Consumers are now more empowered than before. They do their research before they decide to purchase a product and base their purchase decisions on the same. While it may seem daunting, the truth is that the world of the market is evolving continuously, and hence, we, as brands, should evolve with it. Online reviews provide existing and potential customers with a sense that your business is genuine.
From a recent study, nearly 77% of respondents read online reviews before purchasing something online. They also claim that positive online reviews influence their purchasing decisions over negative online reviews. This shows that social media reviews are a big deal in today’s fast-growing digital world. Reading online reviews is part of the decision-making process for customers.
Online presence
To know what your customers think about you, one must know where to find them on social media. You can start by creating your business accounts on all the platforms like Facebook, Google, Instagram. Be active on these platforms, where your customers can reach out to you. Example – Zomato to order food, Urban Clap for spa, beauty, health, etc services. Listing tools helps to listen and engage with users who are talking about your business.
Credibility
Nearly 7 in 10 consumers say an online review is equally as important as a personal recommendation. Through social media, potential customers have access to your brand and how it is reviewed by its existing customers. The reviews increase or decrease the credibility of the product or service in the potential customer’s mind before they make the decision.
For example, while shopping online one always checks the reviews of the product before making a purchase decision.
Respond to reviews
Customer reviews, be it positive or negative, help you with a better understanding of your audience’s needs.
To ace social media presence for your brand, you must develop meaningful online relationships with your audience. If you’re active on these review sites, customers can view your brand as credible and responsive to customer needs, making them more likely to choose your brand over the competitors. When responding to reviews remember that your goal is to build goodwill with your customers, so be as polite as possible.
Encourage customer reviews
Happy customers are the best source to get good reviews on social media, don’t miss out on their reviews. Find ways to get them to talk about their experiences when purchasing from you. Their feedback should definitely be given consideration when making your online presence stronger. The reviews and user-generated content are common people giving their views on the product and service, which has more credibility than the marketing content that the brand talks about themselves. Businesses can add review links through which customers can share their feedback on every product and service that they buy from the brand.
Examples of reviews are product review, restaurant review, movie review, book review, etc.
The wise use of data
Collect data in the form of reviews and use it to your advantage by helping you achieve a more accurate and complete understanding of your customer and then design their customer experience. Use these reviews as a medium to gain customer insights and identify the areas where your brand needs improvement and highlight the places where you are performing extraordinarily.
People are looking out for brands that they can trust. A product or a service chosen by a person is an extension of their personality. You can generate increased exposure for your company by encouraging customers to review on your social media platforms. This will also help you develop engaging and meaningful customer relationships, improve your online brand reputation, and even act as a customer service channel.
To know more about social media, do check out: Which Social Media Platform Are Best For Your Brand
