Think about your own process when you’re deciding on buying a product or service. You’ll probably ask some friends and family members for recommendations before doing the-good–old-fashioned Google search.
Reviews have become an essential part of the branding and authority message of a company, that it’s almost a mandatory step for businesses that want to make it in the digital world. They work as a bridge that closes the gap between traditional word-of-mouth and a viral form of feedback that can influence consumer’s opinion.
93% of customers read online reviews before buying a product.
Building a solid strategy to get reviews across different digital spaces, has to be on top of your list. Each day there’s a new competitor around, so you have to understand the importance of building a reputation that vouch for the quality or effectiveness of your product or service.
And also, you need to learn and improve. In order to do that, you need to get some bad reviews.
Yes, you heard that right. We’re not telling you that you should display or advertise a bad review. But you do need to receive them. Every review is full of useful feedback that every business can benefit from. From new features to customer service and product improvement; you can learn a lot from a bad review.
The first step is to understand where your audience is, so you can make it easier for them to leave you a review. Your objective is to provide them with opportunities to review your product or service on the platforms they most prefer to use.
Google Reviews
To get Google reviews, you’ll need to create a Google My Business Account with the proper information about your company. Business reviews appear next to your Business Profile in Maps and Search. This is an amazing way to stand out on Google Searches and experience a boost in local search ranking.
Besides, Google is one of the most used, popular, and trusted search engines. So, you better believe that people are going to trust what they read there, and it will definitely be going to influence their buying motive.
The average consumer reads 10 reviews before feeling able to trust a business.
Automated Follow-Up Sequences
Create an automated follow-up sequence after each purchase prompting customers to leave a review. Be aware of the time-frame for your customer to try out your product, you might want to give them a couple of weeks to form an opinion before asking for a review.
Tagged Posts
I bet your business has been tagged on a couple of social media photos by now. This is an amazing opportunity for you to engage with them and ask for an honest review about their experience with their purchase. You can even offer an incentive like a 10% discount to add that little extra push.
Blogger & Influencer Reviews
If you haven’t leverage on the power of influencers, it’s time for you to jump on that train. Influencer marketing is expected to grow to be worth $13.8 billion in 2021. Target bloggers, influencers or content creators who will be most likely to feature your products and which content aligns with your brand.
Reach out to them and ask for a media kit if you have the budget to work on a long-term business relationship, or you can express your intention of sending some free samples of your products for them to try. Empathize how much you value and appreciate if they took the time to give you some feedback.
It’s important for you to know that, if you’re giving ‘freebies’ this does not assure you’re going to receive a review. But it will highly increase the odds of getting one.
Third-party Sites
You need to find third-party business directories and social sites that are dedicated to showcasing reviews like Yelp, TripAdvisor, Yahoo Local, Facebook Reviews and Angie’s List.
Creating profiles, claiming these pages, and opening the opportunity for your customers to review your product or service, will help you maintain an active online presence. It will build credibility and brand awareness that’s going to attract new potential clients for your business.
Collecting high-quality reviews involves a lot of planning, time, and strategic thinking. But, at the end, it will all be worth it. It will allow your business to work on their brand awareness, resulting on more visibility and hopefully more sales.
Whatever you decide to do, make sure is a constant effort. Asking for reviews and feedback must be an essential part of the interaction with your customers. They represent some sort of social proof and tend to remove most barriers or objections regarding your product.
How is your review game going? Let us know in the comments 👇 👇
