My name is Rev Ciancio and I'm here to help you.
You can ask me anything — in fact, that's the whole point here. In this blog series, I'll be answering your questions about how you can be successful in marketing your business with Yext.
Asked by: Bob D
I'm a small business owner. I've been using YEXT for a couple years now. I have a unique business: Professional Camera Rental House, i.e. I rent expensive professional caliber camera equipment to production companies and individuals who are shooting commercials, corporate videos, documentaries, etc. I'm unique in that I'm pretty much the only business of my kind in the entire state of Wisconsin.
My clientele is obviously very specialized and I don't want mass, off-the-street, general public type business, as that's just not what I do.
I there anything I can do differently from what I'm already doing to help maximize my business' exposure to "the right kind" of clients?
Rev:
Bob,
Thanks for reaching out and thanks for being a long time Yext user. We appreciate that.
Sounds like you have a very unique business. It doesn't sound to me like it's for everyone but there could be other B to B's out there who may have these needs which means you might want to look into very targeted ways to market. Here are my top three suggestions:
Make sure all the keywords and services about your business that another business might use in search to find a business like yours are entered and updated in the Yext Knowledge Manager.Specifically, we find it is best to put the keywords in the business description. You can also use the products and services Enhanced Content listas well as the keywords lists.
Try out some pay-per-click advertising through Google My Business to capitalize on those searches.
Influencer marketing might work for you. Are there influencers in your area or industry who might be willing to spread your brand message through an exchange of services? Reach out and see if there is a way to partner on something.
- Ex. My friend Mike owns a production company who has rental needs of this type (he's in NYC). If I needed a video filmed about me or a project I was working on, I'd reach out to him. If I could save him money on equipment, he would be much more willing to throw me a bone!
Asked by: William R
How do you remove negative comments?
Rev:
William,
As a former bar owner, I absolutely understand and sympathize with your question. Negative reviews can be really upsetting and potentially damaging to your business. I used to become enraged when people left negative reviews for my bar.
However, as it applies to removing reviews, as a business owner you cannot remove any reviews — positive or negative — that people leave about your business. It's against the policies of third-party review sites.
If a review is inflammatory or incorrect, many of the third-party publishers have a method for submitting those for review. If the reviews are true but just negative, they will continue to live publicly.
What you can do, though, is take the time to manage your reviews on all the sites that matter to your business. Acknowledging someone who left a review for your business shows that you are listening and that you care. That sends a positive signal to other potential customers who are considering patronizing your business.
It can also help to increase the number of positive reviews you receive. More positive ratings and reviews can have SEO benefits. Google considers "prominence" (recent positive ratings and reviews) to be one of the factors that determine local search rankings.
You can also share positive reviews for your business on your social media accounts as a way of thanking those customers and sending a signal to others that you care about their experiences.
Asked by: Bradford M
Does Yext help with Google My Business ranking as far as the map section?
Also, does Yext help me get into the top 3 in Google My Business?
Rev:
Bradford,
Those are great questions!
As it relates to your business ranking in the map section or any result, Yext does not control those results.
What you are doing by using Yext is sending a clear, clean, consistent signal to Google (and all other publishers in Yext Network) that gives them confidence about your digital knowledge when a user submits a query that could be related to your products and services.
If your digital knowledge is managed better and is more consistent than your competitors, you improve your chances of coming up first in organic, map, or three pack results.
Would you like to optimize for even better results? Manage your ratings and reviews (see above with William R for more)!
More responses coming soon!
Onward!
-Rev
