When looking to make an informed purchasing decision, buyers these days will often seek out reviews or testimonials to weigh their options. As a matter of fact, nearly 9 out of 10 consumers worldwide make the effort to read reviews before buying products. Not only does this imply that reviews are an integral part of a purchase process, it also indicates a high level of confidence and faith that buyers have in each other’s opinions. Being able to show potential clients the overwhelmingly good reviews about your product or service will obviously have a positive impact on sales.

Ideally, we would love to have customers organically leave reviews, but that’s not always the case. Companies (especially new ones) must actively seek out reviews to begin the process. Otherwise, customers – even extremely happy ones – may not feel inclined to leave feedback on your site. Since reviews play a part in your brand reputation and business, the next step is finding the right way to ask for them.  Here are some tried and true strategies to get you started:

 

Make it Easy

 

Customers love things when they are quick and easy. Prioritizing the user experience when asking customers to leave a review or testimonial is key when hoping to entice their participation. They will be more likely to leave a review when the process is easy and painless. For example, including a link in an email or as part of a purchase confirmation that takes them directly to a review platform makes it just one quick click away.

 

Target Repeat Customers

 

Customers who continue to purchase your products are obviously satisfied with your company and your service, otherwise they wouldn’t keep coming back for more. Eliciting reviews from these repeat customers is a great place to start and very effective since they are more than likely to be positive in nature.  It can be as easy as sending out an email stating, “We love that you’re a repeat customer! We’d love to hear what keeps you coming back for more!”  This sounds overly simple, but it can be effective.

 

Use The Power of Social Media

 

Posting positive reviews that you receive on your social media channels can actually encourage or remind someone else to do the same, especially if you include a link in the post that goes directly to a review platform.   If your social media has a large following, a simple shout out can sometimes be enough of an incentive to get someone to write a short testimonial.

 

Get Creative

 

There are lots of unique, creative ways to ask for reviews for your business.

• Include a card with your packaging that says something like “Got feedback? We’d love to hear it! You can leave us a review at [link]”.
• Use a chatbot and include a survey within the chat that allows for people to leave comments on how you did.
• Do good in the world! If you ever donate your services or help out for free, you’ve got grounds to ask for a review after the job is done. And given these people are likely to be exceptionally grateful, it’s not a hard ask.

 

Incentives

 

Another way to receive reviews from your loyal customers is to offer them an incentive for completing one. People enjoy being rewarded for their time, so incentives can certainly be very effective.

 

These incentives can be very simple, such as offering a small discount on one of your products or throwing in a tiny token of appreciation to help get the customer excited enough to give their thoughts on your service. You can also have a review to become their raffle ticket to win a prize. For example, “leave us a review for a chance to win a free yoga session!”  You’d be surprised how well something that simple works!

 

When using incentives, however, it’s important to consider promoting transparency by encouraging customers to disclose that they received something in exchange for a review.

 

 

More Options Equals More Feedback

 

Some customers might be most comfortable with Facebook, others with Yelp or Google for leaving reviews. Make sure that you’ve claimed your business page on a variety of different sites and platforms so that no feedback opportunities are missed.  Claiming your pages also allows you to respond back to reviews, which is an essential part of the process.

 

Be Responsive

 

Getting reviews is important, but your responses to them can actually be a testimonial all on it’s own.  Everyone should be thanked for taking time out of their busy lives to review your business, however custom-tailored responses rather than generic “thanks for the feedback” can encourage others to want to leave reviews, too.  And don’t think that negative responses are a lost cause – they are actually a golden opportunity to showcase your rock star customer service skills, which can greatly influence their decision on whether or not to choose you over the competition.  If handled with top-notch customer service, negative reviewers will often come back and update their reviews with glowing feedback about how well a company handled their issue.  People put a lot of value on how they are treated during their shopping and buying experience, so testimonials from customers that explain how you went above and beyond for your customers are more than worth the initial negative review.

 

Regardless of which approach you use, remember that it all starts with one thing – the willingness to ask.  If you want to grow your brand awareness and win over new customers, trust us, it’s worth the effort to ask your customers for reviews!

 

Looking to add customer reviews and testimonials to your online marketing strategy? Feel free to contact us. Offering competitive prices, Social Spice Media can help increase your company’s SEO rankings with top notch service. We want to take your business to the next level, and we’re here to help!