by Georgie Gallagher
Everyday your customers or clients have an interaction with you.
Once they have purchased from you, or completed using your services, their experience is fresh in their minds. This is such a valuable time to get feedback and learn how to do things better for them.
Putting some simple, cost effective feedback mechanisms in place can really help you get closer to your customers, provide them with excellent service and help your business. And no, these tools aren’t just for large multinationals. They can be very cost effective – and are invaluable in making every business better.
Here’s one way to gain this valuable feedback – I’ll cover another tool next month.
User reviews and social proof - why do it?
As you know we ‘google’ everything these days. It’s just the way of the world. And what the majority of us do, either intentionally or subliminally, is rate our searches on the feedback listed.
Think about it, do you read the customer reviews? I certainly do when I’m just about to invest in something. User reviews influence purchase behaviour. People do trust these reviews as independent information and act on it. But let’s not take my word for it.
According to Sensis, blogs and reviews continue to influence buying decisions, with over half of social media users (55%) reading reviews before making a purchase. (And for those of you thinking that your clients don't look at social media, they do, as social media reviews come up in Google's search results.)
Sensis also found that most people who read reviews look at up to 5 before making a decision. However, there remains only just over a quarter of online users who post blogs or reviews (27%) and their shared experiences can influence potential buyer’s decisions. (Sensis surveyed 800 Australian consumers and 1,100 Australian businesses in May 2015.)
UK studies have shown that user reviews increase conversions by up to 18%. I can’t find the equivalent stats for Australia but these are pretty compelling figures and ones that can’t be ignored.
An added benefit, improve your website performance
Another compelling reason for getting client reviews is that it is excellent for your SEO.
Social media reviews link to your website providing backlinks. Testimonials change your website content and more often that not, contain targeted keywords that may improve your SEO performance.
How can you add reviews into your process?
Old-fashioned personal requests are good however it’s not always easy to get people to act.
Here’s a nice card that was given to me from CLazyU Ranch (amazing place by the way - here's the link). It asks you to visit Trip Advisor and leave a review as this ranch realises that we all like to do a bit of online homework before deciding on a place to stay. Nice touch, but not everyone is going to take action for you.
So to make this system really slick – and to get more reviews – you need to make reviews easy by automating the process.
There are various online tools to help and Wildmoon can also offer an excellent, cost effective review tool that allows for immediate client reviews both for your website and on social media sites of your choice.
This tool allows you to capture a negative referral immediately – and act on it straight way. If however your clients or customers are happy, they get to review you on the social media platform of your choice.
It's brilliant if you'd like make reviews or feedback really work for you.
Are there any Australian laws about customer reviews?
Yes there are. In a nutshell, you can only ask for reviews and testimonials from people who have genuinely reviewed your products and services otherwise you don’t comply with ACCC laws. So don’t ask your Mum!
“Businesses and review platforms that do not remove reviews that they know to be fake risk breaching the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.
Reviews may mislead consumers if they are presented as impartial, but were written by:
- the reviewed business
- a competitor
- someone paid to write the review who has not used the product
- someone who has used the product but written an inflated review to receive a financial or non-financial benefit.”
Check all the details at the ACCC website here
To find out how to introduce ratings and reviews in your marketing arsenal, get in touch. We’re more than happy to help.
Happy Marketing.
Georgie
Georgie Gallagher is the founder of Wildmoon, a specialist marketing agency for manufacturing and B2B businesses based in Perth and Western Australia. Wildmoon helps with brand development, marketing strategy, marketing communications and strategic digital marketing.