Ways to Get More Product Reviews from Customers

When your friend talks about a new restaurant that has opened in town, what’s the first thing you do? Go online and check its reviews, right? When a beauty vlogger recommends a certain skin product, your first instinct is to read what the other buyers have to say about it, I assume. Well, you’re not alone. Most of the people in today’s day and age prefer to check out a product’s reviews before going forward with the purchase. A survey conducted by Forbes states that 90% of the consumers read the reviews before trusting a business, and the rest admit that their decision to buy the product or not is heavily influenced by the reviews, ratings, and the like.

What is Social Proof?

Ecommerce has changed the game of shopping in today’s era. Sellers these days have the option of using multichannel selling software and multichannel listing tools to have their products displayed on several platforms, including Amazon, Etsy, etc. One of the things that helps them in getting the spotlight on their brand is by using the marketing tool of social proof. Social proof is basically a buyer’s feeling of belongingness. For example, when we’re looking to buy a certain item, and see that it has great reviews, we’re automatically encouraged about purchasing it. Be it reviews, testimonials, celebrity endorsements or influencer marketing, they all act as a part of social proof. The minute we see a star or one of our favourite celebrities donning a product we’ve had our eyes on for long, we’re left with the desire to buy it immediately. Sellers cash in on this in a huge manner.

How to Get Product Reviews

If you want to get more product reviews, here are some ways to do so:

• Make it as easy as possible. This is the first and most important step if you want your customers to leave you reviews. Most of the people are either busy or lazy, and no one is going to go the extra mile just to leave a review. Create a review section on the product page so that it saves the customer time and they can see it directly and pen down their review.

• No one likes negative reviews, and mostly sellers tend to ignore it. However, you can try and turn the situation around. If someone has left a negative review, apologise to them, ask them to contact you so that you can make it right, and live up to your promise. Once you’ve kept your word, ask them to write a new review. By seeing your devotion to the customers, others will be prodded to buy your products, too.

• Display the reviews on your website and social media pages. Whenever someone lands on your website and checks these reviews, they’ll be compelled to further check out your store. As far as social media is concerned, there’s no better way to get the attention of everyone else. The minute you share a positive review on your Facebook page, your other customers might just join that bandwagon as well. Not only that, it will also usher in new customers.

• Email marketing is still one of the strongest tools at your disposal, and you should utilise it to the fullest. Send your customers an email a week or so after they’ve bought the product and ask them for their review. They’re still said to have an 8% response rate, and include a link in your email to make it easier for the buyers to post their review.

• Everyone is caught up with their daily lives. So, make it worth their time to leave a review. You can offer coupons, discounts, loyalty programs, and so on as an incentive to get a review. These also ensure repeat customers. Maybe give them an entry into a contest if they post their review on social media. Keep in mind that these incentives are for impartial reviews or for ones that genuinely wish to leave a positive review.

If your customers have left a review, make sure to thank them. There are several ways of doing so. Maybe tag them while reposting their review, or recommend them similar products based on their previous purchases. Whatever you do, do it in moderation so as to not come across as spammy. It’s these little things that will get your buyers to leave reviews and also keep coming back to post them on other sites as well. Just employ these tips and you’re sure to get a lot of reviews for your brand and products.

Read: How to Get More Amazon Reviews Legally