One of the best things that consumers now have access to would be product reviews. Every consumer who has bought a product from a business can now review what they purchased.
That product review doesn’t just benefit prospects, but it also helps businesses customer retention and confidence.
In recent years, looking at product reviews has become part of the consumer purchase journey. A study shows that a consumer typically reads one to three reviews before deciding to purchase.
Given the importance and the benefits that product reviews give, it’s vital to know how your business can leverage this to increase consumer confidence.
If you’re ready to learn how to use these reviews to your advantage and get a competitive edge, then let’s get right to the article.
5 Ways To Leverage Product Reviews
1. Proudly display them on your website
When you can get an excellent product review from your customers, consider that as a huge win. And just like in life, where we display our trophies and plaques, these product reviews can also be displayed.
The most optimal place to share your product reviews is on your website’s homepage. Consumers usually look at the website of the business before buying any product.
If you’ve gathered enough positive reviews from legitimate platforms or sources, consider showcasing them on your website. An example of this would be how Mixam displayed its high-rating Trustpilot reviews on their homepage:
This removes any doubt from prospects on whether they are a legitimate business.
Another part of your website where you can place your reviews is on the product page itself. It is an excellent place to show your reviews because it’s the page where customers have the most doubt.
Customers on a product and checkout page are thinking about whether the product is a good fit for them or is it really worth buying. This is where they have the most questions and doubts in their minds. And for you to address those thoughts, you can do so by showing your reviews on these pages.
An excellent example of this is how Mannequin Mall displays the reviews of a product below the product image and description:
By displaying these reviews on the same page as the product, customers can easily see what people had to say about the item. With everything presented on a single page, customers can make a decision right there.
2. Create a blog post about them
Product reviews can be turned into blog posts. When you have many people reading your blogs, it can be an opportunity for you to show how your product helped your customers.
The blog shows the review and explains how that product was able to help your customer. It can further explain what features it contained, how it was different from other products, and how easy it was to use.
An example of this is how a client of Close used their software to tighten up their sales process. The blog discussed how Close’s features like predictive dialers, CRM solutions, and engaging reports helped them achieve their sales goals.
Creating a blog post for your product reviews allows customers to have a more in-depth understanding of why a product has high praises. It puts things into context and shares the point of view of your customer.
Another strategy you can use that relates to blog posts is to contact websites in the review niche. Medical Alert Buyers Guide, for example, reviews medical alert systems for senior citizens.
Any customer looking for such items can go to their website and check which products are the best.
The sole purpose of these blogs is to give honest opinions about products and services. If you’re confident that your product will exceed expectations, contact the review blogs in your niche.
3. Use mentions and reviews coming from legitimate sources
Whenever a customer has intentions to buy a product, they don’t purchase it immediately. Consumers now are savvy and wary about scams and the legitimacy of a business.
They are keen to do their homework when it comes to buying things online. They look at the website and socials of the business to check the reviews of big companies or people.
Customers want to see if your product has been used or featured because it’s also a way to clear any doubts they have in their minds.
Look at how TimeCamp - a free time tracker software, leveraged its big clients to increase consumer confidence.
Another way to prove that your business is legitimate would be by reposting any content from legitimate sources that featured your product, just like how Fox 8 News featured 3Wishes’ Halloween costume.
Being featured by a verified news publication will remove any doubts from a consumer perspective on whether you’re a legitimate business or not.
4. Embed Video Product Reviews
If there’s a product review format better than written content, it would be video product reviews. With video reviews, you get to hear and see the emotions of the customers. It’s much more transparent and genuine.
Plus, videos are typically much more engaging than written content. It attracts more attention and has a higher conversion rate because people would rather believe a statement with a face behind it than an anonymous review.
Although video reviews are the superior choice, it’s much more challenging to acquire them. This is because for the simple reason that most people are camera shy.
So if you’re fortunate enough to get a video product review, embed it in your website and social media posts. Make good use of this excellent review and make sure that your prospects easily see it.
5. Send an Email Marketing Blast
These product reviews of yours can also be used as email marketing material for your business. Your email content can showcase how your product helped your customers and how it can help them as well.
You can share your customers’ experience, the problems solved by the product, and the future improvements of it (if there are any plans to do so).
Email marketing has never been out of business. In fact, email is still one of the top choices for marketers in terms of distribution channels. The amount of email users are just too big to pass on and ignore.
This then makes email an excellent avenue to let your customers know the excellent reviews you’ve gotten for your products.
5 Benefits of Product Reviews
A. Increase brand value
There are many ways to increase brand value in today’s time. A business can hold a virtual event, a live workshop, or through content marketing. But one way that’s often overlooked is using product reviews to improve and create a better business.
No matter what industry you’re in, it’s essential to care about what your customers think about your products. By carefully looking at product reviews and taking them seriously, you get to improve on what’s working and lagging on your items.
The intention to keep on creating better products makes your business increase its brand value. And a high brand value gives you increased customer acquisition, word of mouth marketing, and, most importantly, a lower price sensitivity.
Customer loyalty - This metric is increased by leveraging product reviews, making customers believe that what you’re providing is valuable to people. The more customers leave an excellent review, the more your old customers turn to loyal ones.
Word of mouth marketing - When people experience something great, they would not be hesitant to share it with other people. If your product gives them the same experience, you’re letting your customers do the marketing for you.
Lower price sensitivity - As you leverage product reviews, you’re also increasing consumer confidence. And as consumer confidence increases, they are willing to pay a higher amount for your products. This is a good sign of growth in brand value. Consumers now believe that your products can actually live up to their expectations.
B. Improve brand exposure
By showcasing product reviews, you’re also indirectly encouraging other customers to do the same. But how does a product review improve brand exposure? A product or a business with high numbers of reviews tends to appear higher on search engines.
These reviews ultimately affect your eCommerce SEO. Search engines like Google use reviews to determine product relevance and popularity. If you’re able to rank on search engines, this will drastically improve your brand exposure, positively affecting consumer confidence.
Being on the first page of Google alone is an entirely game-changing achievement. It can boost your metrics exponentially.
C. Increase demand
Product reviews can be a growth hacking tool if used properly. It can increase demand and start trends for a business.
Trends happen when one person wants what the other one has. Desiring what other people like or have experience is what triggers the start of a trend. And product reviews can start such a situation.
Leveraging your product reviews creates curiosity in other consumers’ minds, affecting the demand for the product.
If ten customers leave a review stating their great experience with your product, people who are even slightly interested will buy. Why? Because they too want to experience what others felt. They simply want to know what the buzz is all about.
D. Improve customer experience
When you open your business to reviews, there will always be a chance to receive mixed emotions from your customers, which means reviews won’t always be positive. There will also be negative reviews, and you should be welcoming them with open arms as well.
These negative reviews shouldn’t scare or anger you. Take it as an opportunity to show your professionalism and care for customers.
Instead of lashing back, take time to read the review objectively. Observe what made the customer react that way and how you can make the situation correct.
This type of scenario happens to every business. Even multinational companies have experienced negative reviews. But what separates the great companies from the rest is how they handle such comments.
The image below is a great example of how to handle a negative review:
Notice how the business owner was still respectful and professional regardless of the harsh comments from the customer.
Sometimes, when you receive a ton of excellent reviews, your business tends to be lax, affecting the quality of your products. These negative reviews can act as a wake-up call to some companies to stay on top of their production.
E. Knowing which product works best
Product reviews give you an idea of which product works best for your customers. If your product is exemplary at what it does, your customers will definitely let you know about their experience.
Product reviews alone give you valuable insights into what your customers love about your business.
Knowing which product is popular and great for your market will let you know which items to market more of and what needs improvement.
How To Get More Product Reviews
Now you’ve seen how you can leverage product reviews and learned the benefits of it; it’s now time to know how you can get more of it from your clients.
I. Make it easy to leave a review
No matter what eCommerce platform you choose, make sure it allows a lot of customization. To gather more reviews, your website should be able to make it easy for your customers to leave a review.
Look at how Gili Sports made it easy for its customers to write a review by just clicking a button. They even made a ask a question button for interested buyers.
Some businesses don’t get many reviews since they bombard their customers with forms and questionnaires. This whole process can be a major turn-off and can cost some reviews. To avoid such a situation, make the process of leaving a review as simple as possible.
Contact your web designer to see how you can make this whole process seamless. Make it a point that creating a review won’t take up too much time and effort.
II. Display reviews on your website
Showcasing your reviews on your website attracts more reviews from others. Not only does it increase social proof and customer confidence, but it also invites others to share their own experience as well.
A strategic way to display reviews would be how Aura did it:
This portion of their website is hitting two birds with one stone. Aura didn’t just display reviews, but it also made people know of their Facebook community. Plus, to make things easier, they’ve also included a “Request to join” button.
III. Post on social media platforms
There’s a good chance that your market spends a lot of time on social media. And if you want to encourage more reviews from your buyers, you can highlight the previous reviews by posting them on your social media.
Screenshot the review and post it with a message of appreciation. Mentioning your customers on your platform is a way of showing love to them. This act sometimes pushes other people to take time off their day to create their reviews as well.
IV. Post-purchase emails
In an ideal world, customers who bought products from your business should leave a review after some time from the purchase date. But unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world, and only 42% of consumers write reviews after buying a product.
Given such low numbers, you need to motivate your customers a little more. A post-purchase email is a great way to encourage your customers to write a review.
When creating your email content, make sure that the message is clear on why you’re asking for a review. Also, keep the process of writing a review as simple as possible.
Remember, writing a review isn’t a required act. When you’re reaching for them through post-purchase emails, you’re asking a favor from them. So it’s your job to make the whole process easy and convenient for them.
V. Incentivize customers to write a review
Incentivizing has always been a proven solution for people to do specific actions. It is used to encourage people to sign up or subscribe to the business. Look at how Key West Aloe uses an incentive program to get people to sign up for their website:
In the world of product reviews, incentives are also used to motivate buyers to leave a review. It’s used in both physical and eCommerce stores.
Incentives can be coupons, discounts, vouchers, or free products. Just create a system that only permits paid customers to avail the incentives. This way, you get quality and genuine reviews from your market.
Conclusion
Product reviews bring a ton of benefits for a business., But among those positive reasons, improving consumer confidence makes these reviews advantageous.
Erasing any doubts and questions from your customers’ minds is one of the best things you can achieve as an eCommerce store. Once you’re able to break down their walls, doing transactions with your business would be a lot easier.
Gaining trust from eCommerce customers is where everything starts when it comes to buying things online. And by leveraging product reviews, you’re one step ahead of establishing it with your customers.
