The New York Attorney General’s office is cracking down on fake reviews in an investigation nicknamed “Operation Clean Turf”. Nineteen companies have agreed to stop writing fake reviews, and are now also responsible for paying a total of $350,000 in fines, with each companies’ fine ranging from $2,500 to almost $100,000. To learn more about the specifics behind this case, visit the New York Attorney General’s website.
How can you get real reviews for your business?
There are some easy tips to follow when trying to solicit customer reviews: - Make Review Writing Easy: Unless they have a negative experience to share, most customers will not search for a way to leave your company a review. By including direct links to your review profiles in multiple places (like on your website and in any email communication you send customers), making it easy as possible for customers to share their experience.
- Use Multiple Review Sites: Everyone has his or her favorite review site, so it is important to maintain a presence on all of them. General review sites include Yelp, Angie’s List, Google Local and Yahoo Local, and there are often industry-specific sites as well.
- Be Careful with Incentives: Offering a small incentive can help motivate customers to take the time out of their day to post a review, but make sure that it isn’t so much that it corrupts the review process.
- Consider Your Demographics: If your customers are Millennials, they should be able to post a review with little prompting. Older or less tech savvy customers may need more help, though.
If you need help setting up your review profiles, or want to learn more tips and tricks to receiving more reviews, contact Sales & Marketing Technologies today!