The rapidly growing network of online reviews, as well as the sites that host them, can be daunting for anyone doing business online. After all, reviews of a business often spring up without the business’s knowledge, and having no reviews can look like you have no customers. While not all customers make or break their decisions on reviews, 70% trust them for input on purchases. That makes online reviews the second-most trusted source of information after family and friends’ opinions.
Here are a few tips on how to use online reviews to your advantage:
- Include reviews from other sites on your business’s webpage. This demonstrates legitimacy and allows interested customers to immediately see the existing positive feedback you’ve received.
- Encourage reviews from third-party sites, especially if you do business on eCommerce sites. For example, if you sell a product through eBay or Amazon, incorporate reviews from sites other than the one that’s hosting your product, like Yelp or Google. To customers, this appears more honest than reviews that are controlled by the website that sells the product.
- Respond to reviews that appear on social media, whether they’re positive or negative. Reviews on facebook are increasingly common, and, considering the size and involvement of users on facebook, they are much more visible and sharable than reviews on other sites. If you receive a negative review, it’s important to respond (publicly or privately, whatever seems appropriate) and understand what issue the customer has to prevent the problem from spreading or influencing other customers. Some customers will even have a change of heart if your gesture of goodwill really resonates with them.
Reviews are everywhere, and like the old saying goes, everyone’s a critic. It’s important to harness the power of online reviews as soon as possible to make sure your business looks as good online as it does in the world.
At bizmktg.com, we make reviews work for you. Call or e-mail the marketing machines to learn more: (800) 808-0249 or info@bizmktg.com.
Read more about using online reviews here.
