Blog Post

Coronavirus vs Small Business and How Reviews Can Help You Weather the Storm

Alexis Mintz • Mar 27, 2020

Modifying your reputation management strategy and other ways to ensure your business survives this challenging time

The impact COVID-19 is having on local businesses globally

With the outbreak of COVID-19 businesses everywhere were quickly faced with the challenges we've never seen before.  Slowly, businesses have been forced to close their doors, not know when they will open again.  With revenues down, and expenses still coming in, many business owners are being forced to make difficult decisions on a daily basis.

Although it may feel like there is little you can do right now, there are still actionable ways you can help ensure your business weathers this storm, survives the COVID-19 pandemic, and is ready for business once restrictions on social distancing start to lift.

In addition to what you should do with reviews during this time, this article will also provide you with some ideas that you can quickly and easily take action on within your business.

Review generation and reputation management in a time of crisis

One of the easiest ways your community can help you during this time is by leaving your business a review.  

Despite people everywhere being asked to asked to stay home, your online reviews are still visible and showing up within search results as more and more people are spending time working from, or simply passing the time online.  

Leaving you a review is fast, easy and has a long lasting, positive impact for your business. On top of that, leaving you a review is  a cost-free way for your customers to help you out.

Don't worry if your business is currently closed down though.  You can still send a message out to your past customers with a nice ask for a review on the sites that matter most for your business - such as Google, Facebook, Tripadvisor and many others.

The more reviews you can build up during this time, the better off you will be as "stay-at-home" restrictions get lifted over time. 

What you should know about Google reviews, and Google My Business, during the COVID-19 pandemic

Google recently announced that becuase of the COVID-19 outbreak, they have temporarily stopped publishing Google reviews.  It is important to note that Google does specifically refer to these changes as "temporary", but also doesn't provide a timeline as to when they will be back to normal.

Impacted Google My Business features include:
  1. Business information edits - priority will be given to health-related businesses
  2. Newly created listing, claims and verification -  Again, health-related businesses in the category will be manually reviewed by Google, with priority given to health-related businesses  
  3. Reviews and Q&A - Google says that these features will be unavailable at this time
There has been quite a bit of discussion in the digital marketing industry as to why Google made this seemingly unusual decision.

Although Google cites taking steps to "protect the health of team members and reduce the need for people to come into our offices", many also believe that a massive increase in fake, and COVID-19 related negative reviews were putting additional strain on an already reduced Google team that would normally handle disputes over these types of reviews. 

In regards to how Google is handling reviews right now, it is important to note a few things:
  1. Consumers can still submit reviews for business, but upon doing to they will be presented with a message telling them their "contribution may be delayed at this time"
  2. We currently don't have any reason to believe that reviews submitted right now won't ever be published, but rather that they will be be published on a delay
  3. As of right now, Google hasn't specified a time-frame on when reviews submitted right now will be published
Due to these recent changes from Google, and depending on your current review volume, it may make sense for your business to prioritize generating reviews on other sites.  

If you'd like some guidance on how to navigate these changes, please feel free to reach out to us at help@getmorereviews.com.

Other strategies to consider for your business

Offer delivery, takeout or curbside pick-up 
This one depends on whether or not local restrictions allow you to do this, but businesses everywhere are getting creative in how they are finding ways to continue offering their products and services in new ways.  From bakeries now offering at-home delivery, to paint stores offering to bag your order and have it ready for your curbside, there are countless ways to get creative while also practicing social distancing. 

Offer Gift-cards
For businesses that are forced to close due to being non-essential, then business owners can send out email blasts or social media posts encouraging gift card purchases to be used in the future.  Even if you don't offer giftcards right now, you can easily start one with services like GiftFly that allow you to get up and running with a giftcard program in minutes.

Give past customers the option to pre-pay for future services at a discount
Similar to the gift-card idea is the concept of allowing your past customers the option to buy your products or services at a discount, to be fulfilled at a later day.  This is a great way to ensure you have some cash coming in while offering a nice treat to some of your past, loyal customers. 

Defer, waive or credit payments
If your business operates more on a membership, subscription or recurring payment model, it may make sense for you to allow for waived or deferred payments right now.  As much as possible, you always want to avoid completely losing a customer.  Due to the hardships many people are experiencing right now, the simple act of pausing their billing, crediting their account or waiving their next fee all together can be enough to win their business for a lifetime.  If you're business is in a position to do this, it can be a great option to build even stronger loyalty within your customer base.

Learn More

Click the button below to contact us for information on how our GetMoreReviews tool can help your business quickly generate more five star reviews.  Getting more reviews for your business will help improve your local SEO, highlight your shining reputation to potential customer and ultimately bring new business through your doors.  Call us at (888) 979-2379 or email us at help@GetMoreReviews.com
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