How many times have you heard that old saying, “word of mouth is the best form of advertising”? Companies across all industries have always relied on consumers’ opinions to help spread the good word about their products and services, and the consumers depend on others’ reviews of the companies to make purchasing decisions. It’s a symbiotic relationship that does more for a company’s reputation, good or bad, than even the cleverest advertising campaign ever could. But in this brave new world of digital marketing, are consumer reviews even relevant anymore?
Absolutely! In fact, thanks to websites like Yelp and Google+, reviews are easier to access, write and post than ever before. Consumer review sites put the good, the bad and the ugly about a company at the customer’s fingertips instantly, so they can access them and use them to make a purchasing decision. Now more than ever, reviews matter big time to your company’s reputation and marketing strategy.
So How Do I Make Sure I Get Good Reviews?
Excellent question- after all, it’s all well and good to collect reviews for your company, but it would be kind of helpful if those reviews were positive. The first, and most obvious, way to get good feedback posted about your business on a consumer review website is to sell a quality product or service. Anyone can talk a good game through an excellent marketing campaign, but you need to back it up with outstanding customer service, good product quality, and overall good business management.
Of course, your company already does all that, so now you can focus on Step Two, which is getting your happiest, most satisfied customers to write nice things about your company on a review site. Of course it is unethical (and in some cases illegal) to pay people to write positive reviews for your product or service, but there are other ways of sweetening the pot for your consumer base that are perfectly legit. For instance, many businesses offer a free or discounted service or product for consumers who put in a good word for the company. In any case, it’s in your best interest to collect rave reviews for your company so that prospective customers can take one look at a review site and see that when it comes to your products and services, it’s all good.
What If I Get a Bad Review?
Everybody’s bound to get a little negative feedback from time to time, and some of this constructive criticism can actually help strengthen your business practices and make your company even better! However, if you find yourself getting poor reviews from that type of customer who is simply never satisfied, the best way to combat it is to make sure the good reviews outweigh the bad ones. You can do this by employing the strategies we talked about above, and you can also make your good company great by making a few minor tweaks to your return policy, sprucing up your sales floor, and making sure your employees treat your clients like total rockstars- basically taking steps to combat whatever negative feedback you’ve received. As long as there are more good reviews than bad ones, your business should thrive on recommendations from satisfied customers.
Contact a Local SEO Expert For Help With Reviews Today
Want to strengthen your consumer review game but have no idea how to get started? Grab a digital marketing specialist at Echero to help you get your word-of-mouth campaign off the ground. Everyone’s a critic- put our Local SEO experts to work for your business by generating positive online reviews! Contact Echero today.
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