Having social proof has never been more powerful for startups.
In a world where many aspects of businesses can take on the form of “fake it till you make it”, customer feedback is one of the only things standing between failure and success.
Here we’ll look at five of the best ways to use your customer reviews to increase sales and take your brand to the next level.
Is time running out? Here are the keynotes
- Feature them on your website: Showing reviews on the main pages can increase credibility and conversions.
- Integrate them into your marketing strategies: Incorporating customer reviews into email marketing can increase engagement.
- Optimize your SEO strategy: Integrating customer reviews into your web content can improve organic search rankings.
- Increase trust and conversions at the point of sale: Adding reviews to retargeted ads can reassure hesitant potential customers.
- Turn reviews into engaging case studies: Turn customer experiences into detailed case studies to attract new customers.
5 Ways to Leverage Customer Reviews
Without further ado, let’s take a look at five quick and easy ways to get the most out of your direct customer reviews and make them work harder for your brand.
Feature them on your website
Customer reviews can do more than remind you how great your product or service is. They can also be an incredible tool for increasing conversion rates.
How many times have you found yourself on the verge of buying from a new brand only to be convinced that the product or service on offer isn’t as good as it seems?
Now imagine a world where your potential customer thinks like this; only in this reality do they see customer reviews from like-minded people, further proving that your product or service is perfect for them.
Showing great reviews on your homepage can increase credibility and therefore conversions, as more potential customers decide to take the leap and buy from you.
Integrate them into your email marketing strategies
Incorporating testimonials into your multiple email marketing journeys is another great way to capitalize on the kind words your customers have to say about your business.
Whether it’s part of your post-purchase welcome series, abandonment follow-up emails, or any other promotional email campaigns you run, testimonials are great for email because they take up very little space (it’s an effective email important to its message) , but tell a great story in that limited space.
Test different types of reviews in different parts of your email flows to increase your open and conversion rates.
Optimize your SEO strategy
When many people think of SEO, they probably think of aspects like keywords and content structure. However, for many brands, regularly updated customer reviews can also have a significant impact on organic search rankings.
With more and more generic content appearing on the web, Google is working in overdrive to find legitimate content that actually provides useful content.
What could be more rewarding than hearing what like-minded customers have to say about the product they bought?
Using customer reviews organically and legitimately within articles and other web content can have a significant impact on how high your brand ranks in your chosen industry.
Increase trust and conversions at the point of sale
As I’ve already touched on, some potential customers are more inclined to try new brands than others. Some are happy to ‘take you at your word’ and buy what you have to offer, while others will understandably be more wary of buying from a company they’ve never heard of before.
However, it is very frustrating when your website traffic is not converting into paying customers! Using reviews, whether at the buying stage of the process or as part of ad retargeting, is a great way to alleviate some of the anxiety that helps calm hesitant potential customers.
Turn Reviews into Compulsory Studies
When thinking pragmatically, it’s easy to think that the most effective sales content is sales content! Promotional content is certainly valuable, but case studies are another great form of sales content.
Case studies can be used on your website, in your email journeys, across all your social media channels, as part of ad retargeting, and even in any investment pitch, making them versatile and reusable.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, there are many ways that customer reviews can help you build your business reputation, increase customer loyalty, and improve the trust new customers have with your brand.
Be sure to check out your gateway, foundr+, to learn about the other steps you need to take to take your brand to the next level. E-commerce success for only $1.
Frequently asked questions about using customer reviews
How do customer reviews affect sales?
Customer reviews significantly influence purchasing decisions by building trust and confidence.
What are the best ways to display customer reviews on a website?
The most effective ways to display customer reviews on a website include placing them on product pages, using review widgets, displaying star ratings, and highlighting user-generated content such as customer photos and videos.
Can customer reviews be used in marketing campaigns?
Yes, customer reviews can be integrated into marketing strategies such as email campaigns, social media posts, and paid ads.