Importance of business reviews

Traditional marketing will continue to be important but is being swamped by reviews.

We have all got used to Google and the importance of search engine optimisation (SEO) to get yourself to the top of page 1 to encourage page visits and business from those seeking to purchase or enquire online. However, for leisure sectors, for example, many now avoid traditional searches and go to rating sites such as Tripadvisor.

When you look back a few years, everyone was being encouraged to get testimonials from their clients, and they were and are still important. These were used in marketing collateral, as a third-party view in direct mail, and as content for website pages.

Then, we were encouraged to get video content on web pages with clients giving their testimonials. The principle was that video content could help your Google ranking and especially as they owned YouTube This still plays a big part in marketing.

Having a third-party review you lends itself to the term social proof. People will buy because they have seen others have bought and been happy with your products and services. It’s not something to ignore and can be very potent when people are looking to make a purchase.

Importance of Reviews

Reviews take this to a different level. Here people take the view of complete strangers as being a significant part of their decision-making decision. It has become the way of the world in especially in leisure and anyone in that sector will already be very aware of what reviews they are given and what feedback they are given. They should also deal with feedback of all sorts promptly, effectively and politely.

As time goes by, this has become more of a reality for all sectors. We are all aware of Facebook, LinkedIn and Google My Business also offering similar rating scores and ability for feedback, so what should be done?

  • be aware of what reviews your business is being scored on and which are being used most by your target market.
  • regularly check both what your overall reviews are and what feedback you have received.
  • provide comments and response, where available, to all feedback and comments and take appropriate action to prevent repeat comments where there is something that can be improved or learned from.
  • put your own feedback loop into place at time of purchase to get feedback direct and avoid someone using a rating service out of frustration and again take lessons learned and respond positively.
  • Actively encourage positive feedback from the “silent majority”. These should become your advocates and mean that even if the odd poor comment is received your overall score is good. Also, many people judge reviews by the quantity of response as well as the score given. Get lots of people saying good things about you and this becomes a strong marketing message.

So, in conclusion, treat the rise of reviews as an opportunity rather than a threat and ensure that you take the actions above to ensure you are rated well.

Does this resonate with you? If you would like to book a complimentary, no-obligation, coaching session to discuss this further, please email me at falgunidesai@actioncoach.com