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One of the most effective customer acquisition and retention methods available today is asking consumers for reviews. 4 out of 5 Americans read reviews before making a purchasing choice, according to Online Reviews Statistics.
61% check reviews to ensure that the product or service works, 53% read reviews to ensure they aren't being taken advantage of, and 79% do so to ensure the product or service is good.
Reviews are how 83% of consumers find new items each month. Moreover, before placing sufficient trust in a company, 7% of customers need to read at least 20 evaluations.
One of the key elements affecting a business's local SEO effectiveness is reviews.
They contribute to the development of your internet reputation, greatly increase brand trust, and offer the type of social proof required to affect consumer behavior.
What possible impact might customer reviews possibly make and why are they so important?
Consider it from the perspective of the customer. If you were going to a website with the aim of making a purchase, the first thing you would search for would be customer reviews.
You understand that you as a buyer are more inclined to trust other purchasers than the seller?
A steady stream of 5-star evaluations from clients promotes your company and generates strong social evidence for boosting consumer confidence and boosting sales.
Consumer shopping decisions research shows that businesses asking for reviews receive an average rating of 4.34 stars out of 5, which is higher than the average rating of reviews that are not requested (3.89 stars out of 5).
The percentage of 5-star reviews that are produced by brands who know how to solicit them also tends to be higher and more consistent over time. On the other hand, unprompted reviews account for a greater percentage of 1-star ratings; with time, the overall rating tends to decline.
Immediate outreach Asking for feedback proactively improves customer relationships and links your company to the voices that matter most.
Enhanced search presence According to Google and industry analysts, organic and local Search rankings are influenced by a business's review signals, such as review count, ratings, and review text. More reviews can therefore help you rank higher in search results, facilitating the discovery of your business by potential customers.
Additionally, studies demonstrate that an increase of 1 to 8 reviews can result in considerable gains in conversion rates. You can anticipate an increase in natural search traffic if the volume of reviews increases by 8 to 100 reviews.
Customer reviews can be used as data assets for your marketing campaigns, just like tweets and Facebook postings. However, reviews last a lot longer.
The average life duration of a tweet is 18 minutes. Within the first five hours, a Facebook post receives 75% of its engagement. How long are reviews valid? 3 months or so have passed. Only evaluations older than three months, according to 69% of users, are no longer meaningful.
Promoters of your brand might be sparked into action by knowing when and how to request reviews. You can turn your happiest, most satisfied clients into vocal promoters and word-of-mouth generators who'll spread the word about your firm on business review sites on the top business directory list by encouraging them to submit reviews.
The hours of 2-3 PM and 6-7 PM are the two ideal periods to request reviews. It seems sense that around these times, customers are most likely to rate a business on Google. Consumers are specifically reviewing their experiences during these times because they frequently visit businesses during their lunch break or after work.
When not to request feedback It's interesting that, at least in comparison to the amount of review-writing activity that takes place after lunch, review creation is somewhat slow in the morning, from the time individuals get up (say, 6 AM to 7 AM) until lunch time (somewhere between 12 AM and 1 PM).
These results should aid in your planning. It's best to test, measure, and tweak everything. However, you'll put your review request campaigns in a great position to produce the most reviews if you keep to sending out your request for reviews in the afternoon or time them to occur immediately following a transaction.
What is the most effective technique to contact your consumers and request a review? To assist you get the greatest outcomes and the highest response rates, we've provided the keys to success as well as best practices and approaches.
One of the finest methods for obtaining new reviews is to send out email campaigns asking for them.
Typically, the efforts take the form of client surveys. Sometimes the email is considerably shorter and more direct and includes a link to a page where the receiver can submit a review.
Email should be at the top of your choice of channels if you're just starting to ask for reviews. Up to 70% of reviews, according to studies on customer reviews, come from emails asking for reviews after transactions.
By requesting evaluations via email, you can also link them to actual transactions (through which you were able to obtain customers' email addresses), giving your reviews a priceless air of credibility.
Additionally, you may assess client loyalty and satisfaction levels as well as separate out customers who are likely to suggest your business from those who aren't by sending email requests for feedback.
What else do you hope to accomplish besides getting new reviews? Are you attempting to gauge fidelity? Or do you want to know how your customer service efforts are going? You can only ask the correct survey questions and gather the right data if you know your goals from the beginning.
Read our post on the top customer feedback question examples you can use in these types of surveys for a more detailed guide.
Put careful thought into your review request emails and write them in a way that individually acknowledges each recipient. If the email comes off as impersonal and chilly right away, no matter how beautiful the design, you won't get high open and response rates.
Don't ask pointless inquiries or use words or phrases that are unlikely to be understood by your consumers. Make it obvious that you want them to evaluate your company on a certain website and provide them step-by-step directions on how to accomplish it.
Some businesses wait until the very end to request a review rating or star rating. It's not perfect, though. Why? If you ask for a rating after a 5 to 10 minute round of less significant questions, you run the risk of invalidating the customer's response because it's a crucial inquiry or request that virtually necessitates a gut reaction.
Provide a neutral or intermediate category if your review request efforts are employing a rating scale. It provides responders with a sort of "exit" if they are unsure of how to react or if they happen to have conflicting emotions. The fact that middle options produce better, more accurate data is much more significant (and is supported by research investigations).
Stick to "Yes" or "No" questions or offer multiple-choice answers if you're not utilizing scales. Even if your queries call for slightly more detailed solutions, offer pre-selected options that are simple to comprehend and choose from.
After asking clients for evaluations, if you get any unfavorable comments, respond right away to let them know you are taking the issues they raised into consideration. Make sure to respond quickly, whether you're calling or emailing; otherwise, you run the danger of giving a dissatisfied consumer time to stew and possibly decide not to come back.
You cannot start a review request campaign, ask for reviews, and then leave it running unattended for several months. To get the best response rates and gather the most insightful feedback, test, measure, and modify. As previously noted, the customer-driven market of today is dynamic, and interactions and experiences with your business will unavoidably change over time.
Having trouble deciding what to say in your review request messages? Here are some message and subject line suggestions that should serve as inspiration.
Templates and examples for subject lines:
Message templates and examples:
“Hi (First Name of Customer), Thank you for visiting (Business Name)! It was our pleasure helping (service you provide). Reviews assist spread awareness of our company and help us establish an internet presence. Would you be prepared to spend a short while writing a review for us? To give us a review, click this link (direct URL to your review website profile). Thank you in advance for taking time to share your experience. We appreciate your business!”
"Good day, (Customer's First Name)! I hope you enjoyed your most recent visit to (Business Name). We would appreciate it if you could spend a few minutes reviewing one of the products or services mentioned in this email. Your comments enable us to enhance our capacity to deliver the best service possible to you. Click one of the links below to be sent to the appropriate website for writing your review, then use that page to write your review. Again, I want to thank you for your help. (direct URLs to the profiles on your review websites)”
Did you know that mobile devices account for 56% of all internet reviews?
The reason isn't that mysterious. Consumers may now interact with brands and leave evaluations directly from their phone or tablet thanks to voice dictation typing and tweet-sized reviews.
Customers are more likely to click a link in an SMS survey or review request than they are in an email. Text messages are opened at a rate of 98% compared to email, which typically has an open rate of 40 to 50%. Additional studies show that 90% of SMS messages are viewed within three minutes.
Thought must be given to how you word your review request for SMS, possibly even more so given the character restrictions of this medium. To assist you get high response rates, below are a few sample SMS templates for reviews or comments.
How should I phrase a text message review request? Here are some SMS templates for actionable feedback to use in your SMS text survey and review request campaigns.
"We appreciate you as a customer." This simple template is excellent for getting you started. Your customer doesn't have to divulge much information or exert much effort in order to leave a review. Hello (First Name of Customer), I'm grateful that you stopped by (Business Name) today! Please click on this link (review website profile link) and respond to one question about your experience today so that we can best serve you and others. Thanks!”
“Would you give us a review on (Review Site)? This template aids you in improving the number of reviews you receive on a certain online review site where you may not be doing well. “ Hello (Customer First Name), we appreciate your business. Do you have one minute to share your thoughts about your experience with us on (review site)? Just click here (review website profile link).Thanks for your help!”
These days, sending someone a handwritten note is the best method to leave a lasting impression. And when it comes to your consumers, you can be sure that showing them that you took the time and trouble to write them a note in the first place will make them feel appreciated.
Sending a message or postcard with a QR code that might direct recipients to the reviews page is a really clever way to solicit reviews.
Requesting feedback from customers might not even be noticed. After all, even a straightforward review consumes people's valuable time.
Having said that, you can always offer rewards in return for online reviews. When requesting a review, for instance, you may provide a longer subscription term or a coupon code. Keep in mind that you must legally disclose that you provided an inducement in exchange for the evaluation.
Be sure to emphasize that you appreciate any genuine customer feedback and that their comments will have no bearing on the reward.
If you get repeat business, you can assume that your clients are pleased with your goods and/or services. As a result, asking them to post a review would be totally acceptable.
Similar to this, if a happy customer calls or emails you to praise your products, don't pass up the opportunity to thank them and request a review at that time.
Social media mentions offer fantastic opportunities for marketing, but they're also a great way to increase the number of online reviews.
When asking clients for reviews who have already mentioned your brand on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc., you have a significant possibility of receiving favorable responses.
Don't be afraid to follow up with clients who have previously shared your content, either. They are likely more than glad to post good evaluations if they are pleased with your content and/or product.
You'll need to use a variety of techniques in order to establish your authority in the field and expand your firm. Getting client reviews online is one such tactic that has been shown to be extremely effective.
However, in order to consistently receive customer feedback, it's crucial to build relationships with both current and potential clients.
After all, if you're already giving clients great experiences, they won't hesitate to recommend you. You only need to ask. This is frequently the finest strategy for obtaining more evaluations.
