Why you should pay attention to your customer reviews

The importance of customer reviews

Some companies pay them no attention, yet others take them seriously. Question is, should your business be paying attention to customer reviews?

Now more than ever, review sites such as Yelp and TripAdvisor play a significant role in your business’ success.

Here’s why:

1. Create social proof and builds trust

Studies show consumers take people’s opinions in blogs and social forums more seriously than most other marketing strategies. Online reviews, even from strangers, provide the social proof that nudges people into making a purchasing decision.

A 2020 TrustPilot survey highlights this as statistics show that nearly 90% of consumers read reviews before making buying decisions. Shoppers are looking for insights on products, and assurances that they are making the right retail purchase.

2. Improve product development and experience

Going through online customer reviews should help you understand your customers better. Analyzing the reviews will help gauge customer satisfaction, and you can use customer reviews to tweak your product.

Consumers provide real-time feedback on customer needs. The valuable information can help your business provide quick and efficient resolution of customer issues. Listening and solving consumer worries is a sure-fire way to create a positive experience among your consumer base.

3. Increased visibility, accessibility, and rankings

Thanks to search engines and review features present in social media sites, finding reviews is easier than ever. When using Google search, online shoppers don’t even have to make several mouse clicks to find a business’ reviews.

A local search for service will reveal the most popular local businesses, complete with a few reviews and ratings. This should give your small business valuable marketing exposure since 76% of consumers trust reviews as much as personal recommendations.

While search engines and social sites have their unique ranking algorithms, they generally favor companies with positive content. Search engines can use positive reviews as a ranking factor for local SEO. That’s especially true if the reviews mention a keyword, resulting in higher rankings on Google My Business results.

In short, if your business has many positive reviews, you stand a better chance of getting a higher search ranking. That means new customers will view your business as an authority in that industry.

4. Improve your image

Positive client reviews have a way of increasing your credibility on the internet, with your brand coming across as trustworthy.

As you would expect, customers take a dim view of companies with low ratings. BrightLocal’s survey found that brands with great reviews are more likely to turn views into web traffic from visitors and improve sales.

5. Replying to customer reviews is part of customer service

When consumers write reviews about your company, they expect a response. You shouldn’t miss the chance to give thanks and offer promotions to galvanize your fan base.

Even when things go wrong, you should not ignore a bad review. For instance, MedQuest improved its review volume and ratings on Facebook by 163% and 23% on Google. The company increased its response rate and did not shy away from negative reviews, hence the sharp increase.

Its lead web designer attributed the rise to the company’s focus on patient experience by monitoring and responding to reviews. They emphasized resolving negative reviews, which got a 100% response rate, with positive reviews receiving a 60% response rate.

To run a successful business, one of the best practices you should have is addressing customer complaints. When your firm consistently ignores bad reviews, consumers will take that as bad customer service.

According to Microsoft, 90% of Americans consider customer service when deciding on conducting business with a company.

6. Impact sales

Consumers will have a favorable view of brands with positive reviews, which will lead to better sales. Additionally, an improvement in your business’ star rating can improve sales.

A Harvard Business School study seems to suggest that online reviews can affect the bottom line. The study points out that a mere one-star improvement in Yelp ratings can boost sales to the tune of 5-9%.

Another study by Revoo found that positive online reviews will result in an 18% increase in sales. The benefits include an increase in order sizes, conversion, and repeat order rates.

7. Reviews generate more reviews

When your business has generated several reviews, it encourages others to leave their feedback as well.

Most humans have this reluctance of being the first to do something; they need some encouragement. When they see other reviews, that should give them the confidence and incentive to submit their own.

8. Free marketing

When people have a good experience with your brand, they are likely to spread the good word. That presents an excellent chance of spreading your multi-channel footprint, far better than most marketing efforts.

What’s more, these good reviews will be from the most trustworthy of sources–consumers.

That means free marketing on trusted review platforms such as TripAdvisor, Yelp, and FourSquare. Further, Google collects data from these sites, ensuring your brand is at the forefront of consumer search results.

However, do note that excellent reviews spread quickly, and so too do bad ones. Address negative reviews with the same zeal to maintain positive online reviews. Such methods will improve customer satisfaction, create a fan base, strengthen loyalty, and attract prospective customers to your brand.

Where to display the reviews

Sure, consumers mostly read reviews online, but that is not the only way to get the positive vibes across to your customers. For best results, you want to get reviews across multiple platforms, such as:

a. Online sites: is by far the most effective resource for displaying reviews. You can use the following medium:

• Social media and general review sites – you can create business pages with review pages on Google Business Pages, Facebook, Yahoo! Local listings.
• Niche review sites – these industry-specific directories collect and display reviews, including Expedia, ZocDoc, Healthgrades, Angie’s List, and LinkedIn Recommendations.
• Your website: you can create a sales or product page, testimonial page, or a sidebar on the home page for displaying customer reviews or product reviews.

b. Digital signage: is a communication solution that uses visually attractive flat display screens or digital LED billboards to present your video content, such as social media feed and customer reviews.

c. Printed media: you could use printed media such as brochures, flyers, advertisements, and sales guides to display user reviews.

How do you get customer reviews?

Like every good thing, it will take some work to get customer reviews. Your best strategies include:

• Ask for reviews: when you meet appreciative customers or vendors, ask them to leave a review on your website. You should train your staff to do the same.
• Make it easy: to leave a review. You are likely to get more reviews if the process is easy.
• Search for mentions on social media: you could always transfer the good ones to your website and provide links to the social sites.
• Follow up: when you close a sale, follow it up by requesting a review from the satisfied customer.
• Offer incentives: you could offer a coupon, discount, or other benefit to respondents, whether they leave a positive or negative review. Always encourage them to leave an honest review; you don’t want to end up in a fake review storm.

To conclude, you should pay attention to customer reviews as they can boost sales. That is especially true if potential customers view positive reviews about your brand. If you need a spectacular way of displaying your best customer reviews, contact Mvix today to discuss your digital signage needs.