How often do you actually take the time to review a business or service? Maybe if you receive incredible service, you’ll feel inspired to praise the staff. Or if you have a terrible experience, you might want to warn other patrons to steer clear of the place. But according to Oz Reviews, only between 5 and 10% of customers actually leave reviews for products and services they purchase.
When it comes to what influences customers to leave reviews, the biggest factors are their satisfaction levels, how easy the review process is, incentives for leaving a review (such as a discount on their next purchase), when they’re asked to leave the review, and what the current trends are on any given review platform.
It’s in a company’s best interest to encourage customers to leave reviews, though. Fera reports that a whopping 93% of customers say they read reviews before making a purchase, and two-thirds of consumers say that having many online reviews makes a brand look legitimate online.
But it’s important for these reviews to actually be honest. 68% of customers say they won’t trust a company’s reviews if there aren’t any negative ones. And 95% suspect that reviews are being censored or faked completely in that situation. It can be painful to leave negative reviews up as a business owner, but it’s better to learn from them than try to hide them.
Fera also found that business owners shouldn’t treat reviews passively. Companies that reply to reviews at least 25% of the time report having an average of 35% more revenue. And 95% of unhappy customers will actually return to a business if the issues they complained about are resolved quickly and efficiently. Meanwhile, customers spend up to 49% more money at businesses that actively reply to reviews.
Online reviews can really make or break a business. If they’re overwhelmingly positive, they can act as free advertising for a company. However, if they’re extremely negative, they can drive herds of customers away. But the good thing is that they can change over time. So if your company has been hit by a couple of one-star reviews, you might be able to turn things around by asking satisfied customers to share their thoughts online. If you know you provided excellent service or they expressed vocally how happy they were, don’t be too shy to encourage them to share their thoughts online.
#14 Honestly, I Did Plan To Label My Cat So This Review I Found Is Very Helpful
It’s also wise for companies to focus on their reviews across multiple platforms. There’s Yelp, Facebook Reviews, Google Reviews, Trustpilot, REVIEWS.io, and more. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, as that might cause you to miss out on valuable clientele. And if you need to get the ball rolling, you can start posting your own menus, photos, prices, and services on each platform to encourage customers to check it out.
If the internet has taught us anything, it’s that people will inject humor into literally every single situation. I mean, we have memes about serious mental health issues and tragedies taking place around the globe. So it’s no surprise that customers want to be silly when reviewing businesses and products too. And there’s really nothing wrong with it! As long as they’re honest and get their point across, isn’t making readers laugh just an added bonus?
