10 Tactics To Get Online Reviews

Table of contents

• Reviews are essential when deciding whether to purchase
• What Motivates People to Look at Online Reviews
• Why Asking for Reviews Doesn't Come Naturally to Everyone
• 10 Tips for Obtaining More Online Reviews
• Final Thoughts

Reviews are essential when deciding whether to purchase

Businesses thrive on positive opinions of their goods or services. Companies want good reviews, but they can ill afford to ignore bad ones. These reviews are essential because most consumers today rely on them when deciding whether to purchase.

Word-of-mouth advertising is the most potent form of marketing because consumers trust other consumers more than they do advertisements. When prospective clients hear what others have to say about you and your business, it creates a perception that influences their decision-making in a way that traditional ads never could.

Customer reviews have become an essential form of consumer word-of-mouth. Positive reviews about a business’s products or services can be quickly spread throughout the Web, resulting in explosive sales; negative reviews, on the other hand, can stifle sales and cause a business to take a step back.

What is more, there are specific steps you can take to ensure that your clients enjoy their purchases and feel comfortable enough to post positive reviews about your business.

What Motivates People to Look at Online Reviews

There are several reasons a consumer might look for online reviews to aid their purchasing decision: 

• the desire to obtain other consumers’ social proof or testimonials
• to get more information about a product or service before making a purchase
• to get a better understanding of the product’s advantages and limitations
• to avoid being disappointed with a purchase

Why Asking for Reviews Doesn’t Come Naturally to Everyone

Many businesses recognize the utility and importance of good reviews but feel reluctant to ask their customers. Some companies are afraid they are being too pushy or annoying their customers by requesting reviews.

While it might be intimidating to ask customers for reviews, most people are glad to share their opinions and experiences with a business. Encouraging customer feedback can show that you care about offering the quality service or product you claim. 

Nevertheless, when asking for customer feedback, make sure the transaction is fully complete, and you have taken care of all outstanding issues before sending a request to your customer. Properly handling review solicitation requests will help your business gain more positive ratings and help the customer rate your business relatively by providing the ability to resolve any problems that may have occurred.

10 Tips for Obtaining More Online Reviews

Now that we’ve discussed the importance of online reviews, what motivates people to leave them, and how to ask for them appropriately, here is our list of the top ten ways you can get more and better reviews.

      1. Give customers a way to review your products easily.

Research shows that customers are more likely to leave remarks about their experience with a business after a negative consumer journey than a positive one.

Remember that the easier it is for people to leave reviews, the more you will get. Don’t make readers navigate multiple pages or cumbersome login pages to leave a review. The lower the barrier and the shorter it takes to leave a review, the more likely they will do so. As a business manager, consider how you can make it easy for customers to leave reviews for your company. You will get more reviews, especially positive ones.

You should provide your customers with links to all your social media sites and make sure that your website is mobile-friendly. State which features or aspects of your service you want customers to share on their opinions. 

When sending a request for a review, ask specific questions such as the following:

• How have you used our product/service?
• What was your favorite part of our product/ service?
• What advantage do you have from using our product/services?
• Would you send your friends or relatives our way?

      2. Create retargeting campaigns.

To supplement your direct contact with customers and encourage them to leave product reviews, you can leverage the power of online advertising by using retargeting to get customers’ attention.

Retargeting can be a successful tool for digital advertising by allowing advertisers to reach existing customers on Google or socials. By getting your customers on the websites they visit most, you can engage in a way that persuades them to easily click through, leaving reviews for your business, as they’re already familiar with your brand.

Retargeting requires a fund for advertising. However, it is worth remembering that retargeting is one of the most cost-effective means of advertising and can be very effective.

      3. Put to use customer satisfaction.

Shoppers who are pleased with their experience will often share it with others. A survey found that 87% of customers will tell friends or family about a good shopping experience.

Encourage your customers and clients to leave online reviews for other people to see. When your customer is happy, it is an excellent time to ask them for a review. By positively connecting with a satisfied customer, we can ask for their review on social media and offer them an easy option to share that review.

      4. Motivate and reward for reviews.

To encourage customers to leave a review, offer them a discount code on their next purchase in exchange for feedback. Customers are often reluctant to leave reviews because they appreciate your business but do not want to spend more time doing so. Letting your customers know you’re listening and valuing their time by offering them a reward is a great way to show them they can trust you.

It’s possible to offer rewards in exchange for reviews without spending a lot of money, and offering a small discount code or donating a small amount of money to charity for every review yields better results than providing gift cards or cash.

       5. In-app review prompts.

Today, many businesses are using apps to reach and serve their customers. Apps can do this through prompts in the app, asking users for a review.

Bolt and Uber, for example, solicit reviews from their customers by sending in-app messages asking their customers to review their experiences after a transaction has been completed. It is an opportune time to get your customers to leave a review because the experience remains fresh in their minds.

       6. Ask for reviews in emails.

The best approach to inbound marketing is to ask customers to review your products and services to attract new clients. After a purchase is made, send out an email asking for feedback. It will help you boost sales or make the necessary adjustments if you notice a negative response pattern. You can expect feedback from these sites to be personal and honest because others perceive you as a one-to-one connection.

If you want to avoid asking directly for a review and having to sift through the potential noise of an unsolicited review, consider an online survey instead. Setting up a poll is easy, and the data can be analyzed effectively. You get to control what information is collected, allowing you to expand your understanding of your customers.

After completing a sales transaction, it is wise to send an automated email thanking the customer for business and following up with an invitation to leave a review. Many companies take this approach, asking for reviews from customers right when the experience is still fresh in their minds. However, you could also reach out to many previous customers via email and ask them to review their experience with your business.

By including recently acquired clients in your email campaigns, you’ll likely get a higher response rate by staying top-of-mind with people who did business with your company just a few months or weeks ago.

You can improve your chances of getting reviews by sending simple emails that don’t distract the reader or demand an immediate response. As discussed earlier, you want to make it easy for customers to leave reviews.

       7. Ask for reviews on social media.

Companies and brands now have social media presence in engaged followers on their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok accounts.

Suppose you have cultivated a strong presence on social media and maintain an engaged following. In that case, you can use your social media channels to encourage customers to leave reviews - because the consumers who follow your brand on social media are likely to be satisfied customers.

       8. Ask for reviews on review platforms.

Online user reviews are powerful tools for businesses and consumers because they allow direct feedback from the general public. However, there is concern about the existence of fake reviews - where unscrupulous business owners hire people to pose as genuine customers and write positive reviews - in addition to the risk of libel lawsuits.

People are less inclined to leave a review if they have to take the time to do so. Third-party review sites like ReadSomeReviews and social media are great opportunities to gain more exposure for your business and your products or services.

A healthy dose of skepticism toward customer reviews can be mitigated by using a third-party review service, verifying that the reviewer has purchased with your business.

Third-party review services help you build your business’s credibility by assuring your customers that their opinions are genuine. Third-party review services will automatically reach out to each customer following a transaction to encourage the customer to leave a verified review. It can be helpful because the service takes care of reaching out for reviews for you!

       9. Respond to all customer reviews.

Customer reviews are a good sign that customers care about their experience with your company. Whether the review is positive or negative, they want to know that someone at your company cares enough to read it. 

You can communicate the importance of customer reviews by leaving a response to every review you receive. If a positive review, thank a customer for their feedback and business. If a review is negative, show regret and request additional information from the customer that will help you rectify the situation. It shows to your customers that you take their feedback seriously. Online review statistics show that almost 70% of customers expect official responses from businesses.

When new customers see that previous customers’ reviews are displayed on your business’s website, they are more likely to leave reviews themselves.

       10. Manifest positive customer reviews.

Some of your customers will write reviews of their experience with you on your website. Highlight these reviews on your website to show prospective customers that you’re already helping others have a positive experience.

Marketers can use direct customer quotes in email and social media marketing activities. For example, an email marketing campaign can include a customer quote or two, helping to build your brand while enhancing customer trust. Promoting customer reviews on your social media pages displays your brand to followers and encourage customers to leave their thoughts.

Final Thoughts

There is no “secret sauce” for getting great reviews, but following the steps detailed above will help you obtain more reviews than taking a random approach. To start on the right foot, direct certain team members to focus on reviews and let them devote enough time to achieve the goal. Once your strategy is in place, execute it and work until you have a multi-faceted plan for obtaining reviews from different sources.

Reviews can help your company stand out from its competitors. Because customers rely on reviews when purchasing, businesses should manage and strive to have many customer testimonials. As you can see, reviews can also benefit a business’s marketing and customer acquisition strategies in several ways.

Reviews play a vital role in the evolution of your brand. By incorporating the tips above, you can make your business more credible, ultimately increasing its SEO and positioning yourself to gain a competitive edge.