All successful marketers have the knowledge that word of mouth advertising is better than all when it is down to generating new businesses with maximum revenue. Whenever any prospective client comes to know about the positive opinions of others, it builds trust and makes the decision making influential in a way that traditional advertising fails to do so.
Client reviews are the modern day word of mouth. Individuals search for them, learn from them, and it influences their decision to purchase a product or a service or not. Positive reviews can be disseminated quickly and can lead to expensive sales, whereas negative reviews can halt the generation of revenue and make a business take a step back.
Fortunately, receiving amazing client reviews is not only about getting your products and services in the market and hoping for the best possible outcome. It is also about utilizing tactics to ensure that the clients are satisfied and are willing to give positive feedback.
Why do individuals look for online reviews?
Usually, there are a few reasons as to why an individual would look up for an online review-
- To receive social proof from clients who have already used the product or service.
- To know more about the product which they are going to purchase.
- To minimize the possibility of making a bad purchase.
- To get a better understanding of the product’s advantages and limitations.
Generally, the objective for any business is to receive positive feedback and use it to boost sales and expand their brand online. Below is a list of strategies that can be utilized by budding entrepreneurs to receive amazing client feedback-
- Ask for reviews across a variety of platforms
The primary step in getting amazing online reviews is to make it as easy as possible for individuals to write them. The more effort it takes for people to write a review, the less likely an individual is going to utilize the time to write them. Social media and third party review websites are an amazing way of getting a good word out for your organization, product or service.
Some of the most efficient ones include-
- Amazon
- Youtube
- Glassdoor
There are also a lot of other niche review websites (depending on your industry), that might be efficient in eliciting amazing client reviews.
One example can be Trip Advisor in the travel industry, and OpenTable regarding restaurants and cafes.
The key to utilize these platforms to the best of their abilities is to keep it simple to use and ask for reviews so that your viewers don’t get confused in what they are supposed to do.
- Unleash your website’s maximum potential
Your website is an effective tool for receiving customer feedback. Your web pages and blog posts must be optimized to enable the visitors to leave their comments quickly and easily.
If you have an ecommerce, you might want to consider adding live chat features to get instant feedback from your clients.
Chatbots are also utilized for helping to answer queries and utilize automation on platforms like Messenger, Instagram, SMS and Email.
These functions can satisfy the individual’s instant gratification mentality. This also offers value as it minimizes the response times and improves your customer services.
- Solicit reviews in your Email
If inbound marketing is a part of your process, then you will be having an effective platform to ask for client reviews.
Utilize email at major points in your customer journey to nurture and convert. For instance, you can send an email after a purchase and ask for a review. You will get the most honest feedback possible as individuals will feel that they are communicating with you one to one.
This will help you to boost sales and make the crucial adjustments in case you notice a negative pattern in the responses.
If you don’t wish to ask for a review, consider adding a link directed to an online survey. Polls Or surveys are easy to set up and the data can be analyzed effectively. With the help of a survey, you get to dictate the information that is collected so that you can take the opportunity to know more about your clients.
- Give incentives and rewards for top reviews
If you feel like you are not getting the number of reviews you would like to have and you just like the idea of rewarding your clients, consider adding incentives to the procedure.
Everybody believes that time is precious so, offer the people a reason to leave a review. Incentives like discounts, coupons, gift cards, or contests, should motivate individuals and maybe even boost your sales, when they go back and shop again.
- Always work on your timing- Know when to ask
Asking for reviews at the correct time will help you to make the most out of the process and enhance your customer service. Be it on social media, or your website, or via email, timing is extremely necessary. The last thing you want is to be on someone’s skin at the wrong time and get a negative review from them.
This means that you are required to understand and track your client journey. Know where and when the individual interacts with the brand. This will assist you in mapping out the channels and points of interaction that will create the maximum impact and assist you to drive the engagement.
Best time to ask for a review includes-
- A product order
- A product reorder
- Utilizing a social media tag
- A blog or a landing page comment
- An asset download, for example- an ebook
- A client referral
The idea involves approaching them when they are feeling satisfied and fulfilled so that they will overcome that feeling while giving the review.
- A product review
If you already have amazing reviews, then promote them. There is no point in having them hidden or stored away in a database. Not only will it encourage individuals from purchasing from you, but it will also motivate them to share their own thoughts.
Always consider placing the reviews on the homepage of your website. If you have product pages and reviews that are directly relevant to that product, include them here as well. You can also add a “Testimonials” page wherein all your reviews are housed and people can access them easily.
You can also consider adding a “Tell us what you think” form or function so that people can submit their reviews easily.
- Respond to reviews- be it positive or negative ones
It is crucial to be proactive when it comes to client feedback. If you are searching for reviews, then ensure that you or someone else in the marketing, sales or customer service team makes the time to go through them and respond.
It is really easy to respond to positive reviews. A simple acknowledgement and thanks for someone taking their time to leave one should be enough. But, negative reviews require more time and attention.
Conclusion
No flawless formula exists for obtaining great client reviews. However, if you follow the strategies mentioned above, you will be successful more often than enough.
Customers trust what other individuals have to say, so it is worth putting the effort not only to promote your product and services to other individuals but also know more about your customer base and products and services.
If you need to prioritize reviews, then ensure that you task certain members with the work and enable them to dedicate enough time to make it feasible. Once the strategy is in place, implement it and keep going forward until you have multiple processes for obtaining reviews from a wide variety of platforms.