Obtaining customer reviews for your electrical, fire and security business can be a simple process. Here are some tips to assist you in receiving reviews:

Ways to get Customer Reviews:

1. Offer incentives: Offering incentives, like discounts or free products, is an effective way to encourage customers to leave reviews and improve your online visibility.
2. Make it easy: It’s important to provide customers with a simple way to give you feedback, whether it’s through social media, email or directly on your website. This will make it more convenient for them, and as a result, increase the likelihood of receiving reviews.
3. Follow up with customers: Reach out to customers who have used your services and politely request them to write a review of their experience. If they had a positive experience, they are likely to be willing to do so.
4. Respond to customer reviews: It’s a good idea to demonstrate to customers that you are attentively listening to their feedback. This is an effective way to establish their trust and loyalty, as it shows that you appreciate and respect their opinions. Remember to express your gratitude to customers for taking the time to leave a review and respond courteously to any negative reviews.

Google Business Profile:

By creating a profile and listing your business on Google Business Profile, it becomes easier for potential customers to find you online and can increase traffic to your website. You can also keep track of how you appear on Google Maps and in search results. This makes it simple for clients to give you feedback, ultimately increasing your exposure and bringing in new clientele. Moreover, if you get more positive reviews, Google will rank your business higher.

How to get reviews on Google Business Profile:

• Go to google.com/business
• Search for your business
• Click ‘ask for a review’
• Send the link to your customer

Facebook Reviews:

Getting reviews on Facebook can be very beneficial because it is the biggest social media platform in the world. Customers can easily leave you a review on your page, and their friends can see the post and learn about your services. To increase engagement from potential customers, offer exclusive discounts and promotions on Facebook and encourage your target market to leave feedback regarding your services.

Trustpilot Reviews:

Trustpilot is a platform where customers can leave reviews and ratings of your business. This gives you a better idea of how customers feel about your services, while also making it easier for potential customers to learn more about you. Displaying the number of reviews you have and the feedback from customers about your services can also enhance trust.

Checkatrade Reviews:

Being part of Checkatrade is a great way to get reviews for your electrical, fire and security business. As customers use their services to find reliable tradespeople, having positive feedback on the platform will help you gain trust from potential clients. It also has an efficient payment system that makes it easier for customers to make payments after they’ve received your services.

Yell Reviews:

Yell is another platform where customers can leave reviews on the services they have used. It allows you to showcase your business in a more professional way and also provides customers with an easy way to contact you directly. Plus, it offers insights into how potential clients find and interact with your business, making it easier for you to develop a successful marketing strategy.

Instagram is a photo-sharing service that allows users to post photos, videos, and stories as well as comment on other user’s posts. Over 1 billion people use Instagram every month, making it a great place to promote businesses and reach new audiences.

How can Instagram be useful for an Electrical, Fire and Security company?

Instagram is a powerful tool for electrical, fire and security companies to promote their projects, engage with clients, and gain new followers. Photos posted could help attract future customers who want to be able to see the work you are doing. By posting several photos over an extended period of time, your Instagram can become like a portfolio to show potential customers your past work as well as what you are currently working on. With its powerful tools and vast reach, Instagram can be used to increase brand awareness, engage with customers in meaningful ways, and ultimately drive more sales.

Setting up an Instagram

Setting up an Instagram account is easy and straightforward. All you need to do is:

1. Go to Instagram’s website or mobile app
2. Create an account
3. Choose a username and password
4. Enter your business name, contact details and website link
5. Choose a profile photo
6. Start posting content!

10 tips for using Instagram to grow your Electrical, Fire and Security company

Business account – having a business account rather than a personal one will allow you to view analytics, showing how many people are interacting with, and viewing your posts.

Hashtags – using relevant hashtags allows companies to reach more people, as people can find posts through searching hashtag terms. Be specific with your hashtags to help you reach your target audience – e.g. #securitycambridge and use hashtags you know people will be looking for.

Post consistently – Regularly posting updates about projects and client reviews will help keep followers engaged and encourage them to contact your business or visit your website. Ideally, you want to be posting anywhere between once a day and 2 times a week.

Captions – keep your captions short and snappy, use them to provide some extra information about the photo or video and include your choice of hashtags. If your caption is too long, people will not take the time to read it but if written effectively, it can give people an insight into your landscaping process.

Engage with audience – frequently reply to comments and answer any questions people may have to help you build a relationship with a potential customer. Engaging with other similar accounts can also help you to build a following and attract new customers. Encouraging engagement will also help your account to be found by others.

Attractive profile page – if someone likes your content, the first place they will go is your profile page. This should be attractive and include all of the relevant information about your business, such as a link to the website and contact details, as well as a brief description of what you do.

Reels – Instagram reels are a relatively new function of Instagram that is just for video content. They are the best way to gain new followers and tend to be shown to wider audiences than photos. For a security company, this could be a short video showing the installation of CCTV.

Analytics – if you have a business account, you are able to view analytics which show you how many accounts you have reached (seeing your posts) and how many have engaged with your content (likes, shares, comments). Using analytics, you can experiment with different kinds of posts, such as videos v photos, and see where you get the most engagement.

High quality images – if you want to attract future customers with your Instagram, having high quality images that represent the work that you do is crucial. You want your Instagram to show off the services that you offer and the quality with which you do them, so taking the time to get a good photo is very worthwhile.

Location – including the location on your posts can help them to reach people in the local area as well as showing people where you provide electrical, fire and security services.

Here are 10 ways you can use Instagram Stories to Market your Electrical, Fire and Security Company:

1) Showcasing product launches and new features

Instagram Stories allows you to quickly and easily feature new products, services or features as they launch. This is a great way to introduce your audience to the latest offerings from your business in an interactive and visual way. As stories expire after 24 hours it is a good idea to create a highlight for new launches so that viewers can view the images/videos in the future and you can continue to generate interest. In terms of security companies, this could be showcasing a new product available, such as CCTV with facial recognition.

2) Using highlights

Highlights allow you to save the most relevant stories permanently on your Instagram profile. This allows viewers to quickly get an overview of what your business is about and you can separate them into themes so that they are easier to find. As highlights are the first thing that are seen when someone views your profile, it is desirable for them to be attractive and cohesive. They are displayed in chronological order, so it is important to update them regularly. For example, for a garden design company, you could have a highlight for FAQs that can be easily accessed by potential customers, saving you the time of having to answer the same questions over and over again. ADT Security utilise Stories very well as can be seen below:

3) Behind-the-scenes content

Behind-the-scenes content is a great way to give viewers an insight into the day-to-day workings of your business. This allows you to connect with your audience on a more personal level as they get to see how things are done and gain a better understanding of what goes on in the company. For example, you could show the process of installing a fire alarm or show what a typical day looks like.

4) Blog posts

If you have an active blog on your website, posting about new blog posts on your story is an effective way to advertise it. This will allow you to promote your articles in a more visual way and give viewers an incentive to click through and read it. For electrical, fire and security companies, this could include using stories to showcase before-and-after images of a project or fire safety tips.

5) Sharing customer stories

Instagram Stories include a feature where it is possible to repost any stories that you are tagged in. If a customer posts any content of their garden which you have worked on then you are able to easily share this with your audience, building trust and demonstrating your work. This is also a good way to show appreciation to any customers and build a meaningful relationship with your audience.

6) Frequently Asked Questions

Being asked the same questions over and over again can be exhausting, so it is easier to answer these on your Stories and create a highlight that people can go back to if they ever have any questions about your business. It’s also a great way to interact with followers and potential customers. For example, this could include questions about the best intruder alarms, where to place fire extinguishers and other topics related to security.

7) Reviews and Testimonials

Reviews and testimonials are a great way to build trust with potential customers. By sharing reviews from current customers, you can help new viewers gain confidence in your services and prove that others have seen success with them too. With the growing focus on Social Media Marketing nowadays this could be a highly effective way to gain new customers.

8) Events

If you are hosting any events, whether they be online webinars or in person conferences you should be advertising them on your Instagram Story. As these events are time sensitive, you can promote them without creating clutter on your account. It’s also a good way to engage with followers who are regularly viewing your stories.

9) Special Offers and Sales

Instagram Stories is a great way to advertise any special offers or sales that you are running. You can use the text, gifs and drawings features to grab attention and make them memorable. As these are also time sensitive, it makes sense to share them on your story rather than as an actual post.

10) Resources and Guides

By creating helpful resources and guides, you can add value to your story series. These can be used to educate viewers on key topics related to security or to provide them with advice on how they can keep themselves and homes safe. If you have created any videos or tutorials, these are perfect for sharing as stories too.

In today’s world creating high-quality videos with your phone has never been easier. Video format is the best way to communicate information with your audience and build relationships and engagement. Through the use of video you can communicate using images, sound, and text all at once in a way that is easy to digest. Everyone has a phone nowadays, and using just your phone you can film, edit, and upload a video in a matter of minutes – creating high quality videos has never been so accessible. In terms of social media marketing, video is the best way to promote your products or services with the rapid rise of Instagram Reels and Tiktok.

Setting up your phone before filming:

Before you start filming your video, it is important to have an effective phone set up that will make your life much easier down the line. Although these things may seem obvious, you would be surprised how many people don’t think about them before they begin filming.

1) Make sure your phone is charged –  you don’t want to be running out of battery halfway through filming. Your videos will be much better if you’re not feeling rushed and carrying a portable charger is always a great option.

2) Make sure your phone is on silent – you don’t want a loud notification ruining the perfect shot.

3) Make sure your phone has enough storage – you may need to make space on your phone before filming if not, and if you are planning on buying a new phone in the foreseeable future, memory is an important consideration.

4) Clean your phone lens –  make sure that the camera lens is free of fingerprints, smudges and dirt, a wipe will do the job just fine.

5) Investing in a tripod – if the option is available to you, phone tripods are invaluable when it comes to filming videos because they ensure the video is stable. Shaking can be distracting to a viewer and undermine what you are trying to promote.

Utilising your phone camera settings:

Resolution: When it comes to resolution, higher is always better. 1080p is the minimum quality you should be shooting in and if your phone supports 4K resolution, you should definitely be taking advantage of it. However, 4K takes up 4x as much storage space on your phone so you should be aware of this, especially if your phone does not have much memory. If you’re just starting out 1080HD will work just fine, but 4K is advisable if you plan on cropping the video or if it will be watched on a larger screen.

Frame Speed:  Frame speed is the number of frames per second in your video and you can adjust this on your phone camera to alter the video quality or film in slow motion. A higher frame rate will result in a smoother, more cinematic looking video which is great for slow motion and action shots. Most phones support 30fps at 1080HD resolution (for reference the closest to natural vision is 24fps) but some may be able to shoot at up to 120fps if you’re wanting extra smooth footage. If this all seems too technical for you, 30fps is a safe bet.

Lenses: As technology develops, the number of lenses on phones seems to keep increasing. For example, the iPhone 14 Pro has 3 lenses: a standard lens for normal filming, an ultra-wide lens and a telephoto lens for zooming in. Any phone from an iPhone 11 up will have at least 2 lenses and many Android phones have at least 2 lenses as well. Adjusting your camera settings or by simply zooming in or out before filming will cause your phone to switch between lenses. If it can be avoided, never use the selfie lens on the front of your phone as it is much lower quality, instead turn your phone around and film yourself with the normal lens.

Lighting: As great as phone cameras are nowadays, they do tend to struggle in low lighting. If you are shooting indoors, make sure the room is well lit with natural light or you could use some lamps to give it a more natural look. If you are shooting outside, try and avoid direct sunlight as it can be too bright.

Recording a professional looking video:

Now that your phone is set up and you know how to utilise the settings, it’s time to start recording.

Focus: Before you press record, it is recommended to lock your focus and exposure. This is essentially you telling your phone camera what the focus of the video is, such as a product you want to show or a face of someone talking. If you tap the focal point on your phone screen and hold it, it will lock your focus. Even if the camera moves around, that point will stay in focus. In some situations it could be a better option to just use the automatic autofocus setting, like if you know the light levels will be frequently changing around you. Autofocus will maintain your focal point whilst also adjusting to the changing light.

Stabilisation: You want to make sure that your camera is as stable as possible, as shaky footage can distract the viewer from the product or service you are trying to showcase. Some of the newest phone models have good automatic stabilisation, so this may be something that you don’t need to worry about. If you’re walking around while filming, try to keep your movements as smooth as possible to avoid any shaking, this can be much easier when your knees are bent. Tripods are also a great option which has been previously mentioned.

Angles: The angles you choose will determine the viewing experience, and they can make a big difference to the appearance and atmosphere. Angles are something that should ideally be considered before filming. This can be something that will require a bit of trial and error to work out what works best for you, but over time you will develop a better understanding of which angles look good. If you are speaking to your viewers, making eye contact with the camera is essential, even if this may feel awkward at first.

Sound Quality: Although image quality is typically the main consideration, sound quality is also important. Avoid background noise as much as possible, especially wind if you’re outdoors, or any other voices. It may seem obvious, but check you’re not covering the microphone on your phone when you are recording (it’s normally located at the bottom of your phone). Keep the sound as close to the microphone as you can, whilst not compromising any of the angles. If this isn’t possible, small wireless microphones can be a great option and these can easily be clipped onto your clothes.

Now that you know how to set up your phone, utilise its camera settings, and record a professional looking video, you are ready to begin creating high quality videos with your phone.