media, but there are definitely major benefits to social media marketing. Now, once you’ve decided to follow an online marketing route, how are you supposed to differentiate between the major social media marketing firms?
One way is through ratings and reviews, and that is where Clutch comes in. Clutch is a B2B ratings and review firms, and through client testimony, case studies, and objective quantitative information, Clutch declares leaders for a variety of business service 
providers. We are ecstatic to be included in Clutch’s report released today highlighting industry leaders, and we are a top marketing agency.
It is exciting to be featured as a leader in one industry on Clutch, while still maintaining our top spot in another as well, LA social media. We specialize in many services and fields, all the while producing quality work, and Clutch’s research simply highlights that fact.
Our acceptance of this award goes hand-in-hand with our deep appreciation of our clients, who helped L.A. Social Karma achieve its ranking and produce some of the highest quality work in across our industry. The owner of a local restaurant was impressed with the flexibility and dynamic culture that permeate L.A. Social Karma. “We appreciate their personal approach to marketing. We believe that marketing can’t just be digital; customers need to see that there are people behind the posts and emails. They want to see our faces. In terms of work, other firms might promise services, but we’d never get to see them, let alone know who they are. The L.A Social Karma team proactively attends events and engages with us and our customers. That makes all the difference.”
Jennifer Taylor, Economic Development Administrator, was impressed with L.A. Karma’s ability to handle a tough job. “We’re not the easiest of their clients because our campaign has thousands of participating businesses and eight founding partners (the city of Santa Monica is one of them). Since we have a lot of partner hashtags and social media handles, it’s important to incorporate all the partners correctly. That’s not a criticism, but rather the challenge that our business presents.”
Named for the city in which it resides, L.A. Social Karma was founded in 2010 and continues to energize its industry with new ideas and an innovative approach. A boutique firm that offers end-to-end service, L.A. Social Karma is relatively unique. We have the capabilities to cover all the bases but focus on what’s
