One of the greatest marketing assets a business can take advantage of requires very little time and money investments. It is also a powerful method for increasing long-term sales. This mysterious asset is actually online customer reviews.
Of course, not all reviews are created equal. While a positive review can boost business, a negative review can seriously damage your reputation. The trick to knowing how to get more positive online reviews for your business comes down to having a strategic plan for managing, monitoring and implementing how and why you allow customers to review a specific purchase.
To guide you through the process of getting more positive online reviews, we’ve broken down some strategies that are effective at turning your loyal customers into brand ambassadors.
Establish Legitimate Sites For Reviews to Be Posted
This tip might seem a bit obvious, but many businesses overlook the basic steps in establishing platforms that allow customers to both leave and read reviews. For example, a platform like Yelp is a good place to start. This site is monitored by the third-party company and has earned a reputation in the review business of allowing for fair, honest feedback.
Having a Yelp page, or relying on a similar platform, can also be a quick and easy way for your business to share your website, photos of your business goods and services, and offer basic information that customers might want to know when inquiring about your business. This includes your price ranges, what products and services you offer, what your hours are and if customers need a reservation or appointment to stop by.
Within these pages, customers are also free to share their experiences and rate your business. As you can predict, herein lies the challenge of online reviews. To ensure your business is tracking good reviews — and able to respond to negative posts — you should have alerts set up so someone on your team can regularly track the reviews as they come in. Responding to both good and bad reviews on your site can help establish a better reputation with your customers. This, in turn, can lead to more positive reviews in the future. Staying connecting via online reviews also lets your customers know you actually care about their business.
Regularly Request Reviews From Customers
Most customers love sharing their feedback but can often forget to do so once they’ve completed their purchase. To generate more positive online reviews, you should leverage tools that allow you to actively engage with your customers online and through email. There are two effective ways to conduct this type of review feedback process.
The first option is to have a prompt on your online site that leads the customer to a review page directly after they complete a purchase. Since they may not actually know if they like a product yet, this can be used to get reviews about customer service, price and general feedback on your products/services. This can be a useful tool in seeing how motivated your customers are to re-engage with your brand again.
Another tactic is to leverage email to solicit online reviews. This can be sent in the same email as the product order confirmation, or a stand-alone email a few days after the customer receives their order. The trick to actually getting customers to fill out an online review is to motivate them to do so. For example, by offering them a discount on their next order, you have motivated them to leave a review and become a repeat customer. In general, it’s worth sending these types of communications 3-5 business days after an order was made so the purchase is still fresh on their mind.
Monitor Your Business’ Online Review Presence
Without knowing it, your business may already be getting reviewed on third-party sites. You should have Google alerts set up for your business name so you are aware anytime it’s mentioned on a third-party site. Whether it’s a customer who blogs about product reviews, or a social media post that’s talking about your business, you don’t want to be out of the loop.
By monitoring your online reviews this allows you to be in better control about how people are talking about your products and services. Perhaps a customer shared a review that you feel is unfair or doesn’t accurately reflect your business. Having a better sense of where your business is being talked about helps you get ahead of the conversation. Take the time to reach out to the customer — regardless of if their feedback is negative or positive. Thank them for a good review, and remedy the situation in the case of a bad one.
Give Your Customers a Reason to Leave a Positive Review
Your customers are busy people who are constantly bombarded by brands competing against each other. Set your business apart by offering your customers loyalty programs and extra perks that make your shoppers feel more connected to your brand. Whether it’s a loyalty program that allows customers to cash in on a purchase after spending a certain amount, free shipping perks, or a streamlined return process, there are basic tactics your business can employ to keep your loyal customers loyal and new customers happy. Use your online channels as a platform for customers to engage with your team and you are more likely to create customers willing to share their thoughts. Happy customers are more likely to share positive reviews, which can have a domino effect on the rest of your business.
For brands looking to boost their positive online reviews, it all comes back to delivering basic customer service that shoppers are used to when shopping at your store. Be flexible with your customers and eager to connect with them when they have questions. Offer them exclusive deals for being loyal, and give them a reason to come back. All of this together can help create organic growth by using your top shoppers as brand ambassadors.
