As more people adapt to purchasing goods and services online, the competition keeps getting tougher. Today, online feedback and a single review can spell the difference between winning and losing customers.
Having a review management service means having an extension of your team to guide you through how to get reviews and, more importantly, how to get good reviews.
Online reviews make a customer’s purchase decision easier by setting realistic expectations based on unfiltered feedback. Because about 87 percent of consumers read reviews before making a purchase (Oberlo), you want to make sure your products and services are showcased in the best light. An online review strategy coupled with a team that has the expertise to manage reviews helps you win more customers.
Read on to learn more about:
• What is review management
• Why you need a review management service
• How to increase reviews and how to get good reviews
• Benefits of working with a review management company
• What top online review management companies provide
What Is a Review Management Service?
To understand review management services we need to first unpack what exactly review management is and why it should matter to all business owners.
Review Management
A good review has the power to convince your target audience to engage with you. It sets your customer’s expectations correctly, guides their decision and provides assurance that their hard-earned money won’t go to waste. Review management or online reputation management is all about improving the quantity and quality of your online reviews to create a sales-focused online presence for your business. To reap the benefits of online review management, you need a system to manage online reviews effectively.
Review Management Services
The scope of online review management is often underestimated. Review management services cover all types of reviews on various platforms – independent review sites, eCommerce marketplaces, social media, search engines, blogs, forums and more. Review management companies commonly manage online reviews from more than 100 review sites. A review management service helps you stay on top of your online review strategy while you work on your core business.
Benefits of Online Review Management Services
All businesses need an online review management strategy to stay competitive. However, every business is at a different stage in its lifecycle and faces unique challenges. For instance, a new business inevitably starts at zero reviews and needs help from there. An established company might be looking to get ahead of its closest competitor. Another business might need help dealing with consecutive negative feedback.
A review management service meets you where you are – and investing in a team to manage reviews is absolutely worth it. “Improving your review score on Google, Yelp and other prominent review sites leads to an increase in revenue. Studies show improving your star rating on Yelp by one star results in a 6-9 percent revenue growth,” said Tim Clarke, Senior Reputation Manager at Rize Reviews. In other words, you miss out on significant potential sales without an online review strategy.
How online review management services improve your sales:
1. Builds Credibility
Online reviews serve as social proof for your potential customers – they feel they can trust you because others previously have. More than 80 percent of consumers trust reviews as much as personal recommendations (BrightLocal). Your reviews reveal your positive selling history and build your credibility as a legitimate and reliable business.
2. Improves Online Visibility
A search engine aims to deliver the best and most relevant content to its users. And part of delivering quality content is ensuring your brand is trustworthy. Online reviews are ranking signals that tell search engines you are worth displaying high on search results. Reviews are critical to a successful local search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.
3. Boosts Sales
Because great reviews build trust and improve your search rankings, your business is in a prime position to win customers. When you pay attention to your online reviews, you reduce friction in your customer journey by making them hesitate less and inch closer to taking your desired action. You increase your sales when more of your potential customers choose to engage with you.
Why Work With a Review Management Company
An online review management company has the expertise to manage reviews and years of experience in leveraging them to boost your sales. But the best review management company takes your online review strategy a step further than most review management companies by utilizing technology.
Here are the top three reasons you should work with a review management company:
1. Review Management Software
A review management service uses review management software to automate the review generation process. The system sends review requests to your customers through email and SMS and sends follow-ups at predetermined intervals. You don’t need to worry about how to increase reviews when you have a review management system working for you.
2. Review Monitoring
An essential feature of review management software is tracking your brand mentions across online platforms. A review management company’s role is to ensure your brand perception stays positive by evaluating your online feedback – often called social listening. Review monitoring helps you highlight your positive feedback and catch fake reviews that could hurt your reputation.
3. Review Response
Review monitoring helps you know what your customers are saying and where they’re saying it. Ninety-seven percent of people who read reviews also read businesses’ responses and more than half of customers expect responses to negative reviews within a week (BrightLocal). A review management company uses the online review management software to configure alerts and respond to your reviews quickly and elegantly.
How To Get Reviews the Right Way
Banned review generation practices can get you penalized by search engines and regulatory bodies. Google prohibits reviewing your own business, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has strict rules against fake and paid reviews. Always comply with review generation policies to manage online reviews the right way. Placing your trust in review management companies is the answer to how to get reviews easily, honestly and quickly.
Here’s what you can expect from the top online review management companies:
✓ Technology and Automation
While an online review management software streamlines your review generation process, you need a reliable review management expert to set up your automation and oversee its progress. Another valuable tool you should have is a review widget installed on your website to display your positive reviews on your home page.
✓ Fully-Managed Services
You need to spend your time doing what you do best. Getting the help of fully-managed review management services means you can focus on your core business while leaving online reputation management to the experts.
✓ Reliable Customer Support
Having a successful online review strategy requires meticulous planning and attention-to-detail. You can rely on a reputation management company to monitor your reviews closely, to inform you of urgent action needed and assist you with your review management concerns.
Rize Reviews is an online reputation management company growing businesses of all sizes through our 100 percent done-for-you online review management services. We’ve earned our place among the most trusted online review management companies in the U.S. through our unwavering commitment to our clients’ unique business goals.
Our fully-managed online review management software and services helped this multi-location restaurant increase its 5-star reviews and customers’ lifetime value by adding hundreds of loyalty program signups.
Contact us today to learn more about how to increase reviews and how to get good reviews through customized online reputation management solutions.
Leave a Reply