Whether you're a new business owner or a well-established, thriving brand, customer reviews remain the lifeblood of your online sales and marketing efforts. Regardless of how well you advertise your products and services, word of mouth from your current customer base still holds an extremely high amount of weight when it comes to making a purchasing decision. This is why so many companies promote their products regularly and invest in customer feedback programs.
However, once you start establishing more customer reviews, how you can start to leverage these efforts to bring in even more business? Here are some great ways you can start making the most of your online reviews:
Showcase positive reviews on your website
Once you've taken the steps to achieve positive reviews for your business, it's time to show them off to the world. Displaying reviews on your website is a great way to reinforce your business’ value to potential customers. It is proven that pages displaying one or more reviews converts approximately 58 percent higher than those pages without any. As an added bonus, regular review activity on a page can help with SEO efforts, giving you fresh content to help drive more organic traffic from search engines.
Use feedback to improve your company
Compiling reviews is useful for more than just external marketing efforts. It is important to thoroughly examine feedback left by your customers in order to improve the products or services you offer. Whether you collect feedback from customer service surveys, comment boxes or online directories, this feedback can give you powerful insight into what is working and what is not working in your business.
For example, if you notice that your employees are receiving bad customer service reviews, develop a new training process to make sure that their customer-facing skills are up to par. If people are complaining about a certain product or service, consider making certain adjustments to improve overall satisfaction. By taking advantage of these reviews and making changes, you will notice that your future reviews will shift from negative to positive!
Share your reviews on social media
When it comes to sharing your reviews online, your website shouldn't be the only place you consider. Social media engagement should be an important part of your digital marketing campaigns. Customers love discovering new brands online, and social media platforms and review sites are one of the top channels they go to locate them.
Business profiles on most social media platforms allow customers to leave reviews and ratings that are visible to anyone visiting the profile. You should be responding to all reviews, regardless whether they are positive or negative. By engaging with customers, answering their questions, and helping to resolve bad customer experiences if they arise, you'll begin to humanize your brand and see a great return on the time you invest in responding.
Use quotes and testimonials on sales collateral
Customer testimonials can also be a powerful tool for your print and digital advertising. Over 90 percent of customers regularly read online reviews and testimonials before they commit to a purchase. Make a list of all your best reviews and repurpose them on all your marketing collateral down the road. This can include print advertisements, brochures, online advertisements, or essentially anywhere your business is advertising. By repurposing this content from your website and online directories, you are building your overall brand awareness and building a positive reputation both online and offline.
If you want to scale your business, building positive customer reviews and utilizing their selling power is an important step to take. By showcasing your customers' stories on your website, social media outlets and sales collateral, you'll share a compelling brand story that builds confidence and trust. In turn, your potential customer base will be drawn to your brand, making them more likely to make a purchase and boost your bottom line.
