In the intensely competitive online platforms today, online reviews are probably one of the most exclusive ways to distinguish first-class services from inept and inefficient ones. To garner online reviews, a lot of businesses go as far as employing several crook approaches to generate reviews. The essence of online reviews is clearly to attract prospective and new customers to the service. No doubts good online reviews connote good reputation and would most likely draw tremendous traffic to you.
Online reviews are very powerful tools. Most customers who purchase products online go through online reviews before doing so. In fact, 90% of customers purchasing products online actually read through reviews on such products and would put their faith in those reviews as much as they will do to a personal recommendation. A review conducted on customers’ behavior over online reviews shows that up to 72% of customers have a better perspective about a company based on their online reviews. It is a natural inclination; online reviews confer a kind of likeness and credibility on a product or service.
According to a 2016 Bright Local’s survey, most customers who go through online reviews before purchasing a product or service actually look at the overall star rating. 58% would consider the star rating, 47% consider the sentiment on the reviews, 41% evaluate the regency of the reviews, 35% consider the quantity of the review, 27% analyze the length or the detail of the review while 20% consider whether or not the business has responded to any of their reviews.
When are customers most likely to leave online reviews?
- Customers who are asked to leave a review:
A survey carried out by Bright Local in 2016 indicated that 70% of customers will most likely leave a review for a business when asked to do so. To improve your business’ reputation and image, you must develop a robust marketing strategy. Marketing strategies focus on attracting users to your website and getting them engaged in the services you provide. Furthermore, a good marketing strategy should also emphasize on asking customers to leave a review. There is a high probability that customers asked to leave a review for your service will do so and this can boost your business image.
- Customers who are satisfied with your products and services
Besides asking customers to leave a review for you, most customers satisfied with your products and services will probably want to leave a review. On the other hand, customers who experience poor services will also be quick to leave bad online reviews to express how discontented they are with the service. This is why it is necessary to always pay careful attention to your services in order to deliver the best and therefore have better reviews.
A merger of the aforementioned two factors can produce better results in the number of reviews a business obtain online. In other words, a business can get more reviews by providing top-notch services or selling high-quality products and also asking customers to leave a review on their services or products.