barcamp talk: growing a business with online reviews
DESCRIPTION
An introduction to using online reviews, presented at the Barcamp tech conference in Sydney, late 2008.TRANSCRIPT
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Growing A Business With Online Reviews
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Filling In The Gaps
1.Online reviews2.???3.Profit
What this presentation covers
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Number of years each channel took to reach a market audience of 50 million?
Radio: 38
Television: 13
Internet: 4
Souce: http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/briefing/technology/tech.pdf
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87% of Australians have purchased something over the Internet. 53% of Australians made a purchase in the last month
Source: ACNielsen Global Online Shopping Habits Study
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Source: Consumer survey, JC Williams Group, 2006
91% of survey respondents cited consumer content as the #1 aid to a buying decision
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The crowd is building a new channel to drive their buying decisions
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Customers can get advice from each other directly
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For many businesses, your actions speak louder than your advertising
department
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What Determines Reviews?
• Audience • Market• Product
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Audience Factors
1.Education level (Selling to experts or businesses)
2.Enthusiasm (Customer word-of-mouth)
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Market Factors
1.Long tail or emerging markets (Limited exposure from traditional media)
2.Commoditisation (Ease of comparison)3.Low barriers to entry4.Customer lock-in5.Market maturity (Ability to innovate)6.Lack of incumbents (Brand experience)
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Product Factors
1.Product is sold in volume / Service is repeatable (Reviews are reliable)
2.Expense3.Upfront pricing4.Ongoing expenses5.Complementary products6.Information assymetry (Buyers know
more than sellers)
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Hints For Small Business
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Most Word Of Mouth Is Positive
80% of product ratings on the Bazaarvoice review site are 4 or 5 stars out of 5.
Source: “J Curve,” Bazaarvoice and Keller Fay
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Small businesses usually don't have economies of scale, or well-established brands. Differentiated on service? Good word of mouth is a cheap way to grow.
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Online reviews magnify word of mouth... 10x, 100x, even 1000x
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How Do You Encourage Reviews?
Got a store? Add a point of sale reminder
Track how your customers find you:
Referrer logsCustomer surveys
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Take Direct Action
• Contribute to an independent wiki page• Add customer testimonials and case
studies to your site• Track blog mentions and embed them as
an RSS feed• Start you own company blog
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How Do Reviews Fit Into Existing Channels?
Channel Independent Expert Comes To You
Based On Customer Experience
Direct Advertising
Indirect Advertising
Professional Reviews
Amateur Reviews
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Crowdsourcing Is Powerful
Reviews from fellow consumers have greater influence than those by professionals.
Source: comScore/The Kelsey Group, October 2007
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What Makes A Good Customer Reference?
• Customers who are the most similar to you
• Case studies from impressive customers are not as valuable as case studies from happy, but typical customers
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The internet lets your customers unionise against you
But they don't strike, they just go your competitors.
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Future Of Review Sites?
• Hybrid of professional reviews and moderation atop amateur content?
• May not be entirely advertising supported. Can use referral fees or negotiate pooled funding from businesses
• Niche review sites run by enthusiasts will always have a place
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Existing media voices and brands may extend their websites to provide online reviews of their own products, eg David
Jones, Vogue or Microsoft
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Example Australian Review Sites
Review Space Site
General Reviews Yabble
Restaurants Eatability
Teachers Rate My Teacher
ISPs Whirlpool
Web Hosting Hosting Jury
Wikis Wiki Matrix
Employers Revyr
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Discussion Time
Presented in Sydney, AU on 15 Nov 08 by David SoulOriginally posted on david-soul.com