The eCommerce Marketing Podcast walks you through everything that goes into ecommerce marketing — from inbound marketing to paid advertising to conversions. Learn the strategies top marketing experts use to grow their businesses.
Scott Bradley, founder and CEO of Shopper Approved, discusses the importance of online reviews and reputation management. He shares his journey in the e-commerce industry and highlights the need for strategic partnerships with review platforms. Bradley explains how positive reviews can be leveraged to increase conversions and offers strategies for placing reviews strategically on websites. He also emphasizes the impact of reviews on search engine rankings and consumer behavior. In this conversation, Scott Brandley discusses the importance of online reviews and reputation management for businesses. He explains how businesses can leverage customer reviews to improve their reputation and attract more customers. Scott also shares strategies for incorporating user-generated content into marketing efforts and turning negative reviews into opportunities for growth. He emphasizes the value of empathetic responses to negative reviews and the impact they can have on consumer perception. Overall, the conversation highlights the significance of online reputation in building trust and credibility with customers.
Key Episode Takeaways:
- Strategic partnerships with review platforms are crucial for leveraging the power of online reviews.
- Placing reviews strategically on websites, such as on the homepage, landing pages, and product pages, can significantly increase conversion rates.
- Positive reviews and a high reputation can influence search engine rankings and consumer behavior.
- Customers often search for reviews on Google to assess a brand’s reputation before making a purchase.
- Redirecting customers to different review platforms after a purchase can help improve overall ratings and reputation. Online reviews and reputation management are crucial for businesses to build trust and credibility with customers.
- Businesses can leverage customer reviews to improve their reputation and attract more customers.
- Incorporating user-generated content, such as customer quotes and testimonials, into marketing efforts can enhance social proof.
- Negative reviews can be turned into opportunities for growth by responding empathetically and resolving customer issues.
- Empathetic responses to negative reviews can have a significant impact on consumer perception and trust in the brand.
If you feel Scott and his team at Shopper Approved can help your business, you may visit: https://www.shopperapproved.com/
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Past guests on the ecommerce marketing podcast include Neil Patel, Nemo Chu, Luke Lintz, Luke Carthy, Amber Armstrong, Kris Ruby and many more.
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In this episode of the E-Commerce Marketing Podcast, host Arlen Robinson speaks with Scott Brandley, founder and CEO of Shopper Approved, one of the largest online review platforms. With over 25 years of experience in eCommerce, Scott shares his journey from starting in eCommerce to creating Shopper Approved, and how the power of online reviews and reputation management can be leveraged to drive business success.
Scott emphasizes the importance of online reviews in establishing trust and credibility. He reveals that it’s not just about collecting reviews on your own site but strategically distributing them across major platforms like Google, Bing, and social media. Through these partnerships, businesses can leverage social proof and build authority, resulting in higher conversion rates and better search engine visibility.
The episode dives into practical tips on how businesses can turn negative reviews into opportunities. Scott explains how handling one-star reviews with empathy and transparency can create a lasting positive impact on the brand, often worth more than hundreds of five-star reviews. He also discusses how review management can be automated and optimized to fix reputations in real time.
Key Takeaways:
- Leverage Reviews Across Platforms: It’s not enough to collect reviews on your site. Make sure your reviews appear on platforms like Google, Bing, and social media to increase visibility and authority.
- Strategic Placement of Reviews: Place social proof at key points on your website (homepage, product pages, and landing pages) to optimize conversions.
- Turn Negative Reviews into Opportunities: Respond publicly and empathetically to one-star reviews to show you care. Fixing negative reviews can be more powerful than adding hundreds of positive ones.
- Automating Reputation Management: Tools can help direct satisfied customers to underperforming review platforms, helping balance your reputation across all platforms.
- User-Generated Content for SEO: Leverage reviews and Q&A sections to improve your SEO by using long-tail keywords and optimizing for search snippets.
Episode Timestamps:
[00:01] – Introduction
Arlen introduces Scott Brandley, the founder and CEO of Shopper Approved, who shares his expertise in online reviews, social proof, and reputation management.
[02:39] – Early Beginnings in E-Commerce
Scott shares his entrepreneurial journey, starting with his first eCommerce venture in 1997 and his early pivot to software development.
[06:34] – The Birth of Shopper Approved
Scott explains how seeing the impact of Amazon reviews inspired him to create Shopper Approved, despite initial pushback from his team.
[10:07] – Leveraging Reviews for Business Success
Scott discusses how businesses can maximize the value of reviews by using platforms like Google and Bing to increase visibility and conversions.
[12:54] – Strategic Placement of Reviews on Websites
Scott emphasizes where to place reviews on your website to build trust and increase conversion rates, including the homepage, product pages, and landing pages.
[16:27] – Impact of Reviews on SEO
Customer reviews play a role in search rankings. Scott explains how reviews contribute to SEO and how consumers research a brand’s reputation before purchasing.
[18:23] – Managing Reputation Across Platforms
Scott shares how brands can direct customers to review platforms that need improvement to balance and enhance their online reputation.
[22:08] – Using Reviews in Content Marketing
Scott talks about incorporating user-generated content, such as reviews and Q&A, into marketing strategies to improve SEO and engage customers.
[26:45] – Turning Negative Reviews into Opportunities
Negative reviews are inevitable, but Scott shares how brands can turn them into opportunities by responding with empathy and fixing problems.
[29:14] – Fixing One-Star Reviews is Key
Scott highlights that addressing one-star reviews can be worth more than 100 five-star reviews, as it shows a brand’s commitment to customer care.
[33:22] – Closing Thoughts and Lessons from E-Commerce
Scott offers advice for entrepreneurs, emphasizing the importance of persistence and learning from failures in order to succeed in business.
