Online reviews by customers have the power to turn browsers into buyers. A recent survey by Bazaarvoice confirmed the fact that the number one way by which consumers make a decision to buy a product or service, is through online reviews and ratings. In fact, online reviews by happy customers carry more weight with other buyers than most forms of marketing communication.
No longer are online reviews just for commercial sites like Amazon or Yelp. In the present scenario a customer can research a product or service just about anywhere including blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and of course, within search engine result pages.
This makes it necessary for business owners to ensure that good, positive reviews of their company and product/services are to be found easily on the net. So how do you go about getting online reviews for your products? Here are five easy ways to help you get started.
- Encourage customers to talk: Make sure your product or service is worth talking about. Once a customer is pleased with your product, be direct and ask them for a review. If they are satisfied they wouldn’t mind writing a review about it.
- Connect with your customers: Engage customers through various social media like Facebook, Twitter or your company blog. This practice ensures that reviewers are interested in sharing their opinions. It also increases the credibility of the community and makes it easier for you to monitor and analyze the community.
- Put the review form in the email itself: Drop a satisfied customer a casual email asking if they’re happy with your services, what you can do to improve your services, and mention that you would be thrilled if they were willing to write a review for you. Include an easy-to-fill review form for them to fill.
- Have a contest to increase response rate: Contests are a great way for getting reviews. Hold a contest on Facebook, Twitter, or on your website and offer prizes that could include anything from a free month of service or a free product from your company to virtually anything else. People love the concept of winning a prize and will put in the extra time and effort into writing a good review.
- Get your product blogged about: Find a few blogs that have good traffic and rank well and tell them about your product or service. Another option is to pay and order a review of your product or service that will be placed in their blog, thus giving you links and traffic. Also getting reviews from sites and experts specializing in your niche can add to your product or service popularity.
Having good online reviews of your products or services often is the difference between success and failure online. So get started today with working to get positive reviews for your company!
