Asian Fortune Your source for all things Asian American
By Mary Tablante
No business is perfect, but the following ways can help to increase online presence and deal with critiques of your business.
1. Respond to criticism
“The best thing to do with a bad review is to respond to it, “ said Jennifer Garcia, a brand marketing specialist and social media strategist who is the owner of Logicreative, a marketing and design business.
“Be honest about it because the fact is … you’re going to make mistakes and if you own up to your mistakes, people respect you far more than if you just ignore them,” she said.
For instance, on Yelp, owners can respond to comments to provide further explanation and how to resolve the problem.
2. Connect with customers
Margaret Kim, of Allcare of Maryland Urgent Care Centers, located in Columbia and Ellicott City, Md., is starting a loyalty program for frequent patients. Kim also sends out emails to her patients on Sunday evenings.
“The email campaigns are relatively successful … I try to target and send things on a Sunday hoping that the patient base will open it Monday,” she said.
3. Find your specialty
What sets you apart from other similar businesses? For Kim, it helps to have a multilingual staff. She has had patients come from locations like Southern Maryland, Ocean City and Pennsylvania just so they could receive care from a Korean-speaking physician.
“Sometimes translation isn’t enough; they want to talk to a doctor that speaks Korean,” she said. “We have people come in who don’t speak any English and my husband helps them out.”
4. Be on top of social media
Here are some examples of accounts Garcia recommended small businesses should have (besides Facebook):
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Merchant Circle: Merchant Circle is a start-up that helps small businesses network and reach out to customers. Business owners can post coupons, blogs, explanations of their services and more.
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Pinterest: Pinterest does not have to exclusively be for personal use and for posting wedding ideas or home décor. Because it is completely visual, businesses can put pictures about what they do. If they have services, businesses can post photos of people doing the services.
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Twitter: “The biggest thing with gaining Twitter followers is content,”Garcia said, adding that you should provide tips and important information. “You can favorite someone’s comment, you can retweet someone’s comments … the more you can engage with followers, the better.”
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LinkedIn: “I think a lot of people don’t think about it because they see Facebook everywhere, but LinkedIn is really a way to connect with fellow business owners and connect with people who can bring you employees, money for your business,” Garcia said.
5. Pay attention to your website
Kim said her business has benefited from having accessible website. At one point a few years ago, her business’ website was down for three months and Kim said she lost a lot of patients because her website could not be accessed.
She said she’d like to improve her website by providing a place where patients can make their payments online and she would also like to track her site statistics more accurately.
Another tip is to make sure your business hours and location/directions are easy to find on the website. Kim said she noticed the page on her website with this information was one of the top hits on her site.
6. Promote your social media sites on everything that you do
Garcia recommended that everything you hand out, whether it is your business cards, flyers or brochures, should mention what social media sites your business is on.
If you have a store, social media logos and account names should also be displayed on the front door and near the register.
Links to your website and social media accounts should also be in your email signature every time you send out an email, Garcia said.
7. Advertise your positive reviews
You cannot control what gets written about your business, but if you have positive reviews on Google and other sites, post them on your website.
The bottom line: “No reviews is sometimes as bad as bad reviews,” Garcia said.
