By now everybody in the e-commerce industry and in the app development scene knows that having product reviews on their landing pages can boost conversions and sales. Unfortunately, not all of them know the best practices when dealing with on-site reviews. The ones who follow them are ahead of their competitors in achieving SEO benefits, increased sales conversions, increased average basket values, increased customer loyalty, and fewer product returns.
Since more than 70% of consumers look for and read reviews before they decide about an online shopping purchase, if you don’t have reviews for your product, service, or application, visitors will leave for a site that has them.
How to get product reviews? – Best practices
When asked nicely, 1 out of 10 people will respond to an email review request about giving feedback on a product they just bought. There are occasions when you should send a customized and personal-looking email shortly after the purchase, with a survey as short and effective as possible. But sometimes you should wait: You want to get responses, but if they receive the survey before they can use the product, they will delete your invitation to review their new items.
Another best practice is getting your customers interested in giving you reviews. You can achieve it by incentives, discounts, or even with gamification. This way they will be more than happy to post their feedback about their recent purchases.
The more detailed a product review is, the more helpful it will be for your customers. Encourage your former consumers to write long, segmented reviews by indicating a minimum word count.
How to deal with negative product reviews? – Best practices
Never hide a negative review, since a negative review actually makes you and your product credible and authentic. The only time you should delete a review is if it has hate speech, racism, or profanity. Whenever you get a negative review, reply to it publicly after analyzing it. Customers who receive an understanding and empathic response about their problem and have it resolved are more likely to return to you.
The best practice in dealing with negative reviews is to turn it into positive publicity. All of us can recall at least one of these PR stunts. Next time you run into a negative review on your site, take your time to think over how you can turn it into something constructive.
If you have lots of negative reviews on a given product, consider taking it off your virtual shelves until you solve the problem indicated in the feedbacks. Thus, you don’t have to deal with losing a high number of customers because of one product with a bad reputation. As you see, reviews can even help you to improve your products.
How to optimize your product reviews? – Best practices
- Have a good, proactive product review strategy worked out for your company.
- Consider having an expert who can make it for you, and who can also help you with customer service.
- Test your follow-up emails and the surveys.
