Building a brand reputation is like finding friendship in a room full of people who are already friends! If you’ve recently launched a brand new business, let’s face it, it’s going to be hard to gain customers or convince them to try your products. And until you start selling, you can’t get the online reviews you need to build trust with strangers.
So here’s the secret: in life, and in business, when you’re the new kid, you have to reach THEM to strike friendships and give them a chance to like you.
Here’s how to reach out to people, build a great business reputation, and get them to leave online reviews.
Reach Out To Friends and Family
Your friends and family are your first assets, and people trust people they know; your friends and family will believe in you even when the world doesn’t and will recommend you to their friends. Who knows, they may even leave you great reviews—because you’ve already done a lifetime’s worth of gaining trust and building a reputation.
So when you first launch your business, even when you don’t have customers, loop in your close friends and family and gift them a heartfelt experience of your products. It could be a birthday gift made from some of your best products, adding your product to their wedding favor boxes for free, or even helping a friend solve a problem that your business has a solution for.
Reach out with a helping hand and let it come from the heart; when you do, ask them to leave reviews on their page if they like what they have to offer. Our guess is that 10 out of 20 will have your back!
Hand Out Samples Or Offer Free Downloadables for Online Reviews
Reaching out to friends and family is easy because you already know these people. When you’re done with this step and are ready to move on to the next, try and reach out to the general public with samples of your product.
If you offer digital products or services, offer free downloadables that are aimed at giving them a piece of the larger cake that you’re offering. Again, make it come from the heart and make sure that whatever you’re offering is valuable enough to help them solve some of their problems.
In the case of digital products, you can also ask for their email addresses in exchange for the download, which you can use to send them a Thank You email—and maybe later to send them new offers and follow-ups. The aim with this is to establish a wholesome connection—just like striking a friendship where you have to make the sincere first move.
Once they come back for the bigger purchase, you can ask them to leave reviews for your website.
Invest In Influencer Marketing
Finally, at this point, you should have started to generate some revenue from the first two steps. If you can spare some time to really hone that brand reputation, gain some stellar reviews, and increase your sales, it’s time to invest in influencer marketing.
Influencers are people with a massive social media following because they have managed to strike a connection with their audience. Their followers trust them and pay heed to what they say. If an influencer in your niche recommends your product to their audience, imagine how many people you could reach!
To do this, create a list of influencers in your niche and reach out to them to discuss their terms. Go with the ones that suit you. Usually, influencers also review your products on their social media channels so you can share them directly on your blog or social media.
Looking for a local marketing agency in Portland, ME, to help you with all aspects of business? Reach out to our team! At Local Image, we believe in building a strong foundation so all of your marketing efforts work together seamlessly.
