Integrating Reviews Into Everyday Marketing
admin | Dec 18, 2021
Marketing managers work tirelessly to build up a brand for their business. Success stories, high praise, and positive word-of-mouth advertising are all effective ways of building up that brand of a highly reputable business. Find out how you can use your online reviews to build up trust and authority of your brand in other marketing channels.
Why are Online Reviews Important?
Online reviews go a long way towards creating a positive image, and reputation management is a highly important aspect of digital marketing. Did you know that 87% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses in 2020 – up from 81% in 2019. Or that potential customers can be turned away from your business just because of one negative review? Effectively asking for reviews and staying on top of online reputation can bring in potential customers away from your competition. Reviews can be tough to gain, and positive reviews need to be effectively utilized.
Don’t just stop with asking for and receiving reviews. Throughout this article, we will look at different ways you can leverage reviews throughout the rest of your marketing activities.
Responding to Online Reviews
A necessary step to building and maintaining strong Google and Facebook ratings is to not let reviews be ignored. Celebrate the 5 star reviews you receive! Respond to the user and thank them for taking the time to leave a positive review. Also look at any negative reviews that come in. It is important to acknowledge if somebody didn’t have a great experience with your business. Don’t let that negative review snowball into more.
Adam Dorfman from reputation.com provides statistics that show just how valuable responding to both positive and negative reviews can be.
- 71% of customers that receive positive social customer care are likely to recommend your brand. Let the customer know that their opinion is appreciated.
- 22% of prospects look else ware after reading one negative review. Don’t let one bad review turn into several. That is a sure-fire way to lose potential customers.
Dorfman also lists three rules to live by when responding to reviews. This will help keep your star rating high and can even turn negative reviews into positive ones.
- Respond to 100% of negative reviews, and at least 75% of positive reviews.
- Constructive feedback is everywhere. Thank them for taking the time to engage with you. Take any negative conversations offline.
- Take action! Do something with the feedback you are getting.
How to Use Online Reviews in Other Marketing Efforts
The most powerful way to utilize reviews is to showcase them throughout your public profiles. This includes pages on your website, print material, email marketing, social media, and more. Five-star reviews can be inserted into several pages on your website as testimonials. If a review mentions a specific product that has a dedicated website page, that review should be included in the page. If a review mentions a recent project that was successfully completed by your business, turn that review into a case study for your website. Make a dedicated Facebook post highlighting recent 5-star reviews and customer satisfaction. The possibilities are endless to showcase reviews throughout your public profiles.
For companies that have tons of reviews to utilize and a high Google star rating, brag about those numbers. Be proud of what you’ve accomplished from a reputation management standpoint. How many times have you seen a real estate company say “We’ve been trusted by thousands of homeowners.” That is all coming from positive reviews.
Did you know that Google groups keywords together when enough are mentioned throughout your reviews? If enough customers mention one keyword about your business, Google will automatically group those reviews together in the “People Often Mention” section of your Google My Business review profile. This can help increase SEO rankings, and let customers easily find a section about your business they are looking for.
What Can We Learn From Reviews?
Not only can we showcase these reviews throughout our marketing, but we can also learn a lot about our business. Most importantly, we can learn deep insights into how our customers view our service, our team, and the entire sales process.
Many times, customers express themselves more when giving reviews. They provide details that might not come out through a phone call or casual conversation. This can let marketing managers know just how customers are feeling.
We can also learn about trends in our business. Do reviews mention a particular employee who is knocking it out of the park? Is there a part of your business, like customer service or product knowledge, that is mentioned often? We can learn about what parts of your business are thriving and what parts might need some improvement.
Finally, we can use reviews to help with our marketing message. The language customers use in reviews can be highlighted in print and digital advertising campaigns.
Let’s look at a shed and outdoor structures business for example. Maybe marketing efforts focus on customization and shed specifications in their messaging, but throughout reviews they learn that customers really care more about the installation process. Marketing managers can then adjust branding and messaging to focus on what customers really care about.
YDOP is Here to Help
Are you struggling to effectively utilize your reviews throughout your digital marketing? YDOP is here to help. Contact us today to begin a conversation about how to properly manage your online reviews.