When’s the last time you bought something online without reading reviews of it first? The most polished product images and elaborate advertising is less effective at winning the hearts of new customers than an online review.
When people are thinking about buying, they trust the words of people who have bought before them. That’s why your business has to have customer reviews. Any good digital marketing strategy uses them.
Acquiring online reviews is an art, however, and you need to go about it tactfully if you want to use them in a way that aids your business.
DO: Provide Great Customer Service
This is a no-brainer, right? Sure, but it’s the first step in generating those glowing reviews in the future.
When people interact with your brand, the quality of your product is only going to be one part of what they remember. The other part is their interaction with you:
- Your timeliness
- Your communication
- Your honesty
- Your transparency
- Your attention to detail
- Your attitude
The most amazing product or service in the world doesn’t mean much if the company selling it treats customers and potential customers carelessly. Loyalty is not something you command or steal; it can only be earned by creating a brand that is dedicated to customer satisfaction.
Fantastic customer services make soliciting customer reviews down the line much easier—and less nerve-wracking for you because you can feel confident that good reviews will be left online for other people to read.
DO: Ask Your Customers to Write Reviews
Wait, you can actually request that people leave reviews? Yes, and this is still considered fair game by the digital powers that be, like Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Yelp.
People love to read online reviews, but not everyone is willing to write them on their own initiative. A gentle nudge isn’t going to hurt; in fact, it will probably generate the reviews you want. BrightLocal’s 2017 local consumer review survey revealed that when asked 68% of consumers left a business review.
You need to spotlight your reviews, of course. A platform has to be set up for them to live. You should be present on every channel that enables customers to publish reviews:
- Google My Business
- Yelp
- Amazon (If you sell products on Amazon)
All of these reviews will be public.
Requesting your customers to write reviews isn’t solicitous. It shows them that you care about their experiences with you and want to gather feedback.
DO: Respond to Every Review You Receive
This might sound like a lot of work, but it’s important. Shouldn’t a positive review or negative review speak for itself? Yes, but a review is a two-way conversation.
A negative review, in fact, presents a unique opportunity. If you respond to the consumer who left a negative review and properly address their concerns, you can turn the entire experience around.
The retail consumer report by RightNow reveals some amazing data about the sort of effect that responding to negative reviews can have:
- 34% of consumers deleted their negative reviews.
- 33% of consumers posted a positive review after the company contacted them.
- 18% of consumers became customers that are more loyal afterward.
Customer service doesn’t stop at the end of the transaction, and your customers’ opinion of you doesn’t become irrelevant after they buy your product or write a review. Working to earn their loyalty translates into more positive reviews and more business in the future.
Responding to a positive review typically doesn’t take as much action, but they should still be given attention. Even a simple acknowledgment of the review like a thank you goes a long way.
Proven to help SEO, write responses to your online reviews for an extra boost.
DO: Integrate Feedback From Reviews Into Your Business Strategy
The absolute best way to make use of reviews? Take what they say and apply it to your business strategy.
Customer reviews can reveal things you’ve been neglecting, as well as surprising blind spots in parts of your business model. The quality of the feedback will vary from response to response, but you should consider each one. Ask yourself and your internal team, “How you can best incorporate this feedback into your existing strategy?”
Customer feedback is a performance review in many ways. Obviously, not all feedback will be worth your consideration. If you notice trends in the negative things people are saying, however, you should think about the ways you can best address them.
DO: Showcase Your Reviews
For more than just shiny badges on local business profiles like Google My Business and your Facebook page, repurpose reviews in other marketing materials. Show off a handful of particularly growing reviews in other places where they’re easy to see and read:
- The homepage of your website
- Brochures and pamphlets
- Social media posts
DON’T: Pay for Reviews
For years, companies got away with paying individuals to leave positive reviews for their products and services online. That kind of business model will doom you today.
Google, Amazon, and Yelp hate fake reviews and will remove them the moment they’re posted. Paid reviews are fake reviews. Reviews are supposed to help other people decide if the company is worth their time, and paid reviews do not serve that purpose.
Most people are good at spotting fake reviews as well. Here are the telltale signs of a clearly paid for review to boost a company’s reputation in an inauthentic way:
- Scarce details in the review
- No information about the person who left the review
- Excessive praise
- Many reviews with an identical writing style
No upside to paid/fake reviews exists. Don’t be scared to ask your customers for reviews. They’ll do it, more likely than not.
DON’T: Give Incentives for Writing Reviews
Giving incentives is similar to paying for reviews. Even modest gestures like discounts or extra perks are considered to be in the same ballpark as paying for reviews.
Reviews should be unbiased—meaning they represent the customer’s honest opinion about their dealings with you. Incentives are like bribes, and they don’t translate into an unbiased review.
DON’T: Argue With Customers Online
You know how we mentioned earlier that responding to customer reviews is important? It is, but what’s even more important is how you respond.
Arguing with a displeased customer online can be tempting, especially if you strongly feel that the negative review was unjustified, but you will only make yourself look bad to hundreds of readers online.
When you respond to a negative review, conduct yourself in a civilized manner. Thank the individual for their honest feedback and pledge to do better. Then contact them directly and sort out the issue, as we mentioned earlier.
One of the biggest benefits of acquiring online reviews is that they cost nothing out of your budget. It’s not only a free form of marketing, but it’s also one of the most honest and effective ways of marketing your business online. As long as you pursue it ethically and don’t take shortcuts, you have everything to gain from accumulating reviews and integrating them into your marketing strategy.
Read more about using customer reviews and other customer-centric marketing ideas in our blog about winning tactics for customer loyalty and retention marketing.
