You might be asking yourself: Do I really have to bother with coming up with ways to increase customer reviews? The answer is a resounding YES!
With the dynamic rise of a lot of online platforms, customers can now share their experience and opinions with the world in just a few clicks.
These customer reviews can effectively influence the way people think about your company and your products or services. The reviews are where your future customers get their information before deciding if they should avail of your products and services, or even if they should even trust you enough to be the eCommerce shop of their choice.
So how can you get more feedback (hopefully positive) on your eCommerce website?
Here are 5 ways to increase customer reviews that you can easily follow:
1. Make it easy for customers to review your products
Do you know that if your products or services have more than five reviews on your page, there are 270% greater chances that someone will buy or avail of it compared to a product with zero reviews?
According to studies, positive and recent reviews make your business appear credible. That is why you have to encourage your customers to leave reviews (preferably positive) in your sites.
Normally, it is easy to ask customers to leave reviews, but complicated processes may stop them from doing so. They may find it not worth their time if your review writing process is too burdensome. An example of that is asking them to prove that they are an actual buyer.
So to increase customer reviews, make sure that your policies and processes are easy enough for your customers to leave reviews. When designing your review processes, ask yourself this question: What barriers do my customers face when leaving reviews, and how can I remove them in a way that makes leaving a review simpler and more enjoyable?
Keep in mind that adding to their work (especially when you could instead do it for them) will make them less likely to finish a review process. It is enough to collect sales data and email addresses from them. It will give you enough information that you can use to reach out to them afterwards and inquire about the specifics of the products they bought.
In addition, simplify your survey questionnaires and shy away from asking your customers to fill out multi-question surveys.
2. Look for appropriate platform tools
You now know that making your review process easier and hassle-free will be beneficial for your business, now evaluate your e-Commerce website and email marketing services.
Install plugins and tools that are pre-made items with a positive track record of easy integration.
Try to find tools that are appropriate to your eCommerce platform for easy integration and reviewing process. If you are a bit lost on where to begin, especially if you are a solo shop, most platforms like Shopify have their own product review apps that you can consider.
It is also a good idea to check your other tools and partners. For example, companies that outsource eCommerce fulfillment make sure that partners automatically add shipping confirmation to order management tools. These steps will help you provide the best customer service to your shoppers and encourage your customers to leave reviews in a hassle-free way.
Lastly, take advantage of plugins and tools that are integrated in email marketing platforms provide templates where a customer can click a star rating and seamlessly be taken to a landing page where they can be asked for more details. What’s great about this setup is that whether the customer decides to accomplish the more detailed survey or not, they have secured the star rating already.
3. Incentivizing reviews as a Ways to increase customer reviews
We all have that task that we have been meaning to do but seem to have the time and motivation to do.
That task may include writing product reviews, even if your customers love your products. That is why you have to give them a reason for writing reviews.
Giving incentives is a great way to encourage your customers to leave a comment, whether it’s positive or not. Do not discourage not-so-good reviews because it will prevent your reviews from looking fake and paid.
Entreat your customers to review and comment on your products or services. This will give you insights on what they like and don’t like about your products. Also, ask them to share their reviews on social media.
Strive for honest reviews so that any trust and confidence that you have formed with your audience may be maintained.
Giving a discount on the next purchase is a great incentive because it encourages people to buy again right after they have spent a considerable amount of time thinking of you on a positive note. Now that’s a win-win situation for both of you!
4. Showcase reviews from multiple platforms on multiple pages
Yes, we get it: the reason you are looking for ways to increase customer reviews is to use those reviews as selling points throughout your website and improve your overall sales process. So to do that, incentivize reviews across multiple platforms.
You can post photos of reviews that talk about your fast and efficient shipping process. Show pictures of your satisfied customers who are happy because they received their purchases early. Also, showcase posts or video reviews about your company. When your customers have completed and ordered, take this as an opportunity to use reviews again. Give people the access to contact your customer support and request for a review of how appreciative someone was when you solved their problem.
The different ways to increase customer reviews all boil down to encouraging people to think positively about your products, process, and company. There will even be a few customers who will want to write their own reviews because they want to see their names and words in your next email or confirmation page!
If you have the resources, run a user-generated content (UGC) campaign on several social media platforms to encourage a lot of people to share their thoughts. Just remember to spread your elements out to reach a wide audience and avoid being flagged by an eCommerce platform.
If you do not want to be flooded with reviews on the same date, just split your contact list in two or more and send different instructions for each of the groups. For example, ask the first group to post on your website and encourage the other group to give you a rating on Google or Facebook.
5. Respond to complaints publicly and privately
You want to have authentic reviews, so it is just normal to receive negative reviews. If you get one, approach the situation calmly. After all you can’t make everyone happy, but you can always acknowledge the problems and work towards solving them.
Monitor your site and other locations proactively so that you can immediately spot negative reviews and complaints. After that, address those issues publicly and in private support channels.
If you address customer feedback publicly, it will give the readers the impression that you take complaints seriously. Through it, you can either rebut or put to right the wrong or incomplete information that the customer may leave in the comment section. There is a saying: “Silence means ‘yes’, so unanswered complaints will make your visitors believe that the negative feedbacks are true.
In making a public response, always acknowledge the issue, identify broadly how you’ll solve it, and then tell the reviewer how to move forward privately. You can make a standard formula on how to phrase your replies, but make sure that various issues and customers are responded to in a different and more personalized manner. You can allow responses to follow a pattern, but they should not be the same text repeatedly.
After the public response, transition to a private channel in order to solve the issue. Take this seriously and work towards solving the problem if possible.
If you have satisfactorily addressed the issue, ask the customer to update their review with the new information. Don’t pressure people into retracting or changing the full review, but you can ask them to make an addendum on their review so that other people will know that you have addressed the complaint and have come up with a solution.
However, if the customer doesn’t respond or does not want to write an addendum, it’s wise to add updates to your review instead. You can say:
“We’re glad we were able to get that resolved. If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Thank you!”
Empathizing with your customer, solving the problem, and then circling back is among the best ways to turn negative issues into positive ones for future readers.
So there you have it! Reviews can help your eCommerce website in many ways, and the tactics and techniques we have discussed are surefire ways to increase customer reviews, as well as get the types of reviews you want.
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Ross Jenkins
Ross Jenkins is the founder of DigitalME and is an ActiveCampaign Certified Consultant. He is ranked #1 on UpWork for his proficiency in digital marketing. DigitalME offers targeted digital solutions and is perfect for anyone who wants to increase leads, sales, and productivity through automation.