Online shopping has taken over the world, and people now prefer it over in-store shopping. However, there is always a barrier in online shopping of not checking the product in person. For that, people more often rely on online reviews. They look for someone to "testify" for the product they like.
This practice has made online customer reviews one of the most pertinent factors in increasing or decreasing sales in today's time. Every brand's dream is to maintain its online reputation by controlling the amount of positive and negative customer reviews. Hence, customer reviews have become a big part of marketing strategies too. They are finding creative and innovative ways to market their ecommerce business through customer reviews.
Besides gaining customers' trust, reviews also help companies know what perception their customers have of their products. As a result, it can help them improve and ensure customer satisfaction.
Who is Reading Online Reviews?
The online reviews are read by 91% of people, especially before spending money. In comparison, 84% of them believe in these reviews almost like a personal recommendation. But, of course, you can measure the effect of these testimonials, too.
However, positive reviews carry less weight than negative ones. As per the findings of one study, 82% of people who read online reviews particularly seek out negative reviews.
This stat is quite alarming because it emphasizes that as much as businesses would like the negative reviews to go unnoticed, they aren't. However, this brings some good along with it. The research findings indicate that when users come across negative reviews, they spend five times as long on the websites, increasing the conversion rate by 85%.
Customers love to see loads of positive reviews. However, one positive review vs. numerous reviews won't have the same effect. One positive review saying good things about the brand in a few positive words will surely help your customer form opinions. But when numerous comments say the same thing about the brand in different words, that makes a consensus. So, the more reviews your brand gets from customers, the better impact they will create.
One study suggests that consumers prefer seeing at least 40 reviews before deciding to trust an average star rating. However, if you haven't reached that number yet, you don't need to worry because you're good, even with a few positive reviews.
Reasons Online Reviews Are Important
Online reviews are important for various reasons. Here are a few of them:
1. Raises Sales
One of the big reasons to rate and review your products is that they can drastically help in increasing your sales. When customers get accurate information about the product and confirmation from other buyers, they can make a buying decision more quickly.
Moreover, it increases the likelihood of the customer purchasing a service or product based on ratings and reviews posted by other buyers.
2. Improves Engagement
Ratings and reviews create an active social community where customers can share their experiences and help others to form an opinion about a product or service. The customers don't just post and forget the review.
They also revisit them to see if someone has anything more to add. This creates engagement in the reviews and allows customers to connect with the online business.
3. Increases Rankings
The increasing number of reviews boost your brand's SEO. With the help of reviews, you get a steady source of keyword content. You can get a more prominent online presence with the prevalence of these reviews as it will improve the ranking of your website. The more customers talk about you, the more search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing consider your website important.
4. Develops Customer Trust And Loyalty
Customers become loyal to a brand when they keep reviewing its products. Especially when their reviews are heard, acknowledged, and responded to, they feel like they have a voice. They try to do more for your brand by providing valuable feedbacks that help companies improve their service and products. One recent survey indicates that 72% of customers feel more loyal to a brand because it has positive customer reviews.
5. Contribute To SEO Efforts
Most businesses aim to rank higher in the SERPs, but it's easier said than done. However, you build a web presence that is SEO-friendly using a proper strategy which requires a lot of time and energy. If you've started getting customer reviews, you've become fortunate because they can promote your company's mission without asking you to make extra efforts.
Keywords get incorporated in these reviews as customers mention details like your product's name and the location of your business. They can also add additional information related to your brand and anything that people will be interested in knowing about your brand. This can be beneficial for your brand in two ways.
For instance, a customer runs a search query using a keyword related to your brand. As a result, the customers will see your brand at the top of the search results while also seeing the positive reviews that compel them to buy your product.
6. Aid Customer Decision-Making
Decision-making is a complicated process for customers. When you say good words for your brand, it seems almost meaningless to the customers because it's your company. Of course, you will say good about it. On the other hand, when other customers share their experience to increase sales, their decision-making power is stronger.
This can eventually increase your customers, saving your time and energy in this office. You have better chances of increasing sales by strengthening their decision-making capabilities. They can just read the customer reviews, compare similar products, and submit their prices. Then you can rely on its quality, etc.
These reviews can open doors to new possibilities, helping your customers get a beneficial idea about the products your business sells. In addition, they believe that they are working on figuring out ways to increase your engagement in different sizes and shapes.
7. Facilitate Problem-Solving
While positive reviews can bring you more customers, negative reviews can help you believe in yourself. They allow you to accept the fact that no business is perfect. There are always a couple of improvements that can help the company grow with the help of online reviews.
It would be best to resolve the trouble before getting more negative reviews for the same thing. If a customer is scrolling through your negative feedbacks with similar complaints, they will take it as a fact and most likely turn away from your brand.
Hence, problem-solving is a big aspect that you need to monitor in your online reviews. But, unfortunately, as much as it has the potential to add value to your business, it can also take that value from it.
Make The Most Of The Benefits of Online Reviews
Online reviews have quite a clear value for businesses and marketers. But some of them might still struggle to understand. So here are some detailed benefits of online reviews and how you can leverage them to improve your brand's pain points:
1. Increase Brand Awareness
The most difficult part about starting a business is finding ways to increase the awareness of your brand. When people post reviews, other people know about your brand, and the words spread like wildfire.
2. Detect Keywords
As mentioned before, online reviews play a great role in helping your words and phrases get associated with the company. Moreover, the reviews can tell you what phrases and words people might use for your product. You can then use this information to fine-tune your keywords and use them in your SEO campaigns accordingly.
3. Highlight Positive Reviews
Run a PR or influencer campaign to show off your positive reviews. Instead of creating posts that sweet talk about your own product, you can repost the reviews. Incorporate the reviews in your press releases, marketing content, or promotional advertising by influencers, and let the testimonials do the talking for you. This will greatly add to your brand's reputation.
Conclusion
Ecommerce is the future of businesses, and online reviews can help you thrive in it. It isn't just a fancy but useless marketing term. Instead, it can boost your sales and provide you with many other benefits. For example, they give your new customers a genuine perspective of an outsider, making it more believable.
Whether you get positive reviews or negative ones, both of them can benefit you if you know the right way to respond to them. However, you need to do your best to avoid the negative ones because they weigh more than the positive ones.
So when you set up your ecommerce store with Zaapi, remember the importance of reviews and how to leverage them. Once you ace the knowledge, you will be ahead of your competition in no time.
If you haven't set up your ecommerce store yet, use Zaapi. Visit our website for more info.
