Google reviews have a bigger impact on your fencing marketing campaign than you might think. When a consumer is looking for a service provider they turn to Google and one of the first things they notice in the local search results are the reviews.
The number of reviews and the overall star review score are two metrics that determine whether or not a consumer clicks-through to your website and contacts your fence company or they skip past your listing and do business with a competitor.
Having a Google My Business profile with fresh positive reviews greatly increases your company’s online image, leading to more customers. They also play a pivotal role in your SEO. Have you ever noticed that the top business listings in the local Google Map results tend to have a lot of positive reviews? That’s no coincidence.
Google’s local search algorithm takes reviews into consideration — the total number, freshness and scores are all factored in. In order to make the most out of our fencing marketing campaigns we make collecting Google reviews a top priority and put systems in place that help your fencing company attract a consistent flow.
There are both things we put in place and things you can be proactive about that help your business attract positive reviews from the majority of your customers. It’s important that you know why they are important and what can be done to help your business collect as many as possible.
Why Google Reviews Are Impactful
You have to assume that every potential fence customer is going to look up your business online. In fact, they are more than likely going to first find your business via a search on Google, so it’s important that you make a strong first impression.
The number of positive reviews is very important, but just as equally important is how recent your last reviews are. A business with several recent reviews is going to be more appealing than a company whose last review is six months old.
If you have bad reviews or very few, you’re not even going to get the chance to convert a potential customer into a sale. They are going to skip over your fence company and contact a competitor with more attractive reviews.
When developing a strategy to attract Google reviews for your fence company we focus on consistency. This helps not only with the fence company SEO, but also maintaining a very strong online reputation that creates instant consumer trust.
How Fence Company Google Reviews Lead to Business Growth
Google reviews is a numbers game — the more your business has, the better impact it has on your growth. You’re going to attract more customers that feel confident about hiring your fence company and you’re going to be exposed to more potential customers because your business will appear higher in the organic search results.
There are two main benefits of collecting Google reviews for your fencing company.
Generate More Leads and Convert a Higher Percent to Customers
When a customer is looking for a local fence company online there is purchase intent behind the search. They are either in need of a new fence installation or a repair. Either way, there is a very high probability that they are looking to hire.
If they come in contact with your business on Google and see not only a lot of reviews, but recent ones left by satisfied customers, it automatically increases the chance they click-through to your website and submit for information or pick up the phone and call you.
Higher Google Maps Ranking
You want your fence company ranking on the top of the local Google Maps results. When a local-intent search is performed that section is at the very top and the map draws all eyeballs to it.
Google’s algorithm takes reviews into account. Little to no reviews or bad reviews will have a negative impact on your position and a large number of positive reviews as well as fresh ones, have a positive impact. THis alone won’t rank you on top, but when it’s combined with proper Google My Business optimization and additional off-site SEO work, it can lead to top rankings and higher visibility.
Make it a Habit to Reply to Every Google Review
Being proactive and responding to Google reviews — both good and bad — needs to be a priority. It takes just seconds and has a big impact on how your business is perceived by those considering hiring you for their fence needs.
You have to understand that not every customer is going to be happy, even if you do everything correctly. There is always going to be that one difficult customer that is never satisfied and they might decide to be vocal in a review.
Instead of getting defensive or calling them a liar, simply reply and be overly polite and tell them that you welcome them to call your business to discuss the matter because customer service is your top priority.
All fencing Google reviews require a reply. If someone leaves a great review, thank them and let them know how much you appreciate their business.
Someone looking at reviews to determine whether or not they are going to consider hiring your company that sees replies to every review will immediately know that you care about your customers.
That little personal touch that took a few seconds has a huge impact. Make sure you take the time to reply to all reviews as quickly as you can after they are left.
Leverage the Power of Email Automation to Collect Reviews
Fencing reviews become much easier to consistently acquire once we introduce an automated sequence that does the heavy lifting for you. In an ideal situation all you have to do is worry about running your business and making sure the service you provide leaves every customer extremely happy.
A customer that is thrilled with the work your fence company delivers is going to be much more likely to respond favorably to our request when we ask them for a review at the conclusion of the job.
This part of our fence company local marketing campaign is done automatically. Once the job is wrapped, the customer will receive an email that asks them to share their experience. There is a link to your Google My Business profile to make it as simple as possible. We also make them know that this will only take them a minute and it will be very helpful.
This is where customer service and customer satisfaction comes back to you, full circle. By providing top-level service the customer will almost feel obligated to leave the review.
Since reviews are so important to our fencing SEO effort, we want to make sure that we convert the maximum number of customers into reviews. Sometimes it will require multiple asks, so to account for this we set up an automated email drop campaign that asks for the review until it is left or the customer opts out of the email marketing campaign.
The frequency looks something like this:
When the Fence Job is Complete
You want to go in for the initial ask right away. The customer is going to be more likely to leave the review right after the job is done. They are happy and want to help. They aren’t going to mind taking the time to leave the review as long as it’s made simple. Send an email thanking them for the business and let them know how much their business means to you. Then, ask them for a review, explaining how much it would mean to you. Short and sweet converts the best.
5 Days After Job Completion
Some people don’t check their email frequently. Also, some may receive so much email that your first message was buried and never seen. Five days after is still recent enough that they should grant the request. A simple email asking them if they have any questions is enough to get your foot in the door — add a subtle ask at the bottom of the email.
10 Days After Job Completion
This message can be solely focused on the review. “Hey we still haven’t received your review. We love to know how we did!” This one is important, because if they still don’t leave the review after receiving this one the odds of them converting drop significantly.
25 Days After Job Completion and Every 14 Days until a review is left or they opt-out
At this point it’s less likely they are going to leave the review, but we don’t want to give up. Waiting a couple weeks after the last email gives them time to come around. The goal with this email is to catch them at the right time. Then, we set another email to go out every two weeks. Short messages, yet different, each time. These should be debt until they leave a review or opt-out of the email sequence.
Make Customer Satisfaction Your Top Priority
Making sure that you make your customer’s overall satisfaction your top priority is going to automatically help you attract more fencing Google reviews. A happy customer is going to be willing to help you out if you simply ask.
A comprehensive fencing advertising campaign isn’t cheap. We want to make sure that we do everything possible to give your company a positive online image, helping to convert a larger percent of leads and customers.
