There’s no two ways about it: online reviews are today’s equivalent of word-of-mouth. Potential shoppers need to know they can trust your brand before they buy from you, and in order to establish trust, they turn to online reviews from their peers.
Consumer faith in peer reviews is so strong, that a whopping 84% of consumers trust online reviews just as much as they do their close friends or family reports Inc.
It’s a no-brainer then, incorporating online reviews as part of your marketing plan is crucial.
Here’s how:
When you ask your consumers for feedback, you communicate that you care about their opinion, and the experience they have with your brand. This fosters trust and loyalty, and helps you gather actionable insights into the ways you can improve and evolve your offering.
Remember, consumers look for a history of online reviews, which means it’s important that you continually ask for, and post, online reviews in order to give potential consumers insight into the way you respond to great reviews and resolve negative feedback over time.
If potential consumers see you’re actively looking at and replying to reviews, it’ll make them more likely to a) buy into your brand, and b) write a review themselves.
One of the best ways to utilise consumer reviews is by collecting them via a public platform. Using a site that’s known for its honest consumer reviews gives you instant credibility.
Potential consumers know they’re able to trust the content on the site, and won’t be presented with fake or paid-for reviews. Using an online review platform also helps to boost your SEO ranking, as it gives Google more content to work with when someone searches for your business.
Using a third-party website to host your online reviews adds an extra level of transparency, as consumers are much more likely to trust reviews on a platform that’s not directly affiliated with your business, and can’t be altered.
According to a recent survey by eConsultancy, 68% of consumers trust reviews more when they see both the good and bad. Stanford researchers have also found that negative reviews can actually help to boost sales.
Negative reviews aren’t the end of the world – in fact, if you respond quickly and courteously, they can aid your business. By acknowledging both positive and negative feedback, you show potential consumers that you appreciate all interactions with your business, good and bad. And that you’re making their opinions and experiences a top priority within your company.
When you engage with your consumers, you demonstrate that their opinions and feedback are important to you, and that you care. By establishing your business as consumer-centric, your efforts go a long way in creating and building that all-important trust, and loyalty.
When you reach out to unhappy consumers, you’re establishing a connection between your business and the individual. When your business is quick to respond to negative reviews in a polite and helpful manner, you’re demonstrating your business is committed to your consumers, and that it’s your priority to ensure the consumer experience is a positive one.
It’s crucial that you respond to negative reviews on a public forum – this shows potential customers that you’re transparent, and it gives them an idea of how you handle complaints.
Once you’ve resolved the complaint, you can then ask the consumer to reconsider their previous review and write a new one, if they’re comfortable doing so.
One of the best ways to boost brand awareness is to proactively curate and manage your online reputation. Use consumer review sites to build a collection of online reviews, and then share them on your website and on social media accounts.
Invite consumers to share their experiences with your brand in order to engage with them after they’ve completed a purchase.
When a potential consumer researches your business, they’ll be able to see you have an active online presence, and that shoppers just like them have interacted with your brand.
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