Harvey Mackay had said “you can't buy a good reputation; you must earn it” and truer words were never spoken. Reputation means everything to a business, and it boils down to what consumers think of you as a brand. For instance, the mayhem when a customer has something bad to say about the product/services you are offering. Sometimes that panic can be a blessing in disguise or constructive anguish. It’s good to know what users are saying about your product, not in an absolute sense but because it gives you structural integrity; it holds the company together; it holds you to be better. This topic will delve into the importance of integrating customer reviews into your business for the betterment of the company’s growth. So, let’s dive in, shall we? Why customer reviews are vital for your business?The introduction of Web 2.0 disrupted the harmony of traditional media and altered the marketing and advertising spectrum to a whole new level. Fast forward to now, it has rewired how people communicate with one another, interconnected with endless sharing of sentiments and ideas forming a digital democracy. Part of this online democratic culture has made opinions valuable and customers’ reviews have been playing an important part in purchasing decisions. Online review is a voluntary user-generated assessment of products or services by consumers who have consumed or used the said product. The review has the power to make or break a brand’s reputation. Internet users continue to share their opinions online as 73% of Millennials and 70% of Boomers care about consumers’ opinions than companies (Bazaarvoice, 2012). With the growing rate of online users, companies are starting to put systems in place to systematically collect reviews and ratings to help improve consumer trust in a product or service. Why star ratings matter?Because businesses with poor ratings are not trusted by customers and 80% of consumers confirmed that they value businesses with more than 4.0 and more stars (Reviewtrackers, no date). That’s why businesses rely on reviews as the consumer’s voice is perceived to be credible and genuine. Marketers are leveraging content sharing as a way to understand consumers better. Let’s further look into why you as a business should incorporate reviews to drive sales and enhance the customer experience. Combining customers’ reviews into brand communications can help to promote trust and authenticity of products or services provided (See fig. 1). Reviews should be kept at the heart of content marketing as people value opinions when it comes to their buying decision. Customer engagement is the emotional connection between the brand and consumers and those emotions strongly influence their buying decisions which eventually brings in organic growth and long-term loyalty and profits (Gallup, no date). When it comes to shopping culture, every purchase made has been influenced by reviews other customers have provided. Fan & Fuel's (2017) survey illustrated that consumers analyse detailed customers’ reviews and experiences especially problems, complaints while looking at products/services and the following data tell us how reviews can have a profound effect on brand’s identity and buying decisions (Fan & Fuel, 2017).
Best Review Sites For Your BusinessThe Internet can provide an array of options; you just need to find the right platform to endorse your products across. Some of the best business review sites are to consider when listing your business. GOOGLE MY BUSINESSGoogle is the top search engine site, 63.6% of consumers have confirmed that they are more likely to evaluate Google online reviews prior to visiting a business than consulting any other website (Reviewtrackers, no date). Google My Business is a great tool to list your business online and it can not only provide easy access to the audience, but customers can review your business and reach you in more ways possible. AMAZONIf you are an e-commerce organisation, Amazon can be a great space for your business. It is one of the best product review websites and 89% of respondents agree that they are more likely to buy products from Amazon than other e-commerce sites (Feedvisor, 2019 ) (See fig. 2). Millions of reviews are generated every year and a detailed review of the product however positive or negative could mean more to your business. With mobile shopping is staggering every year, Amazon is the place to be associated with if you aren’t already. YELP Yelp is a business review site that has collected millions of reviews of a range of businesses. 55% of Yelp users make decisions or take action after they have visited Yelp and it has shown to have direct engagement with local businesses (Yelp, 2013). Social Media is a great space to market your business. It is part of a growing trend mostly with millennials and generation Z to look for information on social media platforms if they are interested in a product (Medium, 2018). FACEBOOK Facebook is one of the most powerful social media platforms with nearly 2.45 billion monthly active users (Aboulhosn, no date). It can also be an influential marketing tool as consumers look for ratings and reviews of products and businesses before taking any action. All enterprises should create their business pages to be more connected with their users locally and globally. YOUTUBE YouTube is a fundamental tool for marketers and a great space for video reviews. This platform has more than 2 billion users log-in each month and people spend more than 2 billion hours of their time watching videos and generate billions of views every day (YouTube, no date). Reviews on YouTube are shown to have impacted on purchase behaviour and on mobile alone videos with review in the title had more than 50,000 years’ worth of watch (ThinkWithGoogle, 2019) and also 50% of electronics shoppers have admitted to having purchased products after discovering on YouTube (see fig.3). CONCLUSION As the internet users are searching for in-depth online reviews of businesses, companies should not choose to look the other way but rather embrace the trend. “It's a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world but also change the way the world changes” (Grosman, 2006). If you found this post useful, you can check out more articles written by our content specialists here. Thank you for reading! References:
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