Guest contributor Carol Duke outlines the importance of good reviews.
The Importance of Reviews
For any kind of business, the customer or the client is king. But do their reviews matter for growing your business? Admittedly, in the real world, word-of-mouth is the slowest form of publicity there is. Brick-and-mortar business owners prefer more straightforward and rigorous marketing techniques that give quicker results, attracting a large number of customers in a short time (ads, events, hard sales etc.).
Do you think that the same system is true for the virtual world? You can never be more mistaken! Here are 3 important reasons why consumer reviews will not only grow your business, but also help it scale newer heights in no time.
A Single Review Has the Power to Build or Break Trust, or Does it?
Did you know that most of the customers look for the reviews of a product before hitting the ‘Buy’ button at any online retail store?
Their instinct while choosing between a business and its competitor is the same. They will look for client testimonials and comments on your website, browse through independent reviews over forums, or check your social media pages and discussions. A few of them will even go so far as to scour every nook and cranny of the internet, keeping their eyes wide open for that one negative review.
A few of the customers may balk at the prospect of that one bad review from, say, around 10 good ones. However, most others will simply take that as a confirmation of your reliability. How you may ask?
The thing is, regular online customers have become more aware of the way the virtual review system works. If all of the reviews are blindingly good ones, then they are generally written by fake accounts. Let’s face it, no business is perfect. There has got to be some room for improvement somewhere. But then again, if most of the reviews are in the negative, then don’t expect the wary majority to flock to your business either.
Now that we have established the fickle yet fairly predictable nature of reviews, let us proceed to the next reason.
Brand Awareness Benefits
Once your brand identity gets etched into the minds of the casual internet surfers, it won’t take them long to turn into potential customers. David Anderson, an author at IHateWritingEssays.com claims that proper brand exposure can give a solid boost to any marketing campaign. You only need to create an attractive logo and a memorable brand name, and let your consumer reviews take care of the rest. Here’s how.
Imagine that a customer who is part of a relevant forum likes your product. He/she is bound to recommend your service to others. Thus, your name or logo will be shared over the platform. And on the internet, it doesn’t take long for a simple post to go viral if shared enough, leading ample traffic to your business page.
If that same customer doesn’t like your product, then he/she will at least remember your brand name or logo and share it over the platform in a negative light. Admittedly, it is bad publicity, but on the web, NO publicity is far worse than BAD publicity. Don’t believe me? Read on.
Source: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/importance-online-branding
Influences Search Engine Trends
You might have heard about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or the hashtag trends. Most of world population actively using the internet tend to click the first few results of The Big Three (Google, Bing and Yahoo) for any keyword typed in.
Did you know that the ranking of these results is partly dependent on the trending news? And those people regularly indulging in social media always check the trends section before replying to any messages or posts.
Source: https://optinmonster.com/social-media-and-seo/
What I mean to say is that as long as you’re trending, potential customers will keep visiting your business. And what makes something trend over the internet? The people (consumers), of course! Keep providing excellent service, occasionally feed them some juicy gossip that benefits your business, and there will definitely come a time when your website will have more traffic than you may have ever imagined.
Final Words
It is easy to grow your business over the internet provided you know the right way, which now you do! In fact, it is more difficult to lose here. Even if, for reasons aplenty, your business is getting bad reviews more often than not, then don’t lose hope. Be it in a negative light, at least your business will be trending, the company logo and name snugly sitting in people’s memories.
You will still have a chance to salvage its reputation, to turn its image into a lasting memory of all that’s good and efficient. Keep replying to constructive criticism, and implement viable customer suggestions whenever you can. Remember, when it comes to affecting customer reviews online, the ball is always in your court.
Author’s bio: Carol is very keen on teaching new, effective ways of learning. When not freelancing and blogging on marketing and education-related matters, Carol enjoys traveling. She takes immense pleasure of visiting new countries
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