Nowadays everybody knows that online reviews are very important for almost any kind of business, whether your business is online or offline, you will be affected by online reviews.
So having a good number of positive reviews and maintaining a good online reputation is a must for any business.
But are you really taking advantage of those positive reviews you are getting?
Most of the people let third-party review websites to do all the work, those websites are great for collecting your reviews, but are they doing anything to promote your products or services?
The answer is no, their business is to simply host the reviews and let people read them, so basically they put you in-front of the door and you need to open it and enter the world of possibilities that a positive review can bring to your business.
Knowing how to use your online reviews
So let’s say that you have many positive online reviews on all the major online review sites that people use these days, those reviews are bringing you a few customers a month and you can say you are happy with that. The truth is that you are only at the tip of the iceberg; you need to step it up and take control of your online reviews. Remember one thing, those hard earned reviews are yours, so let’s use them to the max!
The first thing everybody fails to do with their online reviews is to promote their products and services through those reviews. Don’t just let third party web-sites post your reviews, put your reviews on your home page and on your mobile site.
Using your customer’s reviews to promote your business
Educate your customers on how to review your business so they can leave more specific reviews. A broad review about your entire business is not bad, but we need reviews about specific product and services that you provide. This way you can concentrate on any product or service that you want to promote and focus on getting a specific review on that service.
Just pick say 5 clients a day that buy that service or product and offer them a 5% discount on their next purchase if they take the time to leave you a review on what they purchased. By doing this you will get many positive reviews on that service or product you wish to promote, making the review of that service always surface first on your review pool.
More and more potential customers will see reviews on that product or service, making that specific product more popular and eventually your #1 product. And how did we accomplished that? by promoting your product or service through your online reviews.
The importance of online reviews
Online reviews are becoming more and more important every day. If we take a look at this year’s Consumer Review Survey we will see that 72% of people surveyed see a online reviews just like a personal recommendation, while 52% said that a positive online review makes them decide which product or service to chose.
The bottom line here is that online reviews make a tremendous impact on the consumer at the time a decision has to be made. That’s why it is such an easy tool to use to influence customers on what product or service they should buy. We just need to understand how to use our current customers wisely.
No ad or sales team in the world will ever compare to the power that a set of good reviews have, you already have an army of very good sales men that love your product and are happy to talk about it, and the best part is that they work for free. Use your current customers to generate an endless stream of new clients
Image Credit: Jeroen van Oostrom
Thanks Carlos:) Online reviews are very powerful. I often write reviews of products but always ensure I find both the pros and cons (which can be difficult particularly when you really love a product!)
Thank you for these tips. You gave me an idea how to get reviews for the Ebook I wrote recently.
Doing reviews is very important. It can get you customers and you can make sales. More and more people research before they they buy. So it would be a good idea to put in a review and an affiliate link.
Im glad the article helped you girls… thanks for the comments…
Carlos, good article, it’s amazing how many owners don’t understand the importance of online reviews. With so many review websites out there it’s almost impossible to keep up without a tool. If owners and managers want an easy to use app, sign up free @ ReviewAlert.com to get an email alert whenever someone reviews you online.