Online Reviews: Why They’re Important and What You Should Keep in Mind.

Perhaps one of the factors that most influences purchasing decisions today—both online and offline—is the opinions of other users and buyers. But these reviews aren’t just important for that reason; Google and Amazon also take them into account when determining search rankings on their respective platforms. In this post, I’m going to explain the real importance of these reviews, how to manage them properly, and how to tackle the problem of fake reviews. Let’s get started.

In recent years, e-commerce has experienced a boom that has primarily affected traditional retail, causing it to lose market share—especially when businesses have failed to develop an omnichannel strategy that would allow them to take advantage of the benefits of both sales channels.

In addition, businesses that have completed the O2O (offline-to-online) transition but have failed to understand how the digital world works are running into problems, since the traditional channel has little in common with the online channel when it comes to the sales process. The fact is that, while in traditional stores factors such as location influence sales, in online retail other factors play a decisive role, such as user reviews.

According to data from NoFakes, an increase in positive reviews on an e-commerce site can boost sales by between 270% and 380%. However, you have to be very careful about this, since there is an entire fraudulent market for reviews, which, according to this same company, may account for as much as 55% of all reviews.

A survey conducted by the firm Podium found that 60% of customers check online reviews weekly, and 93% of them say these reviews are a deciding factor when making a decision. It is estimated that 450,000 reviews are currently viewed each day by internet users, and this number continues to grow year after year. This reflects how important these reviews are to users. reviews when making their purchasing decisions, both online and in brick-and-mortar stores.

As you can see, user reviews are essential for any online business, but if you’re still not convinced, here are 4 compelling reasons to convince you to put in the effort to get them.

• They have the power to attract new users and convince those who are undecided.
• They clearly enhance your brand’s image.
• They help you rank your website online.
• They make up for the negative comments you’re bound to get.

However, how can we get them to let us positive ? Let’s look at some tips for doing just that.

How to Get People to Leave Positive Online Reviews.

The first thing you should do is figure out where users usually leave reviews. Google My Business and Amazon are perhaps the most important, but you should also keep an eye on various social media platforms, Trustpilot, and TripAdvisor, depending on what you sell or your customer profile. Once you’ve got all that under control, it’s time to get your satisfied customers to leave that review—one that’s so easy to leave when it’s negative, but so hard to leave when it’s positive. Here are a few tips.

1. Ask your customers for a review after every transaction they make with you.

But since that effort usually takes some work, it’s a good idea to incentivize it with a points program or a reward for their next purchase. However, you need to be careful, as both Google and Amazon can detect that the review was financially incentivized and penalize you for it. Therefore, you’ll need to find a way to reward your satisfied customers who leave a review without setting off any red flags.

2. Use email marketing automation.

Whether you run an online or offline business, set up an automated email to remind your customer to leave that review and what you’re going to give them in return. The best way to get someone to do something is to ask them. Marketing automation helps you do this automatically without spending too much time on it.

2. Put up a sign on the counter or at the register.

If you have a physical store, place signs on the counter or in the checkout area with QR codes so your customers can access the page where you want them to leave their reviews. Make it easy for them, and if you also have the support of your store staff, it will be much simpler.

3. Add a link to your email signature.

This makes it easier for your customers to leave a review, and it also serves as a reminder that they can do something for you if you’ve provided them with good service.

4. Create a page specifically for reviews on your website.

Add a section to your website where users can easily leave a review, and make it visible to other users. You’d be surprised how much it can grow with real reviews from your customers.

5. Submit reviews on social media.

Social media platforms are a perfect way to connect with your followers—and, therefore, to ask them to do things for you. Don’t be shy—ask your followers to leave positive reviews about your products or your brand. Many of them love your brand, and others are even ‘ brand lovers,” which means they’ll leave a positive comment.

But be careful—you can’t just ask for reviews out of the blue, since you might end up asking a dissatisfied customer. To avoid this:

• Identify dissatisfied customers before they place an order.
• Blend the highlights in gradually so that the final result looks as natural as possible.
• Always thank users who leave positive reviews, and don’t delete the negative ones. Instead, use them as an opportunity to tell customers more about your product.
• Avoid asking for opinions haphazardly and just for the sake of quantity.
• Don’t fake reviews—eventually, people will notice, or worse, Google or Amazon will.

Regarding the latter, it’s important for you to understand what’s happening with the market for fake reviews. The fact is that, in recent years, markets for buying and selling reviews fake. An easily accessible “all-you-can-eat” buffet where, with a simple Google search and for a small fee, 5-star reviews can be added to any business in a matter of seconds.

Beware of fake reviews.

This type of fake reviews are doubly harmful, since they can deal a fatal blow to your brand’s reputation if they’re detected, and they also mislead consumers by implying a level of quality in your reviews that ultimately isn’t true.

In 2018, an Italian court set a precedent by sentencing an internet user to 9 months in prison and ordering him to pay 8,000 euros in damages after he posted fake reviews on TripAdvisor.

In this regard, the law is clear: Article L.121-2 of the Consumer Code considers “commercial practices based on statements, indications, or representations that are false or likely to mislead the consumer, which may relate in particular to the essential characteristics of a good or service .” The penalty can be up to 2 years in prison and a fine of up to 300,000 euros.

Keep in mind that the reviews we find online can come from three sources:

• People who are paid to do this.
• Bots that automatically generate reviews.
• Consumers sharing their real-life experiences.

Only the third option should be considered reliable, since the first two are deceptive tactics designed to influence consumers’ decisions.

The most common way to identify a fake review is:

• If the reviews are identical and repeat the same text and the same photos.
• If the profiles of the people expressing their opinions are repeated.
• If reviews are found to be too short, without a well-reasoned and dated explanation.
• If there are errors in vocabulary and spelling, this may lead us to believe that these are machine translations.
• If a competing establishment is clearly promoted.

From MioGroup We believe that the best way to foster positive reviews is through a combination of communication and customer service, where the user and customer experience is meticulously cared for throughout their entire journey. Only then will you naturally earn those reviews. And if not, you can always give them a little boost with some of the tips in this post. Can we help you?