Online customer reviews are new word-of-mouth in this digital era. Potential customers very intriguingly read them, learn from them, and sometimes their buying decisions are influenced by them. But getting positive customer reviews are very essential for the growth of any business. If a product or service of a brand gets ample positive reviews then its sales escalate quickly, however, negative reviews can impact the sales as well as the reputation of the brand.
One of the most important aspects of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is developing reviews. The search engine ranking or credibility of businesses increases when Google witnesses that a business has a lot of positive reviews. Although, convincing consumers to give positive reviews is not always an easy task. When you embed Google reviews on websites, you can encourage your website visitors to leave reviews on your website. In this blog, you can read about the 5 effective strategies to encourage customers to leave positive reviews on the website.
Why Are Online Customer Reviews Important?
One of the reasons online customer reviews are important is that they help with the SEO of the website if you are a local business. One of the benefits that you can have after having reviews about your business on review sites is that you own more SERPs for branded search terms. But reviews are essential for your business because they have the power to influence the buying decisions of your potential customers.
Before purchasing anything, customers want to make sure that the product or service is reliable, and for that, they turn towards self-guided research where they trust the opinions provided by other customers. These reviews based on the experiences of other customers will help them in evaluating their purchasing decisions. When evaluating some product or service of a brand, customer proof is an important aspect.
Top 5 Strategies to Encourage Positive Customer Reviews
Brands can get positive reviews from their customers by using the below-mentioned approaches:
1. Provide Exceptional Customer Service
To get positive customer reviews, the first step is that you are required to provide outstanding customer service. If the customers have a positive experience interacting with the brand or business, they will be more likely to leave positive reviews for the business. To any customer question or query make sure to respond to them properly or go beyond to resolve the issue and provide a personalized experience whenever possible.
2. Leverage Social Media To Encourage Reviews
To encourage customers to leave reviews, you can easily leverage social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. To leave a review on their choice of review platform, interested followers can be easily directed. In your social media posts, post links and reminders to your review platforms. For example, if you have a restaurant business then you can informally ask your followers about an older menu that is discontinued and they miss it through your social media. Then you can motivate your customers to mention that in their reviews to bring it back.
In the form of reviews, this approach will encourage customers to share stories that will boost the social media engagement of your brand. You can also leverage the social media platform to thank the customers who have already left positive reviews for your brand and show that you value their effort.
3. Offer Incentives To Customers
Already your most loyal customers are hopefully sermonizing about your business or brand to their friends and family. To get them to leave reviews, some other customers will require a friendly nudge. If customers have some incentives they will be more likely to leave a positive review for your business. One of the easiest ways to do this is by providing customers with discount coupons, offers, and other benefits in exchange for a positive review. Make sure the review doesn’t look fake otherwise, Google looks down on it as an ingenuine review.
4. Respond To All Reviews Thoughtfully
If someone takes the time to review your business or provide feedback, then you must respond no matter how busy you are. You can simply add “Thank You” which can also encourage customers to leave reviews. When your potential customers see that you respond to every review, whether they are negative or positive then it will give them a message that your brand values feedback given by customers. Don’t feel sad about negative reviews they will make your brand look more authentic.
5. Try Using Video Posts
Visual content typically has high engagement rates, so you must try using visual content. In marketing strategy, images and videos should have a special place. As compared to TV, 6 out of 10 users like to observe online videos. More than 61% of marketers would believe that video is an extremely effective part of their marketing approach as reported by Biteable after conducting a survey.
Closing Note
On the conversion rates of your business, positive customer reviews have a special effect. Because of the exposure they receive, when you use them on social media, it increases their effectiveness. To motivate your customers to share positive customer reviews, give outstanding customer service, and engage with your customers on social media, these are the two subtle methods. You can also ask them to share their positive reviews on third-party review sites like Google Reviews, Facebook Reviews, Yelp Reviews, etc., and then display the Google review widget on your website to fetch those reviews.