Well-known brands don’t actually need customer reviews – after all, brands like Apple or Adidas are known to everyone, and among friends we will find quite a few people who use their products and can share their opinions. For smaller companies, the situation is a little different. Imagine you’re looking for a coffee maker and you first arrive at the website of store X, which sells them. If you don’t find any customer reviews or recommendations from brands that work with it, it is unlikely to encourage you to buy. Today we’re going to work on brand credibility online – I’ll show you some ways to get recommendations and customer reviews on the site.

Why do you need reviews and recommendations?

How important customer feedback is is shown, among other things, by the 2022 Bright Local survey . The survey focused on local businesses, but the results can also be applied to Internet sales. It turns out that up to 98% of consumers read online reviews of companies. The survey also showed that 89% of customers are more likely to use the services of a business that responds to all feedback. So if you think that ignoring negative reviews is a good strategy – I have bad news for you. A dissatisfied customer, especially if they feel ignored, is likely to leave negative comments elsewhere, such as on company social media. It is better not to wait for his dissatisfaction to escalate, but to address the situation right away.

Social proof

I recently wrote about the importance of social proof In e-commerce. Customer reviews on the site are the easiest way to make your brand credible. After all, since dozens of people are satisfied with your services, the customer will have less concern about joining their ranks. It works similarly for B2B business – if your site has recommendations from other brands (the more well-known, the better), it means you are a trustworthy business partner.

Sales growth

It is known that all marketing activities directly or indirectly are intended to lead to increased profits. It’s the same with getting reviews and recommendations – the more trust you have in your brand, the more likely a customer will decide to buy.

How to get recommendations and customer feedback on the website?

It is a good idea to post reviews not only on the website, but also, for example, on Facebook, Google business card or Allegro. Regardless of what kind of reviews you care most about, I have some universal tips for getting reviews on Google, your website or social media.

Requests for feedback

Not every customer is eager to share his or her opinion – he or she needs to remember that, take the time to do so, and many vendors offer nothing in return. In many cases, however, a reminder to give feedback, preferably sent by email, will suffice. If you care about feedback on Facebook, you can write on Messenger or email a link to the company’s profile. It’s better to take your time and send emails asking for feedback after a few days. This is the optimal time – the customer has had time to test the product, but the purchase is still fresh.

Profits per opinion

The vast majority of vendors do not offer anything for posting reviews. As a rule, there is nothing wrong with this, but in such a situation, the placement of feedback depends solely on the goodwill of the customer, he does not derive any benefit from sharing feedback. If customers are reluctant to leave feedback, you can offer cashback, a free product or a discount. Consider what you can offer to fit within your margins while still providing a benefit to the customer. Don’t look at this as a way to get rid of post-season products sitting in storage.

Simple posting of opinions

It is clear that the more accurate the feedback, the better for you. Unfortunately, not necessarily for the customer. Nothing discourages people from leaving feedback more than a complicated form that takes more than 2-3 minutes to fill out. All you need is the ability to rate the product, shipping and customer service, and a text box for entering feedback. A short opinion is better than no opinion at all.

For a recommendation you need a permit!

Ideally, a recommendation from a customer should be accompanied by a photo of the customer and/or the company’s logo. However, to use the client’s logo and company name, you must have permission to do so. You can prepare a sample statement and distribute it to customers – usually at least some of them agree. You can offer to prepare a model text of the recommendation, and the customer will make his comments and add something from himself. In this way, you limit the amount of time it has to spend preparing recommendations. You can also include a provision for the use of the company’s name and logo for advertising purposes already in the contract you sign with the client at the beginning of the cooperation. If he agrees, you are already one step ahead.

Reviews on the website, landing page or social media are effective in increasing trust in the brand, and therefore sales. Need help getting reviews and recommendations? Get back to me!