According to Website Magazine, “Ninety-five percent of consumers consult product reviews before making a purchase, yet less than half consumers actually to product reviews.” So as a company or organization, what does this mean for you? Basically, it means a lot.
Ask yourself, when’s the last time you rented a hotel, changed phone provider or went to the movies before you read reviews? They have changed the way we make many decisions.
Now, obtaining reviews takes time and patience, but they are chiefly imperative for your success and improvement. Reputation management should be an integral part of your business practices. Customer reviews can also improve a business’s search rankings on websites like Google.
In a way, you have to take strategic approaches to acquire reviews for your service or product. Here are a few ideas:
Give Context
Email may be a convenient for companies to ask for reviews. However, these requests can be easily lost among the fray of flooded inboxes. Messages requesting reviews without context may be deleted or completely ignored.
Businesses can improve response rates by explaining why reviews are important. For example, they can explain why it’s important that the customer is satisfied with a product or service. This creates a better relationship between consumers and the company.
Time-Bound
When it comes to reviews, time-bound requests are important too. If businesses ask too soon, the consumer may not have had a chance to experience your product or service yet. Conversely, if you wait too long, the customer may not be engaged enough anymore to review it.
Timing for requesting reviews definitely differs by industry. Typically, 7-14 days is adequate enough time to request product reviews.
Both Positive and Negative
It’s hard to predict who will review your company’s products or services. Therefore, you cannot be selective when asking customers for reviews.
Quantity vs. quality matters. It’s crucial to have a great amount of reviews. This not only provides authenticity, but also additional information for potential customers.
Although sometimes scary, negative reviews are significant. In a way, these build brand credibility and trust. These days, customers look for negative reviews to authenticate product or service information on a company’s website. A product with too good reviews is…too good to be factual.
Reviews are indexed on search engines by the most recently written. It’s crucial to keep reviews coming!
Other Tips
- Always comply with FTC regulations and the rules of the different review sites.
- Don’t get too many reviews at simultaneously. Some review sites will filter these to be deleted.
- Make it easy for consumers to review. Place links to your review profiles on your website or in the body of the request email.
- Let your customers choose where they review your products and services. This is good for diversity as well as search engine results.
In the end, providing context, being timely and inclusive will help increase your reviews and bring new customers.