Review Management 101 Step 6 – Marketing Positive Reviews

Review Management: The Art of Increasing and Maximizing Your Positive Online Reviews

It’s no doubt that positive customer reviews are a great way to boost your businesses’ credibility, visibility and overall brand status in your industry. If someone Googles your business and sees a multitude of positive reviews left by satisfied customers just like them, they’re more inclined to patron it. According to a 2014 study conducted by Brightlocal, 88% of customers read reviews to determine the quality of a local business and 72% of consumers say that positive reviews make them trust a local business more. As you can see, online reputation and review management are king in the world of digital branding. If marketed correctly, positive reviews can really put your business on the map, boost your SEO ratings and help target potential customers online.

So, how can you market your positive reviews and use them to your advantage? Here’s 6 great ways to start.

1. Display your reviews on your website with a widget or embedding.
Your positive reviews are something to be proud of, so they should be prominently displayed upfront and boldly on your website. Customers are likely to trust reviews more that have a name and perhaps a photo attached and that are spelled correctly and grammatically articulate. You can display reviews using a site widget or embed them with code. Do it on your homepage so it’s the first thing a new customer sees.

If you have a lot of reviews, you can even dedicate an entire page just to your customer testimonials. Reviews on your website will lend credibility to your site as a whole, but also answer your customer’s questions about your products and your brand.

2. Create social posts out of positive reviews and post them regularly.
Whether your business is on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter or a combination of a few, these social media platforms are where repeat customers and potentially new buyers engage. On your social media platforms, satisfied customers may leave reviews on specific products or services directly. Aggregate your best ones and turn these into social posts to share on your platform.

For an added boost, you can even turn your reviews into an engaging video. Recent data shows that digital videos and video testimonials are a great way to garner engagement on social media. Luckily, with widespread advancements in video technology, there are great online tools to edit and design your own customer review video yourself.

3. Share reviews in promotional emails
If you already have an email database of customers who have bought from you before, include positive reviews in your promotional emails. Because the average person receives almost 100 emails per day, it’s important to make yours stand out. A rave review from a verified customer may entice them to click on the email itself and check out your new promo or discount.

4. Respond to all reviews as quickly as possible
As we’ve discussed in previous steps in our Review Management 101 series, responding to all online reviews, whether positive or negative, is crucial for your online reputation management. This shows you care about your customers, their patronage, and what they have to say. Responding to reviews quickly also helps you get ahead of any bad customer experience before it escalates, showing an unhappy customer you are willing to go the extra mile to rectify their complaint. And, responding to your positive reviews will also lend to your reputation as a brand that is truly grateful to their customers.

5. Make it easy for customers to review
No one likes to fill out long and confusing forms, especially a happy customer looking to leave a positive review. In turn, their positive experience may become a negative one if too much information is asked of them or they feel they need to jump through hoops. Make the review process as easy and quick as possible so that you receive more reviews and attract new ratings. You can also attach a quick “how did we do?” survey to your website after a customer completes a purchase or uses your customer service line.

One great way to receive more genuine reviews and make the review process seamless and easy is to automate it. Review Monkey, a browser based app, helps businesses and professionals increase their REAL positive online reviews by “closing the customer feedback loop” after the sale has been made. Review Monkey creates a review funnel for your business after you sell a product or complete a service, automatically asking the customer to leave a review and gently following up via text or email if they need reminding. If the customer had an issue with their experience, Review Monkey asks the customer to explain what went wrong before leaving an online review, allowing you to fix the problem. Review Monkey software also tracks who has already left a review and who has opted out of receiving messages, allowing you to reach new audiences.

6. Good old word-of-mouth marketing
Sometimes, the best way to promote and market your positive reviews is to talk about them with others! Tell satisfied customers to tell their friends about their happy experience or even put flyers up around town. If a customer comes in with a request or problem to one you’ve previously experienced with another customer, relay the story with credibility and authenticity, describing what you did for them and how it could help in this scenario.

A core principle of online reputation management (link to home page) is that customers won’t always believe your business, products or services are the best in the world if they hear it from you. But, they may be more persuaded if they hear it from someone else. If you’re looking to boost your online reputation management strategy, starting with review management is a great way to support your growing brand. Automating this process will help make getting reviews seamless and easy, allowing you to focus on day-to-day operations and building the best business possible.

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