ChicExecs Senior VP of PR and Digital Marketing, Kristen Wessel, shares why business reviews are a must, plus five tips to get more reviews on Forbes blog. Below is a highlight to enjoy.
Sure, review sourcing requires a little elbow grease, but it’s worth the work. Business reviews can help you:
• Rank better in search engines
• Boost trust
• Increase sales
You know you need reviews, but how can you persuade shoppers to go to the effort of leaving a review? You can’t force people to write them, but these five tricks can certainly help you gather more reviews.
1. Create a review strategy.
You can’t gather an influx of reviews just once and think you’re done. You need a steady stream of reviews coming into your business. To do that, you need an official strategy for collecting reviews.
2. Ask every customer for a review.
Most people don’t leave reviews because they’re more concerned about buying a fun, new product. But don’t worry: You can make your business top of mind simply by asking shoppers for a review.
3. Use a review platform.
Look, gathering reviews can be overwhelming. If you get a lot of reviews or just need help managing your review strategy, go with a review platform. They’re specifically designed to help you source reviews, track your review progress and even reply to reviews in one place. Review platforms usually require a paid subscription, but they can save time and make it easier to collect reviews at scale.
4. Reply to all reviews.
And I mean all reviews—including negative ones. This shows people that you pay attention to customer reviews and that you care about the customer experience. Thank shoppers for every single positive review. For negative reviews, it’s best to keep your cool and act impeccably professional. Offer to make things right with a cranky customer so you can (maybe) turn their negative review into a positive one.
5. Take feedback to heart.
You’re going to get a lot of customer feedback through reviews, which will quickly tell you what customers love and hate about your products. Instead of moving forward without considering customer feedback, consult your reviews first. This will help you find gaps in your business strategy, as well as find innovative product ideas that your customers will love. You’d normally have to pay a business consultant a fortune for the same information, so always incorporate review feedback into your business.
Read Kristen’s blog on why business reviews are a must here.
