How to Use Customer Reviews to Grow Your Business
A key element of a successful business is knowing how to capitalize on customer reviews. Generating reviews and staying on top of them allows you to build trust with customers and increase your visibility online. Let’s explore why customer reviews are so important and how you can use them to grow your business.
The Benefits of Customer Reviews
Customer reviews are an effective way to promote your business, as they provide potential customers with insight into the quality of your products or services. In addition, customer reviews can be used in both online and offline marketing efforts, including email campaigns, website content, digital ads, radio spots, social media, print ads, etc. This helps you reach a wider audience with your message.
Customer reviews also have the power to influence customer decisions. In fact, 88% of consumers say that they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations from friends and family members when making purchasing decisions. Additionally, positive customer reviews can help boost sales by providing social proof that others have had a positive experience with your business before.
How to Generate Customer Reviews
Generating customer reviews requires active effort from you or someone on your team. The best way to get started is by asking current customers for their feedback via email or a survey link after they purchase something from you or use one of your services. You can also offer discounts or other incentives in exchange for honest feedback—this will make it more likely that people will leave a review for you. Just make sure that whatever incentive you offer meets the guidelines set forth by Google or whichever platform you’re using to solicit reviews (such as Yelp), as a lot of platforms frown upon this practice and you do not want to get penalized or even worse banned.
Make it Easy For Your Customer to Give a Review
Prospective customers value the opinion of others and, if your business has been favorably reviewed, those reviews can be a powerful tool for source of leads. Making it easy for your customers to provide a review not only allows them to share their feedback with others but can also enhance your online presence. Make sure that you are encouraging customer input as well as providing several different platforms for them to submit their reviews. Allowing customers to give feedback on multiple platforms will make the process easier and open up more opportunities for your business to benefit from others’ opinions. With this in mind, it is clear that making it simple for your customers to leave a review will have enormous potential benefits.
Using a review generating software such as ReputationFuiel.com makes its super easy to get real reviews from your customer base without having to do all the work. The service will ask customers for reviews, remind them when they don’t follow through and even walk them through the process to make it much easier for your clients. The results are more reviews on a continuous basis and worth it’s weight in gold!
Research the Best Review Platforms
It can be difficult to decipher which of the many review platforms out there are best for local businesses. Fortunately, some key considerations can help narrow down available options. Ask yourself how visible each platform is and how much traction it has in your area. Additionally, evaluate the quality of reviews and whether reviews are easily managed. Be sure that you can manage the reputation of your business accordingly, as well as resolve negative perceptions from dissatisfied customers in a timely manner. Make sure that you also take into account any costs associated with different review platforms and how easy it is to get listed or incorporate them into existing marketing campaigns for maximum visibility. By doing an exhaustive review of your options, you will be able to determine which review platform works best for promoting your business locally.
Which Review Platforms Are Best for Your Local Business?
For local businesses, getting on the right review platforms can be a great way to ensure customers are seeing your company in the best light. Some of the most well-known review sites such as Yelp and TripAdvisor can be great options, however depending on your industry, there could be more specialized platforms available. While Google is still the number one place to build (most) of your reviews, there are a ton of industry specific platforms such as Houzz, Angie’s, Zillow, Repair Pal, realtor.com, and Web MD to name just a few. While Google should be a major focus, you also want to have a presence on plenty of others and especially industry related sites. Do a bit of research to discover which ones work for you – having an online presence in multiple places can really boost your visibility and credibility with potential customers. Consider taking advantage of these platforms and expanding your reach!
Consult With a Local Marketing Expert to Streamline Your Review Platform
The right marketing expert can help you get the most out of your review platforms and gain valuable insights into how customers are perceiving your business. A local marketing expert will have an understanding of the local landscape and the key factors that influence customer opinion in the area. This knowledge can be used to optimize your review platforms, so they bring maximum benefits to your business. Additionally, they can apply strategic techniques to improve user engagement and reach, maximizing the value from these vital tools for generating reviews and feedback. Consulting with a local marketing expert is definitely worth your wild for such advantages!
Lastly, be sure to monitor any customer feedback that you receive—both good and bad—so that you can respond quickly and appropriately. ALWAYS respond to reviews publicly, both good and bad, in a professional manor. This shows customers that their opinion matters and helps build trust between them and your brand over time. Responding to reviews shows your are actively engaged with customers and adds a personal feel to your business that potential clients can connect with. Research shows that businesses that respond to reviews frequently tend to be seen more favorably than those that don’t – even if their star rating is a bit lower.
Conclusion
By taking an active role in generating customer reviews—as well as monitoring them—you can create an environment where potential customers feel comfortable investing in your products or services because they know other people have had positive experiences with your business before. This level of trust will not only increase sales but also help foster relationships with existing customers who appreciate being heard and responded to in a timely manner. Utilizing customer reviews is one of the most powerful tools available for growing any business in today’s world!
