Product reviews are the fastest and most useful way to eliminate customers’ concerns. You might think that a good product description and advertising are all you need, but, what really sets you apart from the competition is the product reviews.
No matter whether you’re an eCommerce professional or just a beginner, product reviews will shape your credibility.
However, eCommerce businesses tend to overlook this aspect which is a crucial mistake.
Here’s why.
Do customers believe in reviews? Generally, they do
As we’ve already discussed in our previous posts, customers like to see a good advertisement, but they don’t necessarily trust them. What they do trust, however, are reviews. Each and every purchase starts with an investigation, and that’s where product reviews get the main role.
An astonishing 95% of customers base their decision on what they read in online reviews.
That means they have complete trust in product reviews, right? Well, generally they do, but that’s not always the case.
It’s expected that every company will praise their products, that’s why the opinion of the actual customers is much more trustworthy. Contrary to popular belief, both good and bad reviews can help you build up your case. Companies that have positive reviews, with a couple of negative ones here and there, are perceived as more credible and transparent. It might be true that customers genuinely love your product, but when a potential customer sees all 5-star reviews, you’ll have to agree with us that it does look a bit fishy. Therefore, a couple of negative reviews will show that you are “real” and that you’re open to discussing any matter that your customer might face.
Why product reviews are useful for your business?
The correct answer is the most obvious one - reviews help you build up a brand reputation.
What might not be so obvious is why customers trust so much in product reviews.
Here are a couple of reasons.
Reviews provide more context
The product page and description are meant to cover the basic questions, but let’s face it - you simply can’t cover every potential question that a customer might have. Hence, reviews can provide that extended information. Usually, customers explain what was their initial problem, and what options have they already tried which can be very valuable information for others.
Bear in mind that there are people who don’t like (or feel embarrassed) to email you or call to ask questions. For them, it’s much easier to scroll through reviews and check if someone has already faced the same issue. In that sense, the reviews will help them understand whether your product will be a good fit for them or not.
Reviews improve the visibility of your products
Your current and potential future customers are a part of the same group. They once shared similar issues and were on a hunt for a perfect solution. That further means that they are also using similar language when doing their investigation.
From the SEO point of view, product reviews are interpreted as additional page content. And since the train of thought of your current and future customers is similar, reviews can improve your SEO score just as using the right keywords would do.
Another plus from the SEO perspective is that new reviews mean fresh content, so Google recognizes that something is happening on your page, and starts crawling it again.
How to get more product reviews?
It’s usually thought that it’s difficult to persuade customers to write a review. Of course, if they are dissatisfied with something, they will announce it very quickly, but if everything is fine, why would they waste time coming to the website and writing a comment.
Still, you may be surprised that a number of customers really like to write reviews. As many as 10% of customers write reviews regularly, and about 51% of them do so from time to time.
But, what about the ones that are not so eager to share their two cents about your product? Is there a way to give them a “little push”?
- Send an email after the purchase
Communication with customers should always be natural, and the same goes when asking for a review. It doesn’t make sense to spam people right after they made a purchase. Instead, send them an email a week or two after. Aim to use a more relaxed tone and first and foremost ask how things are going, and are facing some issues with the installation or usage. After that, you can add a sentence reminding them how beneficial it would be if they shared their impressions.
Maybe you didn’t know, but this helps with increasing the reviews rate by around 18%!
- Create a smooth user experience
With or without a reminder, some customers like to leave product reviews. However, if the process of leaving a review is too complicated or too slow, everyone will give up. So, before asking for a review, make sure that everything on your end is working properly.
Of course, if the customers are leaving a review on a third-party site such as Amazon or eBay, you won’t be able to influence it. Yet, when this action is performed on your website, make sure that it’s straightforward.
- Promote good reviews
Promoting product reviews helps that a review gets seen by a potential, future customer, but it has other benefits as well. First of all, it’s a way of showing gratitude to the customer who has left a review. Moreover, it can also be used as a reminder for other customers who are still considering whether to leave a review or not.
But, note that we didn’t say promote POSITIVE reviews, but promote GOOD reviews. Sometimes, even the negative reviews can be considered good and work to your advantage. As we already mentioned, negative reviews help with transparency, so why not share a review that points out a certain issue, and explains how you’ve dealt with it?
But, how to gather all the reviews?
Great question! Now you know that product reviews are important, but how on earth would you be able to track them all?!
That’s what online review aggregators are for. These online tools are made to scroll for reviews on different websites and social platforms and help you monitor them. Moreover, you’ll be able to post replies which is also an important part of your online reputation strategy. These automated solutions will save you time and resources, since keeping track of all the reviews manually can be a Shizifs task.
Wrapping it up
You’ve certainly heard about that phrase - content is king. That’s true - especially if the content is created by the customers. It’s very important what customers have to say, so let’s take that to your advantage.
Product reviews matter. Make sure not to underestimate them. Hence, try to take a more proactive approach instead of just answering the reviews.
What’s your experience with product reviews so far? Are you having trouble dealing with them?
We’ll be waiting for your comments.