Social proof in the form of customer reviews plays a huge role in a shopper’s buying decision and can be one of your greatest marketing tools. 83% of people trust reviews over advertising, and more than half of consumers won’t buy from a company if it has less than a 4-star rating.
Not only do reviews help buyers in their purchase decisions, but they give them a reason to trust your business. In other words, social proof can remove doubts from hesitant shoppers and convince them to buy from you.
Reviews can also provide additional context to your products or services and boost rankings in search engines.
Alright, let’s dive in. Here are 6 quick tips to help you get more reviews for your business.
1. Make It Easy to Leave a Review
Avoid giving your customers an excuse not to leave you a review by making the process too complicated. Guaranteed, they won’t search for where they can leave a review on your website, so you need to make it easy and put the star ratings right in front of them.
In other words, the easier you make it for customers to leave you a review, the more likely you are to get them. For example, Beardbrand makes their reviews easy to find and as easy to leave with a review section for each product:
You can quickly set this up with apps such as Yotpo Social Reviews, Kudobuzz, or Product Reviews by Shopify.
2. Follow Up and Ask Buyers For Reviews
Follow up with buyers and ask for reviews. Don’t be afraid to reach out and ask; the worst that can happen is no action or a no.
For instance, you can set up an automated email that goes out to customers after they make a purchase and ask them how they are experiencing your product. Let them know that their input is valuable to help improve your business.
And always respond to negative reviews. Take this opportunity to learn from your customers and find out what you can do to improve your products and services. Depending on how well you respond to negative reviews, customers may still decide to buy your product over a 5-star item.
3. Showcase Your Reviews on Your Website
You should be proud of your reviews and showcase them on your website.
For example, AIOSEO proudly displays a sample of their customer reviews on their homepage as social proof of why users love their SEO plugin.
Adding reviews on your website is powerful because when people visit your site, they can instantly see that other users are enjoying your products and encourage them to purchase.
And if the reviews are particularly good or entertaining, share them on social media and include them in your email marketing. Whatever gets the word out there.
Reviews can also boost your SEO and rankings in search engines. Your 5-star reviews will be displayed next to your brand name in search results, increasing the click-through rate to your site.
That said, the easiest way to add glowing reviews to your site is by using a WordPress review feed plugin, like Smash Balloon.
4. Use Incentives to Get More Customer Reviews
Incentives like coupons, discounts, and other rewards are excellent ways to encourage your customers to leave reviews. Who wouldn’t want to make a bargain in exchange for leaving a few words?
After all, 130 million Instagram users tap on shopping posts each month, so give them an incentive to shop and leave you that valuable review.
Best of all, incentives also encourage repeat sales which is a bonus. For instance, loyalty programs are a great way to track and distribute incentives. So, if you have a loyalty program in place, you can offer customers reward points for reviews and then share them on all digital channels.
Remember that social mentions can be a pretty cool reward too. People love to see and read about themselves and are more likely to pass it on to their networks. But don’t forget to tag the customer.
5. Run a Contest
Running a contest is an effective way to market your business and get more reviews.
For instance, you can use a prize wheel, similar to the wheel of fortune, on your website where customers can win different giveaways for leaving reviews. You can then connect the spins on the wheel to various activities. For example, submit a review on Facebook = 3 spins on the wheel, a video testimonial on YouTube = 5 spins, a Google or Yelp review = 2 spins, and so forth.
Also, hosting a video testimonial contest can help you increase your reviews. Encourage customers to send you recorded video testimonials, and share them on YouTube, social media, and your website for even more exposure.
Running a contest or raffle requires a little bit of prize planning and website configuration, but it can be well worth the effort. It’s also a fun activity that your customers will remember and possibly spread the word about throughout their networks.
6. Add Your Business to Review Sites
Adding your business profile to legit review sites like Yelp or Trustpilot can help boost your review count.
Ensure that your profile includes all the necessary information about your business to make it easy for customers and prospects to find your profile. People specifically go to these review sites to read and leave reviews or find out more about a company.
Again, it all comes down to making it easy for customers to leave reviews, and getting listed on review sites can help with that.
Wrapping Up
There you have 6 quick ways to get more reviews for your business. Using these actionable tips will help you get more reviews for your business in no time. And if you have any other strategies that work well for you, please feel free to share them in the comment section below. We would love to hear from you.
Syed Balkhi is an award-winning entrepreneur and online marketing expert. He is the co-founder of OptinMonster, WPBeginner, MonsterInsights, and WPForms.