Visibility

Remember the old saying "a happy customer will tell three, but an unhappy one will tell ten." That is changing in a colossal way.

The ability to obtain and analyze data is no longer reserved for analysts. Consumers, whether by mobile phone or computer, have the ability to compare numerous shopping sites, research vender reputations, and perform these tasks in seconds. The effect for businesses can be great or ghastly and businesses can decide to either engage customers or ignore and perish.

Among these social review sites is a fairly new site called Stickybits.com. It's a free application for most smartphones which allows users to scan an item's bar code and then review, comment and attach video or pictures related to the product. The user has their own page with a wall showing their most recent comments, reviews, photos and video. In addition, Stickybits partners with brands, by offering coupons, challenges and sweepstakes from the manufacturer to further engage customers. It is a unique social consumer reporting site which should have a bright future in the product based social reviewing arena.

According to Alexa, the Stickybits site has shown 25 percent growth in the past month and is the 34,404 most popular site in the United States. The site is most popular with women who have no children aged 25 to 34 and have graduated college or graduate school.

Yelp.com is another social media consumer reporting site. It's landing page states: "Yelp is the fun and easy way to find and talk about great (and not so great) local businesses." Yelp covers hundreds of cities worldwide which are then divided into neighborhoods, providing very targeted comments and reviews. Members are encouraged to review a service, store or restaurant and post it to Yelp. When used as an app on your iPhone or Android phone it is geo-targeted via your phones GPS and shows a list of businesses in your neighborhood where you can check-in and rate it. Yelp engages its customers by offering its members rewards through several programs including Yelp Deals and Check-in Offers.

Yelp claims that it has seen 50% growth in 2010. Further, they state that there were 39 million visitors to the Yelp sites in November 2010. Also, they claim Yelpers have written over 14 million local reviews, 83% of them rating a business 3 stars or higher.

Angies List is a bit different from Yelp and Stickybits. It is a paid membership site with fees from $4.25 for a month to $39 for one year of service, $62 for two years, $83 for three years and $103 for four years. Members can start with a monthly membership and then convert to an annual membership paid off monthly. There are no refunds. This is strictly a consumer review site. Vendors may not belong or post. Consumers rate everything from home contractors to pedicures but most users are homeowners reviewing contractors or local businesses. Unlike many free review sites that don't check the credentials reviewer, let alone know if they are real, AngiesList has a guarantee that if you search for a merchant and it has a review the reviewer is not the owner and a real person that you can find. The database is constructed from voluntary reviews of goods and services providers by list members. The following is stated on their website which separates it from other sites:

* No anonymous reviews.
* Certified data collection process prevents companies and providers from reporting on themselves or their competitors.
* Our Complaint Resolution Team will intercede if a home repair or health experience goes bad.
* Companies and providers respond to reports, so you get the whole story.

Foursquare is another free membership site. It is primarily for use by smart phones and is a cross between Twitter and Yelp. The service basically encourages consumers to use the foursquare smart phone application or phone email to let friends know where they are and what they are doing. They have a reward program that allows one to earn badges. The most frequent visitor to an establishment becomes the "Mayor". The Mayor, however, doesn't get anything for the title. Foursquare also partners with many businesses. Alexa ranks foursquare.com as the 511th most popular site in the US.

So how does a business owner or brand utilize these tools? Work with them! If you have a product work with StickyBits to make a sweepstakes and/or challenge offer, or at the very least offer a unique coupon for StickyBits users.

If you're in the service industry be on the lookout for bad reviews and if you see one contact the person and try to fix the problem. Don't hire a PR firm to do the work as this will turn off many people since it shows very little personal concern. If you personally reach out to the reviewer chances are you'll not only resolve the problem but that bad reviewer will probably turn into your best spokesperson for your product or service.

Also, be sure to tell your customers that you're on Yelp, Angies list or FourSquare so they can review you (if you're not listed get yourself listed).Whatever you do though do not pay someone for a good review! This can backfire terribly because if people find out the truth they will ultimately lose faith in you and your company.