Online sales have skyrocketed over the past year. And whilst that’s great news for eCommerce retailers, it also means they need to up their game to stay ahead of the competition. So this week we’ve teamed up with REVIEWS.io to show how customer reviews can strengthen your brand, and why they’re essential for business growth.
Here are five reasons why your brand needs reviews:
1. They Boost Your Online Visibility
For most consumers, Google is the starting point of the buyer journey. Your relevance to a search query is determined by a number of factors, including content that Google indexes to better understand your site.
Customer reviews give a constant stream of new and original content for it to work with, which can significantly boost your ranking. And if those reviews are collected through a Google licensed platform, you’ll also build up stars and google seller ratings - another tick on the search engine’s checklist.
It’s not just Google where you’ll see improved visibility either. Consumers are increasingly finding new brands through social platforms, and review content will give you a boost here too.
2. They Generate Trust
Now shoppers have found you, they want to know you’re a credible brand that can be trusted. Since the primary way they judge this is by looking at the experience of other consumers, collecting reviews is important to building trust in your store. In fact, 88% of shoppers trust reviews as much as personal recommendations. But that’s not all. They’re also looking at how you handle customer feedback.
A lot of brands shy away from reviews for fear of negative comments, but these can also be a great driver of trust. When handling negative reviews effectively, they show your commitment to customer service, and consumers are far more likely to choose a brand that offers complete transparency.
So the trust is two fold. Customers are encouraged by the opinions of others, and they’re also encouraged by the way you respond to positive and negative reviews.
3. They Help Provide a Better Customer Experience
Reviews go some way towards bridging the gap between the online and in-store shopping experience. They offer first hand insight into the quality of your products, allowing customers to make well informed purchase decisions without physically seeing a product in person. It’s why around 2/3rds of consumers consider reviews an essential part of the decision making process.
They also help build relationships. A review request adds another touchpoint, extending the contact between brand and consumer beyond the initial purchase. And when the reviews come in, you can share them across your social channels, celebrating positive experiences and the brand advocates that shared them.
4. They Increase Sales Through Social Proof
Online reviews are one of the most influential forms of social proof - the concept that drives us to follow the actions of others. A consumer is far more likely to make a purchase when it’s evident that countless shoppers have made the same decision before them.
As the importance of social proof has grown, reviews have evolved, and now offer much more than a few words of recommendation. Photo reviews brought a visual form of social proof to the eCommerce space, and more recently, video reviews have gone even further. These valuable snippets of authentic user generated content show a genuine and tangible product experience, prompting consumers to seek out the same and driving sales through aspiration.
5. They Help You Improve As A Business
One of the most overlooked benefits of customer reviews is what they can do for development. By listening to the voice of the consumer, you can build a clearer picture of their needs and expectations, and work to meet them.
Video reviews in particular are key for product development. They show how what you offer fits into a customer’s life, helping you generate new ideas that can improve their experience. For brands looking to grow, reviews are one of the most effective forms of market research.
Summary
For any eCommerce retailer looking to boost both reputation and revenue, reviews are an essential part of an effective marketing strategy. They’re of great value to the consumer, giving them a trusted source of information, but they’re also key for driving brand awareness, visibility and growth.
About Reviews.io
REVIEW.io is a Google Licensed review platform, providing eCommerce brands with innovative solutions for online reputation management. The REVIEWS.io solution seamlessly integrates with all major eCommerce, CRM and social platforms, online loyalty programmes and a range of digital marketing tools. REVIEWS.io is run from a customer first perspective, and their service is designed with the end user in mind. They don’t believe in lengthy contracts, so if a customer finds the solution no longer meets their needs, they’re free to leave at any time. They have competitive pricing plans are fully transparent, with no hidden fees or additional charges, giving businesses a known cost up front for the service provided. Their team is on hand to offer real time support and they are constantly improving their offering based on customer feedback and the needs of the businesses they work with. Their focus is delivering a feature rich platform that offers much more than review collection. Every new feature they develop is rolled out universally, giving all their customers access to a growing suite of innovative solutions at no extra cost.
Published: February 05, 2021
Last updated: October 09, 2024
