Having good online reviews is one of the best ways to get potential customers to give your business a second look. Ultimately, you want people to choose you over the competition, and certain characteristics of your digital presence may be the deciding factor.
Specifically, customers analyze and read your online reviews to get an idea of your products, services and customer service.
How many reviews do you need to give the best impression of your business?
Lots of Reviews = Increased Consumer Trust
Your potential customers don’t just glance at the top review — modern consumers do their research before buying. Only 40 percent of customers surveyed by BrightLocal said they read one to three reviews when forming their opinion. Ninety-two percent of the time, consumers form an opinion by reading at least 10 reviews. In 2014, only 84 percent of consumers read this many. The number is growing, and so should your volume of reviews.
This means you can’t have your cousin write a solid endorsement of your plumbing company, then leave it at that. If you do, you’re alienating a large percentage of consumers who want to read more before they trust you with their business.
The BrightLocal survey established that customers are reading more, but they’re also looking at the number of reviews in order to establish authenticity and quality. Besides the overall star rating, number of online reviews was the second-most important factor they consider when they’re evaluating the company.
Timing Is Important Too
You feel like you’ve uncovered a secret: Just build up my number of reviews, then the customers will come to me!
Not so fast. Curating a large number of reviews is helpful, but you can’t do it once and then forget about it. Your business could have thousands of top-rated online reviews, but if they’re all outdated, they’re no good.
Once your reviews are more than six months old, 84 percent of your potential clients won’t consider them relevant any longer. In fact, 44 percent of customers believe that the review has to be written within one month in order to be relevant. Amassing a large body of customer opinions is essential, but they have to flow in consistently for consumers to pay serious attention.
What Could Make This Task Easier?
You want your happy customers to share their opinions and you want to correct the misconceptions of customers who seem to hold a negative view of your company. What’s the best tool to manage this task?
Accrue Reviews is an automated feedback system that will help encourage customer evaluations, assist you in managing negative responses and give you up-to-date statistics on all of your online reviews. Find a monthly plan that works for you today.