People often consider a lot of factors when purchasing a service or product online. When deciding whether to buy or not, they ask for recommendations from friends and family apart from doing a lot of research online.
This is when customer reviews help do the selling for you. As a matter of fact, the best marketers for your brand are not your sales representative but your existing customers.
According to BrightLocal, 85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations — the single most trustworthy and credible source of “advertising” out there.
Moreover, the same survey found that positive customer reviews make 73% of customers trust a business more, and 57% of customers visit a company’s website after reading positive reviews.
Don’t be intimidated by the prospect of asking your customers for reviews. A majority of them will be happy to help you.
How Important Are Reviews For Your Online Business?
With the increasing competition in the digital space, customers often make a comparison before making a purchase. Often times, they visit a review site to do the comparison.
People searching for a specific product or service can easily find plenty of reviews left by customers who have tried the services or products. Moreover, adding review star ratings on your website make it easy to improve the SEO of the website.
Reviews not only help businesses attract the attention of potential customers but also help convert them into paying clients. With a majority of online users relying on reviews to make a purchase decision, companies cannot afford to overlook its importance.
But how do you grow your online reviews?
Tips To Increase Online Reviews
While sometimes it is possible to get reviews naturally without asking the customers, sometimes you need to use certain tactics to see a growth in the number of customers review your business receive.
There are some effective ways to boost the number of reviews your business receives. Here are some of them.
Run an Email Campaign
One of the simplest things you can do to get the customers to review your products is an email campaign. Companies like Apple and Nike often ask their customers to review their products via email. This is a relatively inexpensive and easy way to ask for reviews.
Do Your Homework
Does your business have its presence on all major social sites users look at to read reviews? Do your homework and start with the basics. Google your business name. Do you see a “Is this your business?” If so, it means you haven’t claimed it yet. Start by fixing it by following the instructions.
Consider other review sites such as Yelp, Facebook, Yahoo, and Bing to make sure your business is present there. Having control of multiple listings help your customers to find you with ease online.
Optimize Your Content
Your customers’ reviews may be coming in on a third-party website. However, once your customers are on your website, it should be easier for them to leave a review. Your website, blog, social media profiles, and emails should be optimized to provide quick and easy access to customers to write a review.
You can add a link to various ways a customer can review the company on emails that you send to your customers a short while after they have purchased something from you.
Offer Incentives
The time of your customers is valuable, so make sure you are offering them something in return when you ask for a review.
Offer interesting incentives that encourage your customers to write a review. You can offer discount codes, give them an exclusive chance to enter a contest, or you can even offer them gift cards or special discounts on their next purchase.
Choose The Right Moment
To get optimal results, make sure you are asking customer reviews at the right moment. This is important because if you ask them for a review at the wrong time, they may leave a negative review of your services.
Some positive moments along the customer’s journey include:
- After they have experienced success with your products
- After they have tagged you on one of their social media posts
- When they re-order your services
- If they are referring new customers to your business
- If they are browsing your website for other services or products
However, you must remember, not everyone will be happy with your services. There may be a difference in opinions. However, a few negative comments on your website can increase credibility as they represent genuineness.
Ask Open-Ended Questions
Never ask for a customer review directly. Instead, a good way to ask for feedback is to start a conversation. This is when open-ended questions can help.
You can ask your customers the following to start a conversation. “Are you ready to make a purchase again?” “How are you liking the product?” This is helpful in multiple ways but most importantly it will help make sure the customer is happy before giving them a chance to leave a review.
While it is not possible to prevent someone from leaving a negative review, you can help a customer who needs a resolution before you ask them to rate your business.
Respond To Reviews
Nobody’s perfect…
As a business, you can make mistakes that can result in the customers leaving a negative review on your website or other social channels.
However, whether you receive a positive or negative review, make sure to respond to every comment you receive. When it is a one-star comment, try to answer thoughtfully without sounding defensive. This approach can help you in the long run. Responding to comments show your prospective customers that you take appreciation and criticism seriously and are ready to use it to improve your brand.
Ask For a Review In Person
If you have a close relationship with the portfolio of customers you work with, you can add a personal touch and ask your customers to review their experience in person.
You can invite your customers to one of your company’s events, keep things conversational and ask them how the product is benefiting them. If your customers are seeing success in using your product, you can ask them to leave a review on your website.
Ready to Get Started?
Remember…
Most customers will be happy to leave a review if you ask for it.
The more reviews you have on your website, the more beneficial will it be for your business. So start by asking your existing customers to review your business.
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