93% of customers read online reviews before buying a product.
91% of 18–34-year-olds trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations,
87% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses in 2020
Only 48% of consumers would consider using a business with fewer than 4 stars
Importance of Online Reviews/Testimonials
Online reviews are important to the success of any business. This feedback helps businesses to determine where they can improve, but it also helps consumers determine who to do business with, impacting sales and growth.
Online reviews are also factored into organic searches, generating a higher rating, thus a higher search engine ranking. Positive reviews will absolutely showcase your business favorably. However, negative reviews in Google count as a negative ranking factor, which can have a damaging effect on your business’ online reputation.
“…businesses risk losing as many as 22% of customers when just one negative article is found by users considering buying their product. If three negative articles pop up in a search query, the potential for lost customers increases to 59.2%.” (Moz.com)
Managing Online Reviews
Responding to online reviews is important, it show consumers you value feedback. Additionally, responding to online reviews helps to retain customers, increases your online rating, encourages loyal customers to share their feedback, allows you to use keywords for search optimization, and it helps with negative feedback.
Responding to Online Reviews
It is important to respond promptly. Responding to online reviews on Facebook, Yelp, Google My Business, Trustpilot, etc. should be a part of your daily or weekly marketing strategy.
Assign responsibility to an employee or an agency to respond to all online reviews. This way nothing will fall through the cracks and responses will handled consistently and issues will be addressed promptly.
Handling Negative Reviews
There will be times customers are not as happy and will leave a negative review. Regardless of the issue it is necessary to address negative reviews in an actionable way to help improve customer relationships and showcase your ability to troubleshoot issues.
Here are 5 steps for responding to negative reviews:
Personalize the Response – Address the reviewer directly, include their name in the response.
Thank them for the Feedback – Thank the reviewer for taking the time to leave a review. Let them know you are interested in what customers have to say and you are interested in resolving the issue.
Apologize for the Experience – Apologize to the reviewer for the negative experience they had. Take responsibility and reassure the customer that you want to resolve their issue.
Offer to Discuss the Issue with Them – Whether it’s via email or a direct phone call, it is best to contact the customer directly to resolve the situation completely. If handled correctly they may even be inspired to remove the negative review.
Ask for a Second Chance – Asking for another chance establishes confidence that your business can and will do a better job, correcting whatever the issue was in the first place.
TWP Marketing Can Help
The team at TWP Marketing has been helping businesses across the country with their digital marketing strategies. We can help you. Contact us today to learn how we can help improve your marketing efforts.
SOURCES:
LearnPodium.com
Brightlocal.com
Indeed.com