If you own or manage a business of any shape or size, you are probably already keenly aware of the importance of good reviews. If you are not, then the numbers should provide for some sobering reading. The vast majority of online consumers now make sure to read reviews before making a purchase.
Of these, an estimated 56% of customers read at least four reviews before buying a product. On top of this, 73% of customers will trust a business more if it has positive reviews, while 57% of customers report visiting a website of a business if they see a positive review about it.
However, ensuring that you have enough positive reviews to make a difference is often easier said than done. If you can generate a lot of positive reviews, you will have a resilient brand that is poised for growth. With that in mind, read on to find out some of the easiest ways to generate positive online reviews for your business.
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1. Get Established
The first and most obvious step if you want lots of good reviews is to ensure that your brand has a presence on every review platform possible. This means, first and foremost, establishing a Google My Business page so that people can easily leave Google reviews. It also means registering your business with Yelp, Yahoo, TripAdvisor, and just about any other platform you can think of.
2. Make Feedback Easy to Provide
Customers do not want to be subjected to any extra labour when they are visiting your site. That is why it is crucial to make leaving a review as easy as possible. Take for example the Apple App Store review system, where a pop-up allows you to swipe along your screen to give an app a star rating in less than a second. The longer it takes to leave a review, the less likely it is that a customer will bother.
3. Reward Feedback
In addition, your business needs high-quality reviews in order to attract interested customers. This means encouraging existing customers to leave meaningful, detailed reviews about their experience with your brand. You can run a campaign in which every person who leaves a review is put into a prize draw, as companies such as the appliance manufacturer Electrolux has been doing for years.
4. Don’t Just Focus on Customer Reviews
It is important that you also focus on trying to garner reviews from industry experts and critics, rather than solely focusing on actual customers. People look for authoritative reviews when researching products and services. Take online slots games, for example. Many seasoned fans of these games tend to look beyond customer reviews and head to established expert iGaming review sites, where industry insiders offer detailed reviews that tell you everything there is to know about an online slot game or online casino, including bonuses and sign-up requirements. You should be aiming to get a review from a trusted, authoritative review site.
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5. Ask at the Right Moment
The key to getting positive reviews is identifying the right moment in the customer journey to ask for one. If you are soliciting reviews via pop-ups, you should time them so that they appear at the right moment. This could be whenever a customer has finished using your online service or product. It could be when a customer clicks to re-order an item that you sell. It could be when a customer refers someone else to your business. These are all ideal points in the customer journey to solicit a review and it’s important to utilise them to good effect.
6. Ask the Right Question
When trying to garner positive reviews from customers, how you frame your question is absolutely essential. This means that, rather than asking a customer to “leave a review”, you should ask them an open-ended question that encourages a meaningful response. For example, the skincare brand L’Occitane will ask its website visitors questions such as “have you found what you are looking for today?” or “have our products provided nourishing skincare?” in order to encourage engagement and detailed responses.
7. Get the Ball Rolling Yourself
Finally, do not forget that the world of online reviews is now a two-way street. Just as customers can leave reviews about your business, you can often leave reviews about your customers. If you have a business connected to a platform that allows for customers to be reviewed, such as Uber Eats, Lyft, Airbnb, VRBO, and TurnKey, then leverage this. Leave your customer a positive review first and you might be pleasantly surprised with the results.
Good reviews let the world know that you offer value for money and stand apart from your competition. By following these simple and straightforward steps, you can ensure that everyone sees your business in the same way that you do.
About Carson Derrow
