The eCommerce industry is fiercely competitive. When searching the web for a new pair of running shoes, for example, you’ll be met with thousands of results, all claiming to be the best of the best. With so many options, consumers put significant trust in reviews, more so than they do marketing claims or even personal recommendations from people they know. Despite growing concerns about fake reviews, the majority of consumers are still influenced by them, and even seek out data from multiple sources to help them with their purchasing decisions.
Reviews are important to give your business credibility and build trust with your customers, but how can you encourage feedback and capitalize on it to help your business grow?
Online review management can be a challenge especially if you have brick-and-mortar locations as well as an online store. The key is to manage reviews across multiple locations, which can be difficult without the use of tools designed for review management. Tools such as Birdeye, Yotpo, and Cohley offer reputation management software that can help you manage reviews as well as user generated content. It can be helpful to streamline review management if you can do so all in one place, that’s what makes online review management tools so effective.
Birdeye
Birdeye is a great tool for retailers looking to get all of their customer feedback in one centralized location. Not only does it help to gather customer feedback, it can also help with generating new feedback through automated outreach.
Yotpo
Yotpo is helpful not just for managing reviews and performing automated outreach, it can also help with displaying reviews on your site. It can even integrate with Google search so your product reviews are displayed on search ads.
Cohley
This tool is focussed more towards user generated content, it works by sending out product samples on your behalf in exchange for honest customer feedback submitted through Cohley, the reviews are then displayed on your site.
Online Review Management Strategies
Though specialized review management software can be extremely helpful, they work best in combination with a thoughtful marketing strategy. Luckily, these tools can help you with a lot of the heavy lifting.
Monitor and Respond to Reviews
Research suggests that the majority of customers who write reviews expect a response. It’s important to try to respond to reviews so customers can feel confident that you are interested in their feedback, but also so that you can build trust with dissatisfied customers who are seeking a resolution. Offer something tangible in response to negative reviews such as a refund or replacement. For neutral reviews, you can ask for more details about how the product can be improved in order to keep those customers coming back. You can also leave a phone number or email in your responses to take the conversation offline to avoid any negative impact on your brand image.
Provide Incentives in Exchange for Feedback
Take advantage of the opportunity to build loyalty with your customers by offering an incentive such as a discount in exchange for their honest feedback. You can automate post-purchase email sequences or text messages that encourage feedback, always include a direct link to make it as easy as possible for your customers to leave reviews.
Incorporate Reviews into Your Marketing Strategy
Once you understand that customers use reviews to help them make decisions, you’ve now unlocked a new area of your marketing strategy. If customers see that you always offer a resolution as a response to negative reviews, they will feel more confident purchasing your product. If many customers are excited about a certain feature of your product, make sure to highlight that in your product marketing strategy.
Now that you know the benefits of encouraging customer reviews, and how to do so effectively, it’s time to launch your reputation management strategy. It's likely that you already have access to review management tools that are included with your eCommerce platform, but that’s not always the case. If you’re looking for a better way to manage reviews but aren’t sure where to start, Team Virid can help. Our eCommerce platform marketAgility is a single-source solution to the challenges many eCommerce retailers face. Similar to a SaaS offering, our platform includes everything you need to get started quickly, combined with the services and support of an enterprise agency, but with the flexibility and scalability of a composable commerce architecture. We’ll take care of all of the complex custom integrations like online reviews management, email marketing automations, omnichannel inventory management, alternative payment methods, and more. Get started today to learn how making the switch could help your business grow.
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