There are numerous marketing techniques out there for promoting your business, and you might be overlooking a major selling point: customer reviews. The top two things customers consider when choosing a business are the price and quality of your product or service.

The bad news is that simply having good quality customer reviews isn’t enough.

You need to prove to potential customers that you have it—and reviews are the best way to do just that. These anonymous sources of recommendation become one of your biggest selling points, so don’t let them sit idle on a third-party review site or a hidden page on your own site.

Here are some tips on how to leverage your customer reviews to actively build your business’ reputation.

Generate Customer Reviews

If you don’t already have accounts on Yelp, TripAdvisor, Amazon, or Google My Business that are generating reviews, create these accounts. Keep in mind that you don’t have control over who leaves these reviews or what they say. This is where the raw quality of your product comes in. You should also create a space on your business’ website where customers can leave reviews.

Know When to Ask

Choosing the right moment to ask for feedback from your customers can make all the difference. You can encourage customers to leave good reviews simply by prompting them—send a follow-up email or text shortly after they purchase or receive their product or service.

If you can catch them immediately after they’ve used your product or spoken to a customer representative, their positive experience will be fresh in their mind.

Carefully look over your customer reviews and choose the best ones. Find several that are detailed, concise, and believable. When you use more than one review in the same location, ensure that they are varied enough to provide potential customers with the most information as possible.

Make sure you keep featured reviews up to date. Recent reviews speak louder than ancient ones.

Keep in mind that you can include short excerpts or quotes from longer reviews. Also, be considerate that third-party sites like Yelp might have policies regarding the proper use of reviews posted on their site. Do your research before re-posting material from other sites.

Use Customer Reviews in Marketing Material

Combine your customer reviews with marketing that you already do. Post testimonials on your business’ website. Make sure they are visible for anyone who visits the site; your landing page is a great place for customer reviews.

Use especially compelling reviews on print material like business cards, brochures, or flyers. Whether you use audio or video commercials, billboards, or emails, consider weaving customer reviews into your promotional content. Another great way to convert customers at a low cost is to promote reviews on social media accounts.

If you have a physical storefront, display a poster or board near the register, front door, or another prominent place that customers will see as soon as they walk in the door.

Bad Reviews Aren’t Actually Bad

According to this survey of 3000 consumers prove why its negative reviews are good for your business.

Bad reviews are good opportunities. If you reply with a genuine apology and path to resolution, you can turn an unhappy customer into a satisfied one. Acknowledge their frustration, anger, or unhappiness before moving on to a solution.

In the process, you will also show potential purchasers your conflict resolution, ensuring that they’ll be covered if they are unsatisfied. You can even ask the customer to edit the review after you resolve the issue.

Use bad reviews to your advantage, you must stay on top of them. Reply promptly, and don’t let negative reviews pile up and work against you.

• Acknowledge the customers
• Show them that you’re willing to address concerns publicly (so its indicates future customers your professionalism)
• Give them your details to contact you.

Taking control of your customer reviews is a sure-fire way to drive customers to your business, so don’t neglect this simple promotional strategy..

   

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