Popular Articles on Business 2 Community |
- 5 Ways To Use Social Media To Boost Holiday Sales
- Tips for Managing Finance [Infographic]
- How Can Procurement Be More Strategic? Think Like Sales
- 10 Things Never to Say To a Customer In Live Chat
- The Future of Facebook’s Newsfeed: An Open Letter to Mark Zuckerberg
- What Makes Amazon Customer Service So Satisfying?
- Top 10 Influential Social Media Marketing Campaigns Of 2013
- 5 Local SEO Predictions for 2014
| 5 Ways To Use Social Media To Boost Holiday Sales Posted: 13 Dec 2013 06:17 AM PST For e-commerce businesses, the holiday season is the when sales generally see a dramatic increase, sometimes even two or three times the normal amount. But while the holiday season does bring an influx of consumers on its own, there are other ways businesses can take advantage of the shopping season. Instead of sitting back and waiting for shoppers to come bearing their credit cards, e-commerce businesses need to be proactive and use social media as a tool to skyrocket sales. Here are just a few simple ways for business owners to use social media to entice consumers to their online storefront. 1.) Post Information On Social Media It may seem completely obvious, but you'd be surprised how often sales go unnoticed (or significantly underperform) because a company failed to mention it on their social media site. This is especially true for companies who may have gotten into the social media game a little more recently and are still learning the ropes. It's a very simple premise: The more people you tell about your sale, the better you'll do, and social media outlets are the single most simple and effective way to do just that. Don't spend all of your time coming up with a monster deal only to have it fail because you forgot to tell anyone about it. Remember, you also need to post other interesting content (e.g. pictures, articles or tips) in addition to sales information or people will quickly get bored of the promotional posts. 2.) Hashtag Mania While using hashtags as a promotional tool isn't exactly some new and innovative idea, using them properly during the holidays can go a long way towards earning you more and more exposure. Now that pretty much all of the major social networking sites have adopted hashtags, there's no reason at all to ignore then. And the best part is that there are any number of ways that you can utilize them. During the holiday season, holiday-themed hashtags should be the name of the game. Things like #holidaysales, #giftideas or even just #christmastime will help guide new and old customers to your site to find the gifts they're after. Go to Hashtags.org and see how frequently certain hashtags are used (e.g. http://www.hashtags.org/analytics/christmastime/) 3.) Entice Consumers With Coupons Coupons are a simple way to entice consumers and increase sales, and social media makes getting them to your customers easier than you may think. The growing trend of digital coupons makes reaching your customers easier than ever before. Now, instead of just posting little plugs or ads on social media, businesses are able to hand out special offers that can help drive traffic to their site or even into their brick and mortar locations. Not only that, but by asking customers to share a post or like a page before giving them the coupon, business can simultaneously grow their online following and engage more and more people. Plus, your customers get the benefit of a great deal. Everyone wins! 4.) Get Customers Involved The whole point of social media is to connect with customers, so why not get them a little more involved? Reward frequent and loyal customers with shoutouts. Ask your customers to share how your products are a part of their holiday traditions. For example, if you sell furniture, ask them to share pictures of their family on the couch on Christmas morning. Get creative! Your business is about connections, and this a great way to make them. 5.) Don't Overdo It! And finally, while putting your holiday social media campaign together, remember one final word of advice: don't overdo it. If you flood your customers' feeds with your sales-related posts, they'll just hide your updates along with the rest of the spam that they get. Try to limit your posts to one a day, perhaps two if you actually have something substantial to say and (as mentioned earlier), mix in informative posts or pictures that are not pushing product! Social media should be a part of any business' marketing plan year-round, but especially during this busy time of year. Don't miss out on any opportunities for sales this year!  |
| Tips for Managing Finance [Infographic] Posted: 13 Dec 2013 01:00 AM PST We all have varying needs and wants, be it clothes, fancy gadgets, cars or home. In order to fulfill all our needs it is imperative that we manage our finance in such a way that allows us to save for our future as well. In America, there are about 150 million people who have saved nothing for their retirement. This could be because most of us focus on meeting our current needs first. We tend to think very little when it comes to saving for our old age. According to a survey, more than one-third of people spend more than they can afford. This leads to borrowing and getting things financed from external sources. In America, less than 30% of the population has personal finance education.
Mentioned below is the rule of thumb one should remember while getting car financed: For car loan, the 20/4/10 rule should be followed. According to this rule,
Managing finance is an important key if you are planning to take loan from bank. Loans directly impact our monthly expenses pushing us to curb on over-spending. If someone has more than one loan then it should be managed separately keeping all expenses in mind. Despite the recurring expenses one needs to give monthly EMIs which leave little room for savings. Thus, following few tips can make your finance planning successful.  |
| How Can Procurement Be More Strategic? Think Like Sales Posted: 12 Dec 2013 09:59 PM PST As the leader of a company that provides solutions for procurement, I go to a lot of procurement events. On every agenda there's inevitably a session about how procurement can become more strategic. And inevitably what comes up is, "we’ve got to get better talent." "We've got to break down silos." "We've got to manage supplier risk—if we've got to have certain materials and suddenly our supplier is out of stock, do we have another one to replace them?" These are all-important and basic staples of the procurement role. But as a CEO at these events, I find myself thinking, no one's going to get a pat on the back for this, no matter how well they do it. That's just keeping things going, and if that's all you do, you're a commodity. It’s like riding a bike—just about everyone can do it. It's not that interesting. But how many people can do flips and tricks and make you go wow, I didn't even know you could do that with a bike? That gets people's attention, because it goes beyond the basics. If you want be strategic, you have to do something beyond just mastering the basics of your job. You have to do something interesting to the CEO and the board and the stockholders of your company. Maybe it truly is breaking down silos or managing supplier risk, but whatever it is, make sure it is directly tied to what the CEO and the board and the shareholders care about. In a for-profit company, that's the bottom line. Problem is procurement people, like a lot of people, tend to be process-oriented in their thinking. Instead, they should consider being results-oriented and thinking more like salespeople. The salesperson is always out there trying to get that extra dollar, hunting for opportunities and trying to be the squirrel that gets the nut. He or she has a pipeline and they constantly have to forecast their revenue contribution. He or she typically has a lower base salary, and has to get "no" thrown in his or her face all day long to make that incremental top-line dollar. But what about the dollar you could save in the back office? It's assumed that you’re doing the best you can, but in most companies there are all kinds of untapped opportunities to save a dollar. What's amazing is, that dollar has even more value and you don't even have to sell anything. The company has to spend against the dollar sales brings in. That dollar you save in the back office goes right to bottom line profits. There are only two paths to increasing profits: making more money or saving more. There’s no other way — what else are you going to do? You could invent some product, but that’s really outside most people's purview. But if you can actually help increase profit, now that's interesting to a CEO, or a board, or shareholders of any company at any size or stage of development. This is why I believe that every company needs a chief spend officer, because saving money is every bit as strategic and important to profitability as making it, but it gets a lot less focus and energy. It's rare to see a company that doesn't have an executive leader whose sole focus is bringing money in. It's even rarer to see a company that does have an executive leader whose sole focus is preventing money from leaving. People in procurement often have the skill sets, the detail-oriented outlook and the willingness to really work through the process to get to that kind of value promise. What's needed is the salesperson's single-minded pursuit of a dollar as the driving force behind every activity, and the inner conviction that the person who saves the company a dollar is every bit as much a rainmaker as the person who goes out and gets one.  |
| 10 Things Never to Say To a Customer In Live Chat Posted: 12 Dec 2013 07:59 PM PST Handling a live chat conversation properly is a delicate task. When you are talking to somebody in real life, the tone of their voice and their facial expressions carry a significant amount of information. Psychologists estimate that between 60% to 80% of all our communication is non-verbal. In live chat words are all you have to convey the message you want to convey. Any phrase would that have passed ok with the right intonation in a face-to-face or phone conversation may be misinterpreted in chat. For a successful live chat session every CSR should build a vocabulary which excludes any dubiety and provides a pleasant human interaction for the customer. To achieve a professional level of communication it is necessary not only to build up new communication skills, but also to clean up our business vocabulary from phrases that can create a negative vibe and hurt our company reputation. Below is a list of top 10 most common phrases which drastically diminish the customer experience and which should be avoided at all cost in chat interactions. 1. "I have already said that/ I have just explained this"If you would like to refer the customer to a particular piece of information that you have posted, you can say: "Please refer to the information I posted above", or "To fix the problem you need to… I mentioned it above already" Yet another solution to repetitive questions is to rephrase your answer without mentioning your previous response. This way there is a better chance the customer will understand it. 2. "We can't do that/ We don't do that"Always give an explanation why you can't do a certain thing: "It wouldn't be possible for us to do, because…" If you really don't do something just because you don't, offer your client an alternative: “This is what we can do/This is what we do” 3. “You’ll have to/ You must"Avoid sounding like you are giving out orders. Keep the line of an advisor, someone who gives suggestions and instructions: “I will need you to“, “You will need to” "Here's what needs to be done" 4. "I don't know"Although being frank and honest is important to create trust with customers, there is a better way to admit your ignorance. You could say: "I'm not sure, but let me find out for you." “That is a good question, let me find out for you.” "I’m sorry, I don’t have the information on that. May I put you on hold for a few minutes? I will clarify this with our accounting department." 5. “That’s not my job”If the customer's question is out of your scope, find someone in your company who can help them. "I'm sorry, this question would be out of my expertise, but Daniel from the tech support department will be able to help you. Would you like me to connect you with him?" If the customer is asking for something that they themselves should be doing, you have no other choice but to help them do it if you can, or if you can't – suggest an alternative where they can find related help. 6. ”That’s not our policy”Policy is a dead thing. Although some real experience was once made into a policy and there was a solid reason behind it, as soon as it is "policy", it makes no sense to the customer. If you cannot do what the customer asks, don't hide behind the word "policy", give them a human logical explanation why that which they ask for is not possible and ensure them that it works in their best interest. For example: Client: "Could you remove this setting from my account?" Instead of replying "Sorry, that's against our policy", say CSR: "Sorry, Jeff, I am not authorized to do change these details. To ensure our clients' security and privacy the account information is allowed to be updated only by the account owner." 7. "Hopefully we can/will do this"The word "hopefully" strongly communicates uncertainty. While it is understandable that there may be obstacles in solving a certain problem or there is no fixed time frame you can give, you should always radiate confidence and give your customers a sense of stability, at least where it depends on you. One great way to deliver your doubt in a confident way is to say: "We will do our best to…" 8. Blank "No"By saying a blank "no" to the customer you may appear very rude even without meaning it. Unlike on the phone, in live chat the customer cannot judge you by the tone of your voice, and understand if it was a simple "no" or an angry "no". So it is better to wrap up the "no" into 2 positive statements to ensure the customer there is no negative emotion attached to your response. For example, "Yes, I understand…However, we wouldn't be able to…Here's an alternative solution we can suggest to you…" 9. "What do you need?"I witnessed this type of response a few times, lately in the context "What payment do you need?" It appears plain rude to me. If there is a misapprehension and one needs to clarify on something, my suggestion would be: "Sorry, could you please clarify, what kind of…are you referring to/are you looking to…" One could also suggest alternatives to make things easier for the customer: "Sorry, I'm not sure I understand this correctly. Are you looking to…or to…?" 10. “Just a second/ Just a moment"It is wrong to respond to the customer's question with "just a second" without giving them any explanation why you need to put them on hold. Reassure them you are taking this time to attend to their problem and not to go on your own business. "Let me check your account details, just a moment please" If your task requires a bit longer time than what is considered "a moment" (typically more than 30 seconds), be more realistic in your estimate of how long you need the customer to hold: "Jerry, I will need to check the details of the latest transaction with our accounting department. This is going to take a few minutes. Would you mind holding?" That was a quick roundup on the most common mistakes made by live chat agents. There are many more expressions we should be careful with in our business interactions. Was there any particular phrase in your experience that sounded extremely rude or inappropriate and which you would like to ban from the customer service vocabulary? Please share it in the comments and let's help each other to stay educated.  |
| The Future of Facebook’s Newsfeed: An Open Letter to Mark Zuckerberg Posted: 12 Dec 2013 07:36 PM PST Dear Mark, Congrats! You've created a giant. And for the most part, people love it. Well, they might not say that, but their actions show they do. They use Facebook a lot. But you see, I live in a slightly different world. I'm a marketer who works with businesses, and one of my jobs is to help them use Facebook to reach their customers and potential customers. There's been a lot of grumbling lately over recent changes to your Facebook newsfeed algorithm that has apparently reduced the reach of posts by business pages. This isn't new. We are a grumbly lot. If we had our way, every Facebook user would see every post from every one of our business clients. You'll probably never make us happy on that count. And of course we get grumblier because it seems the only way we can really reach your customers is to pay you to run ads for us. We don't like spending money, especially on Facebook, because, you know, it's "free." According to an article over at Inc. Magazine, this is all due to a bit of a philosophical battle related to your vision of Facebook. It seems a lot of users want to spend their time posting pictures of cats, dogs, kids, food, and of course, the occasional selfie. You, on the other hand, want the newsfeed to be just that: a feed of the news. You want us to get our news from Facebook. You know, the serious stuff, like news about Obamacare, the situation in Syria, and Miley's twerkathon. I get that. In fact, Facebook, along with that other service that begins with "Tw" and rhymes with "bitter," are my top sources for finding out about breaking news. I love that. But I have to admit, I also love the occasional dog picture, along with perhaps a picture of some delicious food. And I love seeing what my favorite local businesses are up to. So it seems you are at loggerheads (I love that word!) with your users, but in the end, you're the one that makes the decisions. Let me help you out. I have an idea. Do nothing.That's right, stop tweaking around with the newsfeed algorithm and let social media Darwinism take control. Hands off. Laissez faire. In other words, let the users (both individual users and businesses) do their thing, and let them decide what the newsfeed serves up. Between their own personal privacy and newsfeed settings, and their choices as to which things to like/share/etc. Let it evolve and I have a strange feeling everyone will end up being happy. Even my group of grumbly marketing compatriots. That whole idea of becoming a source for news? Let the people decide how they want to get their news. Everyone has their own preference already. Some might subscribe to the New York Times or Wall Street Journal, while others might rely on the Weekly World News. Some prefer MSNBC while others like Fox News, Comedy Central, or perhaps some obscure cable channel. The point is, we choose them, they don't choose us. This might be a rather novel idea, but howsabout you be social? Let us live our lives out on Facebook the way want, without telling us how to do it, or dangling carrots, or beating us with sticks. Don't make us conform to your mold. We're all individuals, so treat us like individuals. And as businesses, our experiences are different from other businesses. Let "our lives on Facebook mirror our lives in this thing some call "the real world." When we get together with our friends in person, we talk about everything from the sublime to the ridiculous. Sure we'll chat about Nelson Mandela, but we'll also start singing "What Does the Fox Say?" together. Yeah, we're a pretty wacky bunch. And you know which businesses I frequent? The ones with a great product and great customer service. Think about that. Let this happen, and I'll bet your numbers go up. More people. More time spent on Facebook. And then more advertisers. And then you make more money.This will also allow for more targeted niche advertising for businesses, which is what we really want anyway. So when it comes to you (and your investors), individual users, and businesses, it's a win-win-win situation, eh? Give it a thought. Do the math. Crunch some numbers. I think you'll be happy with what you find. Oh, and this one's on me. No charge. If you go through with my idea, I promise not to pull a Winklevoss on you. Though, if you could give my clients a bit more play in the newsfeed, I wouldn't complain…and I'm sure you already know who they are. Thanks! Socially yours, Ken Mueller  |
| What Makes Amazon Customer Service So Satisfying? Posted: 12 Dec 2013 12:45 PM PST
So what makes Amazon's customer experience so satisfying? With more than 225 million customers, what does the big brand deliver (by drone or the old-fashioned way) that others don't? Here are five items that create the total package for Amazon: 1. Customer First Culture: Amazon's customer-centric focus emanates from the top starting with CEO Jeff Bezos and runs throughout the company with all employees (no matter what their department) having to work the customer service lines for two days every two years – even Jeff Bezos – to make sure that no employee loses sight of who's the most important person in the company: the customer. In a recent 60 Minutes interview, Bezos told Charlie Rose that the customer comes first even before Amazon's focus on innovation. "I would define Amazon by our big ideas, which are customer centricity, putting the customer at the center of everything we do, invention," said Bezos. "If you build a great experience, customers tell each other about that," said Bezos. And the focus on the customer experience is pervasive in the company's culture from Amazon's mission statement which begins, "We seek to be Earth's most customer-centric company," down to Amazon's logo which incorporates a customer smile. 2. Convenience: Obviously convenience has a great deal to do with the online retailer's customer experience. Amazon is not only a leader in availability, but its online customer experience is such so that nine times out of ten, a customer can complete his or her transaction without ever having to interact with a live person. Empowerment through time, availability, self-service, search and even knowledge (for example, product reviews or Amazon's help topics knowledgebase) makes being an Amazon customer easily satisfying. Bezos compares delivering satisfying customer service to being a good host, "We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It's our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better." And convenience never fails to please. 3. Personalization: Amazon is an early adopter of using big and small data for personalization. Probably the most common example is Amazon's use of a customer's real-time browsing and overall buying history to recommend products. And if Amazon is designing drones for delivery, then it can probably amaze when it comes to big data, but being thoughtful to the customer who finds use of too much personal information creepy, delivers just the right amount. 4. Proactivity: Most brands don't get a shout-out on Forbes for saving a customer 16 cents, but Amazon did, and it was all about the way that they did it: proactively. When a brand as big as Amazon reaches out to an individual customer to save them money, well, all customers can say is wow. (Read Amazon Earns Customer Loyalty with Integrity, Not Rewards) 5. Trust: The previous four points all lend to Amazon's care for its customers. Collectively, it lends to a high level of trust and loyalty for the brand. And Bezos has said he is even glad to forego additional profits for these two things. In the 60 Minutes interview, he told Charlie Rose that even though the math shows that the company should raise prices, Amazon won't be doing it anytime soon, "because doing so would erode trust," says Bezos. "And that erosion of trust would cost us much more in the long term." To read the full list of Foresee Experience Index customer service winners and losers, including Amazon, AVON and Nordstrom at the top and WalMart, Facebook, HSBC and Santader at the bottom, click here.  |
| Top 10 Influential Social Media Marketing Campaigns Of 2013 Posted: 12 Dec 2013 11:30 AM PST Social media channels soared to great heights for creative marketing this year. We have all been amazed with some of the most creative marketing efforts we’ve seen by far! Brace yourself for our top 10 picks of the most influential social media marketing campaigns of 2013. 1. WestJet Airlines Christmas MiracleGood ‘ole Canada’s WestJet Airlines topped our social media marketing campaign charts! This week, Canada’s West Jet Airlines went viral with a spectacularly awesome and heartwarming video of lavish gift-giving featuring Santa. Airports in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario were filled with the Christmas spirit as 250 passengers unwittingly took part in the generous campaign. Video booths were set up in boarding pass counters where passengers recorded their Christmas wishes on a live chat with Santa before heading on a four-hour cross-country flight to Calgary. The passengers wished for all kinds of things — from undergarments to Android tablets, cameras, scarfs, and big screen TVs. Little did they know, WestJet staff in Calgary were recording their Christmas wishes behind the scenes and rushed to the stores to purchase and wrap the holiday goods in time for the flight’s arrival. The passengers were caught in cheerful surprise as gifts with their names flooded the baggage claim. The airline posted a video of their campaign on YouTube and garnered over 2 million views in just 2 days! 2. Bat Kid Saves San Francisco
#SFBatKid tells a wonderful tale of how the power of social media moved the hearts of a whole entire city and earned the support of teary-eyed spectators worldwide. The campaign was planned and directed by the Make-A-Wish Foundation for a little boy whose ardent wish was to become Batman. The spirited boy battled acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a lethal condition since birth. Perhaps it was the fact that the little boy faced with adversity asked for an innocent desire to portray a superhero we have all grown to love, or maybe the timing of the campaign which was done just before Thanksgiving. Whatever it was, the campaign took flight and inspired everyone around the globe. Armed with the hashtag #SFBatkid, the campaign went viral and all of San Francisco found themselves taking part in the heartwarming adventure. Thousands of people took the time out of their busy routine to volunteer and take part in the heartwarming quest to make the boy’s dream come true, including the mayor himself. This campaign showed everyone how social media marketing can bring the community together to accomplish a wonderful cause. 3. ‘Carrie’ Telekenetic Coffee Shop Surprise
Carrie, the remake of the hair-raising horror movie of the 80s created a brilliant marketing stunt true to its namesake. The marketing and production crew of the movie joined forces in creating a terrifying prank in a coffee shop sure to make the patrons run out of the shop and, well, hopefully into the movie theater! The coffee shop was outfitted with fake walls, moving chairs, moving tables, falling books, a stunt man, and an actress to create a terrifying scene of telekinetic haunting in true Carrie fashion. Least to say, the priceless horrified looks on the patrons’ faces made for a great viral video that rocked over 50 million views thanks to genius pranking skills of the creative crew and the power of social media. 4. The Gnome Experiment by Kern & SohnKerns, a precision scales company based out of Germany, needed to grow their reputation and revenue by targeting laboratories and the education sector. This prompted the company’s social media marketing strategy team to create a campaign aimed at involving their audience in a worldwide experiment to increase engagement and brand awareness. Because the Earth's gravity varies depending on where you are on the planet which meant that the weight of matter also varies, the company brilliantly took on a global experiment that highlighted the edge of their product. While most scales cannot register the slight fluctuations of weight based on geographic location, a Kerns scale can! The experts at Kern & Sohn deployed what the so-called "Gnome Kits" which included a gnome statue and a Kern scale to scientists around the world. They invited social media audiences to join the experiment by going online and requesting Gnome weighing kits for their areas. Fun for the sake of science exploded as people proudly escorted their gnome and scales to different landmarks around the world and shared photos and findings on social media channel and the campaign’s website. Once the Gnome reached the South Pole, the media took notice. Within two days the story reached over 355 million people in 152 countries with an average of three requests per minute from people wanting to “weigh in”. After a month, 16,386 websites had linked to the experiment giving Kern & Sohn a giant push to number one on Google search engine results for precision scales. The numbers said it all. Kern and Sohn’s received a whopping 21% increase in sales and a 1042% return on investment. 5. Real Beauty Sketches by DoveDove beauty supplies had a very specific goal in mind when they launched their Real Beauty Sketches campaign in April of 2013. They wanted to generate more sales and leads by reducing their overall environmental footprint and increasing positive social impact. Their social media marketing team took a close look at their biggest consumer group — women. They investigated a striking trend in behavior of the self-perception of women and came to a single significant recognition: Women are their own worst critics. The challenge was to create a campaign that encouraged beauty as a source of confidence. Dove hired an FBI sketch artist to illustrate real women and produced a video documentary of an experiment they conducted. The artist produced two portrait drawings of the women without seeing their faces — one as described by the subject of the portrait and another as described by an acquaintance of the subject. The difference between each sketch was astonishing. Whilst the women focused on their physical flaws, their acquaintances saw and described the beauty in them. When the women saw this notion reflected on the portraits, they were moved. And so were the viewers. To date, over 114 million people have watched the video which went viral on social media outlets. The compelling video also became the number one viewed online video ad of all time within a month of launching. It also holds the record for the most shared video ad of all time.
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| 5 Local SEO Predictions for 2014 Posted: 12 Dec 2013 08:16 AM PST
1. Mobile Will Continue to Gain GroundThis one comes as no surprise. Mobile was huge in 2013, and you can be sure that it will be even bigger in 2014. Even though mobile has gained large amounts of influence, it has a long way to go. For instance, only six of the Top 100 Fortune 500 companies maintain websites that meet all of Google's mobile SEO requirements. Since mobile searchers are often looking for local results, there is a close connection between mobile and local SEO. To prepare your mobile efforts for 2014, make sure that your mobile site loads quickly and offers plenty of mobile-friendly content. 2. Keywords Will Become Less ImportantWith Google switching all of its keywords to "not provided" in an attempt to allow completely secure search, many SEOs have voiced fears that this change marks the death of keywords, while others have provided more balanced opinions. Although "not provided" keywords don't actually signal the end of the concept of the keyword as we know it, this change does mark a shift towards topic-centric content as opposed to keyword-centric content. SEOs will still use creative methods to come up with data on keywords, but keywords will likely take a back seat to several other important SEO strategies next year. For local SEOs, this will mean continuing to incorporate keywords that indicate your physical location while also emphasizing other strategies like developing better mobile sites. 3. Social Signals Will Affect AlgorithmsCurrently, local SEOs and SEOs all agree that social signals are incredibly important in establishing authority, but there is still no direct proof that Google actually considers social signals in relation to the rankings. Many local SEOs expect that social signals will soon begin to affect Google's algorithms. In preparation for this inevitable development, local SEOs should ensure that they are taking positive action right now to improve the state of their social signals. 4. Fake Reviews Will Begin to DisappearLocal SEOs all know that reviews can have tremendous influence on the success and failure of a business. Since reviews have become so important, there seems to be an unfortunate rash of fake reviews across the internet. The New York Times even reported that many companies have solicited 5-star reviews with a promise of payment. In 2014, the crackdown on these fake reviews will likely continue to escalate. Although black-hat SEOs will always find ways to slip in a few fake reviews to hurt their competition, companies like Google and Yelp will continue to hunt for ways to prevent fake reviews from deceiving their customers. 5. Google Will Become More SyncedAs Google continues to better coalesce its different products, Google+ will become more and more important as Authorship becomes the factor that ties everything together. Keep an eye out for updates in 2014 that will more effectively integrate all of the Google components that currently contribute to the SERPs, including maps, images, and local. How do you expect 2014 to play out for local SEOs?  |
![Tips for Managing Finance [Infographic] image moneytips 13](http://cdn.business2community.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/moneytips-13.jpg "Tips for Managing Finance [Infographic]")
In a new December 2013 
A little boy stole our hearts last month as he dashingly rescued a damsel in distress and San Francisco Giant’s beloved mascot Lou Seal from the villainous ploys of the Riddler.
6. Oreo’s Super Bowl Tweet
8. Do Us A Flavor by Frito-Lay
9. The Poop Tweet by Smart USA
Is your local search strategy ready for 2014? Although local SEOs have to deal with many of the same trends as regular SEOs, there are certain concerns that have a greater impact on local search. Here's a look at some of the predictions being made throughout the local search community.| You are subscribed to email updates from Popular Articles | Business 2 Community To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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