You’re scrolling on social media and suddenly an ad pops up. It’s for a company that you’ve never heard of, but the product looks appealing. What do you do?
If you’re like most people, you’d Google it. You’d search the company and look for their reviews because everyone loves social proof. Social proof is the idea that anyone can be persuaded to try a product or service simply because they’ve seen a positive review online. After all, if someone else likes it, wouldn’t you?
This idea is essential for companies today because, according to Fan & Fuel, 97 percent of shoppers say that reviews influence their decision-making. So, no reviews mean big problems for companies.
In this blog, we’ll dive into the reasons why reviews are important, how reviews affect sales, and how reviews help businesses if they’re posted in the right places. Let’s get started.
Why reviews are important
Consumers are influenced by both positive and negative reviews, and this is especially true of younger consumers who use the Internet to research before they buy. BrightLocal’s Local Consumer Survey published the following statistics at the end of 2019.
- 82 percent of consumers read online reviews for local businesses
- 52 percent of 18 to 54-year-olds say that they “always” read reviews
- The average customer reads 10 reviews before they trust a business
This speaks to the fact that customers look at reviews as an initial filtering mechanism. If your business fails to “pass” the review test, then you’ll quickly fade away from consideration with prospective customers. Customers want to be able to read a minimum of 10 positive reviews about your business before they begin to trust you. So, the more reviews you have available, the better.
How reviews help businesses (especially right now!)
Even if you have 1,000 reviews about your business, you should always continue to seek more. Recent reviews are the ones that will tell your customers whether your business is open and still providing customers a positive experience.
Current reviews are even more important right now with COVID-19. Customers want to know how businesses are handling the global pandemic, if they’re open, whether they’re abiding by basic precautions, and if it’s still a positive experience for customers. Updated reviews will help show potential customers that you’re still operational despite the global economic setbacks.
Even if you have “enough” reviews, always encourage your customers to continue posting on your behalf. Their feedback will help you improve, and it will let prospective customers know what to expect.
What are the right platforms for reviews?
Product and service review platforms are forums that enable customers to add products or service reviews to a company’s website or social media page. You can have numerous positive reviews, but they won’t help your company unless they’re accessible for customers to read.
For example, if you run a roofing company, you’ll want your business to have reviews where your potential customers will go to research these types of services. This may include Houzz, HomeAdvisor, Angie’s List, My Google Business, Yelp, and Facebook.
According to Vendasta, these are the top 10 consumer and business review websites that you can use to boost your sales.
| Review Website | Best For | Average Traffic Per Month |
| Google My Business | Any business | 158.03 million |
| Amazon | E-commerce | 85.44 million |
| Any business | 85.57 million | |
| Yelp | Any business | 40.47 million |
| Trip Advisor | Food, restaurant, travel | 28.27 million |
| BBB (Better Business Bureau) | Any business | 6.15 million |
| Yellowpages | Any business | 10.5 million |
| Manta | Any business | 6.48 million |
| Angie’s List | Service-related businesses | 5.44 million |
| Foursquare | Any business, restaurants | 3.67 million |
Final thoughts
One Harvard Business Review study found that, for everyone one-star increase a brand gets on Yelp, a business sees a 5-9 percent increase in revenue. Reviews really do affect sales and help businesses. Review Refer wants to help you get customer reviews and referrals easily to increase the size and scope of your business. With no work
Visit here for more information.
