Customer Reviews – Your Secret Marketing Fuel

Customer Reviews – Your Secret Marketing Fuel

Ever wonder why most advertisers will use a well-known face such as Dan Carter?
Well, that’s because we are heavily influenced by what we marketers call ‘opinion leaders’, ‘influencers’, ‘consumer content’ and a million other names.

And why is it when your mother in law tells you all about her new breadmaker that she just ‘adores’, you are more likely to take her first-hand opinion over another advertisement?

Well, today only 3% of consumers consider salespeople and marketers to be trustworthy.
With advertising surrounding us every day and everywhere consumers now more than ever are picky about which marketing efforts and claims they believe in.

Because most small to medium businesses can’t afford to hire a hottie like Dan for a day and can’t rely on your mother in law spreading the word. Other forms of opinions such as customer reviews can act as social proof of your brand’s excellence. In fact, 88% of consumers trust consumer reviews just as much as they trust personal recommendations.  

Acquiring customer reviews and using them in your marketing plans can help bridge gaps, keep your brand feeling authentic and build trust with your consumers. 

 

How to Get Your Customers to Review Your Business

It may be an obvious step, but you can’t utilise the awesome marketing effects of consumer reviews if you don’t have any…

So the first move in using consumer reviews for your marketing is getting feedback from your consumers!
Achieving this can be done in a variety of ways, with the first and easiest step just asking your consumers to review!

Whether you’re asking in-person or through email, it is extremely important to make the review process extremely easy and hassle-free. Every consumer has a different platform that they feel comfortable on, so provide your customers with options and let them choose the easiest one for them.
This may mean you have a range of reviews on different platforms; Facebook, Google, LinkedIn and even on your webpage itself. 

With up to 80% of reviews originating from post-purchase emails, post-purchase emails can be an easy and cost-effective way to increase the number of reviews on your companies products and services.

Rewards and incentives for leaving reviews can also be used to increase review rates, one company found a 22% increase review conversion rate when offering $10 Amazon gift voucher to the first ten people who reviewed them. 

You may not always need to dangle a carrot in front of your consumers to get a bite, just make sure you ask, most people don’t mind leaving a review, especially if previous reviews have had an influence on their decisions. 

 

Negative Reviews – Not All Bad

Many companies may be scared of allowing consumers to review their products due to trolling and negative reviews, however, bad reviews can have positive outcomes.

So-called negative reviews are trusted more (after all, not every business to consumer interaction is all cherry). Negative reviews provide variation and helpful information about product and service experiences that other consumers may be looking for.

Customers are more likely to buy products that have a 4.2 to a 4.5 star rating, rather than a 5-star rating. Because perfect scores, perfect people and perfect company don’t often exist, it makes customers wary that this may be too good to be true. 

Negative reviews also give companies a chance to repair past consumers negative experiences, therefore improving the companies image. They give helpful insight into why they may be losing customers and allow them to make educated decisions on their companies processes.

 

Put Your Customer Reviews to Work

Customer reviews help build business representation and brand trust as they show real feedback and real-life experiences with your company, both good and bad.  

So where can you use your reviews to help marketing efforts?

Google Ads

Your reviews can be used on your Google search ads ‘seller rating’ and be seen through ‘Google My Business’. A seller’s rating reflects your consumer’s overall experiences with your company (dependant on the country).

If your Google Ad matches what your customers have reviewed previously your ‘sellers rating’ may show up. However according to Google,

“In most cases, seller ratings in a country only show when a business has 100 unique reviews from that same country and a composite rating of 3.5 stars or higher. The reviews from users in a given country will only contribute to the business’ rating in that country.”

Social Media Testimonials
Not only can reviews can be created and seen by consumers, but you can also use reviews as testimonials on social media and website pages.

We already do this with our customers, the review below was left on Safe Zones Google My Business. We repurposed it and posted it so Safe Zones Facebook customers can see this review as well, this is relatively easy, simple and effective marketing you can do for your business. Using third-party reviews as testimonials on social media and web page can help to validate your company, increase credibility and engagement. By posting your reviews as testimonials you will also encourage other customers to review your services or products.

 

Email Marketing
Not only is email marketing handy in increasing and encouraging reviews online, but emails can also be used in other email marketing practises. Your company’s reviews can be used to help promote your company’s products or services. Including reviews in your email marketing can give your consumers a better idea of what you’re selling and assist them in their buying process.
(Here’s a tip – if you run email marketing programs, make sure to include some testimonials about what value your current email customers have received from subscribing to your emails)

Ads and Marketing Material
As we said above many consumers can be wary about advertisements, however, 87% of consumers think that advertisements that include online review are more trustworthy. And even better user-generated advertisements have shown to have 4 times more click-through rates than normal advertisements. 

 

So as you can see reviews are super helpful and an inexpensive alternative if you can’t afford Dan and can’t rely on your mother-in-law. Not only can reviews help a company’s’ marketing plan but they also give your business insider, truthful knowledge of what your customers are thinking.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed and don’t know where to start for your business.
Don’t worry we have your back.
Contact us today!