For today’s modern businesses, the importance of customer reviews cannot be overstated. It’s knowing how to leverage these reviews, however, that stumps many business leaders. For small businesses especially, the review economy is not something one can fight against, but it is something that companies can use to their advantage. This post will discuss the importance of customer reviews and how they impact your small business, as well as uncover some ways industry leaders can take advantage of customer reviews through responses and proactive communication.
The rise of the review-based economy
Thanks to the steady growth of social sites like Google and Facebook, we are now right in the middle of the review-based economy. Consumers check to see what other people are saying about every single purchase they make, from RVs to clothing to professional services. This system of making a purchase and then leaving a review has established a sort of trust between consumers, even though they are complete strangers, wherein there needs to be some form of validation or sign off from the public that a consumer is making the right purchase decision.
While it may seem as though online reviews present an insurmountable challenge for small businesses, most economic leaders agree that online reviews are giving businesses a new opportunity to reach more consumers than ever before. Instead of investing money and resources in complex marketing campaigns or trying to tell prospective customers how a purchase will benefit them, reviews from past customers actually show them.
Why do online reviews matter?
For businesses looking to increase sales and new customers — as well as keep current customers happy and coming back — online reviews are a huge part of the modern business model. Just check out some of these incredible stats from a recent Invespro study:
While these stats are definitely eye-opening, it all comes down to one basic principle: positive online reviews equal more business, with the key word being positive. So how can your business increase positive reviews, revenue, and new customers? One thing that can have a big impact is responding to all of your reviews.
Responding to reviews to increase revenue
Now that you understand the why behind customer reviews, it’s time to learn how to better leverage them to increase revenue. When it comes to responding to online reviews, it’s all about the customer. Responding to reviews, even via a review platform, shows that you value their input, their time, and their business. If potential customers see these review responses on a site such as Google or Facebook, it can help sway their purchase decision to know that your business is committed to the customer experience.
Additionally, not all reviews are going to be good. According to Chatmeter, 52% of customers who leave a bad review expect a response within 7 days. While it’s impossible to get rid of a bad review, it is possible to spin a negative review into a positive experience. Simply replying to a negative review can deliver peace of mind to customers, increasing the probability new customers will leave reviews and the possibility these reviews will be positive. According to the Harvard Business Review, simply achieving a 1-star increase in your online review rating can increase revenue by up to 9%
Finally, responding to reviews allows your team to take control of the conversation. Whether it’s responding to a positive review with humility and thanks to responding to a negative review by highlighting some different features of your products, your brand is adding a voice to the conversation. Businesses can leverage direct-to-consumer messaging platforms (like texts) to increase both the number of reviews and the amount of back-and-forth communication. With Kenect, your team can proactively increase customer reviews through texts, receive alerts when new reviews are posted, and respond to these reviews – all in a single easy-to-use platform. Request your personal demo of the Kenect platform here.