Whether you’re a social media marketer, freelancer or business owner, online reviews are central to your success. They can break or make your business. In fact, reviews influence up to 90 percent of the decisions customers make. If prospective customers learn that previous clients had a positive and satisfactory experience with your offering, chances are that they will be more comfortable engaging with your company. In this article, we will take a look at the most effective ways of generating and increasing positive reviews from the online community.
1. Pay attention to previous reviews
It is obvious that you cannot legally generate good online reviews without meeting your customer’s needs or solving issues that affect them. Again, no amount of feedback or user reviews even out a bad first impression to the customers. Therefore, you should first focus on how to resolve existing issues that bother your clients. This will help you gain trust and mass following from the online community, which makes other marketing strategies much easier.
2. Consider requesting more reviews
Ask for reviews after delivering a product or service to your customers, and not positive reviews- just reviews. However, do not appear too pushy, just ask them to provide feedback on the level of service they received. Let your customers know that you value and take their opinions seriously; and that their feedback helps you improve their future experience. All you need to do is set up an automated way of generating reviews on your website by sending your customers an email.
3. Diversify your web presence
If your target demographic is under 30, then chances are that encouraging them to post an online review turns them off. Instead, you should engage them on various social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Create a business page or group where they can share their thoughts and views about your services or product without any time they wish.
4. Respond to negative reviews quickly
Be vigilant enough to respond to all negative reviews promptly, not by defending your product but by examining the problem to determine the most effective way to resolve it. For any bad review, thank the customer and apologize for the experience. Acting quickly turns a negative experience into a positive one.
5. Reach out to your reviewers directly
Although not every internet marketer strategist recommends responding publicly to negative reviews, providing constructive feedback can be helpful. This means that you should avoid putting yourself in a highly defensive position and instead, contact negative reviewers and resolve the issue. Do not be turned off by bad reviews. This is a game of numbers and you will always get a few negative reviews even if you offer the best product or service.
6. Make reviewing easy for your clients
Ensure your product has a review or give feedback button where users can share their encounter. Ideally, give the user three choices; sending feedback, suggesting a new feature or redirecting them to a review site. As stated above, remember to follow up your request by sending customers a reminder email with links to where they should submit their reviews.
Conclusion
Positive reviews play a great role in building and maintaining a positive online reputation, which is essential for any business. And since potential customers go through online reviews on social media, forums and other review sites before choosing your offering, it is important to showcase why your brand, product or service stands out.
