Customer feedback is an inevitable part of owning a business today. It can come in the form of first or third-party reviews and, whilst they can be difficult to manage, they can also provide you with myriad opportunities to help grow your business.
Here we will look at some of the ways you can do that. From using reviews to converse directly with your customer base to strategically placing them in your social media feed, we’ll explore how customer feedback can be less of a hindrance and more of a boon to your brand.
Research shows that 65% of consumers no longer trust advertisements, let alone sponsored ads on social media, so it’s imperative to leverage user-generated content (UGC) in the form of customer reviews.
One of the most popular ways to grow your business is through the use of social media growth tools. As an alternative, here are some ways to use reviews to enhance your business and online presence without needing to use an Instagram growth service or other social media-based growth tools.
5 Ways To Use Customer Reviews To Grow Your Business
1. Make a Feature of Reviews To Generate More Sales via Social Proof
Image sourced from hubspot.com
One of the great things about customer reviews is that they’re organically created by the people who are buying your products or services. When someone leaves a positive review they’re showing other potential customers how good your business is. This has the effect of automatically building trust and credibility for you by way of social proof.
This is far more convincing and effective than any paid-for advertising or marketing campaign you might already have out there. So to take advantage of it make sure you prominently feature these reviews on your website, social media, or email newsletters.
If other people see evidence of how much someone else has loved your product then it will dramatically increase the chances that they will purchase, too. They don’t call it FOMO for nothing! There are various techniques that can be used to improve online reviews from customers such as reaching out to happy customers and asking them for a review, or obtaining NPS scores at a specific point in the customer journey.
2. Utilize Review To Improve Your Marketing Materials
If you send out a regular email newsletter, write a blog or post on social media, don’t forget to include positive reviews. By including real feedback that has come straight from your happy customers, any marketing you already have in place will receive a serious boost and increase things like social media lead generation.
By using an email finder tool you can easily access any feedback that has previously come in through email so that you can reference it in your content..
Keep in mind that you might want to check first with any customers that it’s ok for you to share their comments (for example, on Facebook or Mastodon), and then let their feedback do the work for you.
Most people these days don’t buy anything without first actively looking for reviews online, be they first or third party, so make it easier by bringing the reviews directly to them.
3. Boost Your CTAs With Customer Reviews
If you sell online and have something like a shopping cart in place, then consider strategically placing positive customer reviews on that page or your main landing page. It reinforces social proof and will further encourage anyone who might be having second thoughts or getting distracted when close to buying.
Don’t forget that when customers purchase something from you online, they’re usually doing so alone and without the aid of your sales assistance. So by adding positive feedback on the call-to-action parts of your website, you increase the chance of them buying and feeling confident about doing so. This can lead to higher customer satisfaction and conversion rates.
4. Connect Directly With Your Customers via Reviews
Reviews—good or bad—are a great way for you to communicate directly with those who buy your products and services. This wouldn’t have been possible in the past, so make the most of it and use their comments to improve your business.
If they leave a positive review, graciously accept it by acknowledging what they have to say and thanking them for their custom. If they leave a negative review, don’t ignore it. Reply to these people, too. Maybe they have some valuable insights about how you could improve what you’re doing.
Imagine you’ve just written a blog post about the best VoIP phone Canada and someone makes a negative comment. Perhaps they have a perspective you didn’t consider. The point is don’t disregard a negative piece of feedback outright, as there might be something valuable there for you and your future customers.
Whether good or bad, by connecting and conversing with your clientele in a real and authentic way you’ll be increasing trust and brand credibility. Other people will see these interactions and know that you have good intentions and are the real deal. Again, this kind of practice has the potential to be more powerful than any ad or marketing campaign. Customer reviews serve as a valuable channel for direct communication, allowing businesses to embrace feedback, learn from both positive and negative comments, and ultimately build trust and credibility through authentic interactions that surpass the impact of traditional advertising" - adds Harry Johns White from NBAblast.
5. Turn Reviews Into Success Stories To Wow Prospects
If you’ve received a glowing review from one of your happy customers, consider using what they said and turning it into an official testimonial on your website. If they don’t mind you borrowing their words they might be ok with you using a picture of them, too.
Let’s say you provide toll-free numbers in Canada and a particular customer was so thrilled with how your service saved her money that she wrote a couple of paragraphs on a Google review about how great you are. You could contact that person, get permission to use what they said, and paste it into your site, or share it on social media, or link it to your next blog post…you get the idea!
Testimonial pages online can be invaluable to any business to show rather than tell people what you’re doing right and how it’s working. Once set up, you can then share these success stories in your email marketing campaigns or social media accounts. Again, stop trying so hard and let this user-generated content do the work for you!
Take Your Business to the Next Level!
We’ve looked at some useful ways to use customer reviews to grow your business. Whether it’s using them in your existing marketing campaigns or featuring them in a savvy way on your website, customer reviews can help to increase brand awareness and boost sales in a big way.
But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Use these suggestions but also think about how you could generate more reviews and then use them to help take your business to the next level and beyond.
Remember, real-life feedback is organic and one of the best ways of researching your target audience. Anything anyone else says about what you do will carry far more weight with prospective customers than any advertising or marketing you put out there yourself. Have fun with this!
