10 Ways How Businesses Can Use Customer Reviews To Their Advantage
With the growing number of online reviews, more and more companies see one or two reviews posted on their website. However, this is not enough as the competition gets more challenging every day.
For a company to stay afloat in the highly competitive environment, there are specific ways they can use customer reviews to their advantage.
Having customer reviews is critical for a business's survival in the competitive market. Surveys have shown that customers are more inclined to spend their money on businesses with at least 4 or 5-star ratings than those with lower ratings.
Customers trust customers more than their friends when giving recommendations, so having positive reviews will undoubtedly boost sales.
Whether you are a startup or already into it, customer reviews serve as a benchmark for your company. You will know how you are doing and which area needs improvement to serve your customers better.
Top companies also inspire them to create unique customer experiences through rewards, discounts, gift certificates, or freebies.
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Why positive customer do reviews matter for your business?
Positive reviews make customers feel important, and they will surely return. If your company has a low rating, potential clients may think this indicates poor quality or unprofessional services. Some businesses lose their customers because of negative reviews.
Positive feedback is essential for SEO services. Customers will surely go to websites where they can find customer reviews.
Not only that, these positive comments will help your website rank higher in the search engines so that you may gain more potential customers online.
Reviews can help sway your customers' decision whether or not to buy from you. If it is positive, they might even shout out to the world how great your business is.
On the other hand, if it is negative, this also tells you what you need to fix ASAP so that clients will increase and see how valuable your services are compared with others. On this note, let's look at how businesses can use their customer reviews for their benefit.
10 ways businesses can use customer reviews
Below are some cutting-edge and profit-driven ways businesses can use their customer reviews for generating more benefits:
1 – Using testimonials on the website
Create a section on your website to display positive reviews from your customers. You may place them in static or rotating banners so that your clients will see how other people appreciate what you do.
Testimonials carry heavy value for new viewers. These are what they want to see on your website to know who you are and how your business is doing if it is reliable or not.
In addition, if you manage a blog for your business, then writing about positive experiences that customers had with the products or services will surely entice them to buy from you again.
Testimonials are easy to write in storytelling since this format is more compelling than just listing words like “good” or “Bad.”
You may also write down why customers love your business. It will give potential customers more information about what they need before deciding whether they want to do business with you.
2 – Use reviews on social media to drive traffic
You can upload testimonials from one client or a few on social media. You may also share the link of your website with positive reviews to drive traffic and get more customers. This way, you get free advertising on top of having an effective marketing tool.
For example, you can share a testimonial from a client on Twitter or Facebook. It will create curiosity among other audiences, and it is more likely that they will want to check out your website.
It is a great way to grow social media followers and drive more traffic to your website. It's a great way to outperform your competitors. Social media is a great way to raise awareness about the brand.
In addition, you don't need to spend much money on this, and it will bring more value to your business. It's a gradual process that will drive more traction to your business through the reviews that you already have on your products.
3 – Use customer reviews to create FOMO
We all know that fear of missing out is a powerful strategy, especially in e-commerce. You may use customer reviews on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to create FOMO, which means “fear of missing out.”
People will check your business to see its success on social media. Even some businesses have earned thousands just by creating their own YouTube channel to post positive testimonials from clients.
These days, everyone has a smartphone, so you can easily take a photo of someone using your products or services and upload it on your website or blog along with a review.
This way, people think twice about buying from you because they might miss an opportunity to get the best deal ever for this product.
You can also ask your loyal customers to share testimonials on Twitter. Once they publish them, you can Quote Retweet them with limited-period coupons or discount offers. This strategy works as people don't want to miss out on good offers if they need your products.
4 – Use testimonials in newsletters
If you send out a monthly or quarterly newsletter to your customers, it is good to include reviews. The review will be the main focus of the email, and your audience will read them 100%.
They might ignore what you are selling at one moment, but they can't let go of the genuine customer reviews.
So, while preparing a product-focused newsletter, include good and original 2-3 customer testimonials in the newsletter. This is one of the most powerful ways to generate more sales. It's an intelligent way of creating and marketing your brand.
When you share reviews with your potential customers, it builds an instant bond. It's an excellent way of persuading people to buy your products or services. It's a good tactic to attract new customers and make them purchase your products.
5 – Use them as a case study
Another way to use reviews is by using them as case studies. A few high-quality customer lifestyle photos and video testimonials will help sell your product or service, especially if you run a B2C business like a resort, restaurant, salon, or spa.
You can also feature their services on your website instead of focusing on the actual product you're selling.
A case study must come with a before and after photo, along with testimonial text that you can easily share across social media platforms. This way, your potential customers get more information about the product or service being sold so that they won't have any doubts about it.
You can also share a video review on YouTube where you have limited period offers or coupon codes to grab the interest of your audience.
Many businesses use this strategy because it helps build instant trust among their audiences once you start authentically sharing customer reviews. It's better than showing stock photos from glossy brochures.
It is even more potent if you have a personal video from someone who has been using your products for years and shares how happy they are with it.
6 – For improving negative reviews
If you come across any negative reviews, there are certain things that you can do to make it work in your favour.
You should reply to the negative comments with a humble apology and assure them that you're taking the necessary actions to take care of the issue.
Expressing empathy for their situation will further wipe away all the bad vibes they have about your products or services. Your genuine concern might be enough reason for them to change their minds about your products or services.
You can also resolve their issues by offering something free like additional bonuses if they share good reviews on other platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
This strategy is not so expensive but quite effective in improving customer relationships, essential for any business' success story. When you solve that user's problem, there are high chances of giving you a positive review.
7 – Use reviews in an eBook
If you've launched a new Ebook about your product or services, you can promote it using existing positive reviews.
It's a good idea to include reviews in your Ebook by letting your audience know why they should buy the product or service you're selling.
It would help if you used that text in a powerful yet persuasive way to convince people to take action and buy your products.
A review from one person becomes more effective when you not only quote their words but also add a picture of them together with the product's name, which will make it look authentic enough for others to trust.
Another benefit will increase customer engagements on other platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. That kind of positive feedback will create an emotional connection with consumers and help build brand loyalty.
In this way, you'll get a 5-star rating if your customers are satisfied with the product they're buying. If you come across any negative reviews, try to resolve them immediately to maintain your place in the market.
8 – Use testimonials in your PPC ads
You must use customer reviews in your PPC ads to attract more customers. There are many ways to do it.
You can promote your positive reviews and ratings on the top of the first page of Google and other search engines.
You can also promote those messages on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and more.
If you've got a lot of positive reviews and ratings from some influencers, then it's time to use them in your PPC ads. This way, people will come to know about the quality and performance of your product or services before they buy anything from you.
Customers trust your reviews from their favourite influencers, which will increase the chances of them buying your products or services.
In addition, these kinds of reviews and ratings from influences go a long way to building trust, which is essential for the success of any business.
9 – Use reviews in your Email Marketing
You can use real-time customer reviews in your email marketing campaign to create excitement among the customers.
You should send emails with positive reviews to specific segmented groups of people interested in buying products or services from you. There are many other advantages like brand awareness, sales conversions, etc.
People love reading genuine opinions about a product or service they're thinking of buying, so sending them an email will increase your chances of closing more sales.
Also, these messages help other websites rank high on search engines because they contain lots of helpful information that gives other sites enough reasons for viewers to stay longer on their pages.
The authenticity of reviews plays a vital role to increase sales conversions from email marketing campaigns because it builds trust among your customers.
10 – Use reviews in comparison websites
If you've got positive customer reviews, then use them in comparison sites like Google Trusted stores or Trustpilot because these sites are where potential buyers visit to purchase products or services online.
It's straightforward to add the URL of the review page on those websites in your profile and include it whenever visitors leave comments.
This will help them learn about your brand, which is essential for any business that wants to succeed in today's competitive market.
Adding this link will improve the overall visibility. When people click on it, they'll be taken directly to your website to read genuine reviews about your products or services.
Wrapping up!
In a nutshell, using customer reviews is another way of building trust among your customers. This will help you gain the trust of other potential buyers as well.
If people read positive words about your products or services from their favourite influencers or social media sites, then they'll buy it because they have faith in others' opinions.
