Reviews play a significant role in the purchasing process. Just how important are they? Research shows nine out of 10 customers read reviews before making a purchase, and 45% of consumers say they won’t buy a product if it has no reviews. Brands realize the importance of reviews, but rather than hoping for customers to share their experience on Google, Amazon, or Yelp, marketers are taking a more proactive approach. By connecting with brand advocates and asking them to provide reviews, brands can bolster their online reputation. Here’s how to get more customer reviews and testimonials:
4 ways to get more customer reviews
If you’re looking for strategies to rack up a few more reviews or collect testimonials from customers, consider these strategies:
Ask customers to leave you a review
If you want more reviews, ask. Customers are often happy to provide feedback if they’re prompted to do so.
Identify the best time to ask
You have to ask at the appropriate time. It’s best to ask a customer for a review right after he or she has interacted with your brand. Ask for reviews when a customer:
- Makes a purchase
- Completes a service call
- Refers your brand or product to a friend
By marrying your review request with an action, customers are more likely to respond. If you use the Zuberance advocate marketing platform, reviews are often used as Challenges that customers are rewarded for doing. Customer advocates who post reviews of products, restaurants or services receive a certain number of rewards points that they can redeem for gift cards and more.
Plan (or automate) your communication
If you plan to ask for reviews after customers purchase, you could email them after the sale. If your business provides in-home service calls, you could send a text asking for a review after the call is finished. Another way to accomplish this is to share this task in your Zuberance advocate hub to reach all your customer advocates simultaneously.
Set up QR codes in-store
If your business has a brick-and-mortar location, consider setting up signs in your store with a QR code that leads customers to a review site. As customers shop, they’re engaged with your products and are more inclined to leave a review.
If you want something more high-tech, you can set up a small “review kiosk” with a tablet and signage to encourage reviews.
Offer an incentive to leave a review during checkout
As a customer makes a purchase, have your sales associates mention the importance of reviews. Give customers a postcard that offers a coupon (maybe 20%) to any customer who leaves a review.
Between the personal conversation at the register and the postcard as a reminder, you increase your chances of conversion.
Don’t have a physical store? You can set up a pop-up on your site to encourage customers to leave a review and claim a coupon.
Launch a review campaign on social or in your advocate program
Head over to social media and consider asking your most active followers to leave reviews. If people positively engage with your brand on social media, it’s a natural time to ask.
Zuberance users can invite brand advocates to their programs via email, allowing them to join the hub and be rewarded for reviews, social shares and more.
Tips to bring in more reviews
As you consider which review-boosting strategy is best for your brand, here are a few additional tips to make sure your efforts are effective:
Identify the platform you want to get reviews on
Which platform are you looking to bolster reviews on? Restaurants might want more reviews on Yelp, while a SaaS brand might lean toward G2. Identify the review site that you’d like to use.
Reduce friction
When you ask a customer, follower, or brand advocate to provide a testimonial, make it as easy as possible. Ensure your request for a review is clear and the clickable link goes directly to the review form, not a homepage. Keep questions to a minimum, and give consumers the ability to rate a product or service through a simple star rating.
Think of ways to streamline the review process so customers are more apt to complete the process.
Respond to reviews
Show customers how much you value their feedback by responding to reviews. Respond with a simple sentence or two to show your appreciation.
Repurpose your reviews
As reviews come in, consider repurposing them. For example, you could use a Yelp review on your website, inside marketing materials, or in your monthly newsletter.
As you work strategically to collect feedback, consider using an advocate marketing platform like Zuberance to scale your reviews. With this platform, you can streamline the collection and amplification of customer reviews on common channels like Amazon, Yelp, and Google through its Customer Reviews feature.
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Businesses leverage Zuberance to fuel their advocacy programs, integrating them into their overall marketing programs. The outcome? Lowered marketing expenses, enhanced customer engagement, improved retention rates, and most importantly, positive ROI.
