With a mobile phone at hand, the world is definitely within your reach. Considering how interconnected we’ve become due to the digital vortex swallowing us in; all in the good sense surely. Just like Sara told Reem about this wonderful diner down the road which made Reem go with her family. Sara now still recommends things but via her mobile, reaching every single Reem there is.

The bottom line is, the “mobile” paved and facilitated the way for anyone and everyone to leave their two cents about your brand, whether you’re a restaurant, a gym, a five-star hotel, a boutique, you catch the drift?

Therefore, it’s vital to attentively observe your brand’s online reviews, be it good, bad, or at times, ugly! Because, there is always going to be negative reviews, fake reviews, and positive reviews.

The voice of the consumer has never been more important, nearly 75% of all internet users are active on a social media platform and social channels, according to various studies; they are using the likes of Google and TripAdvisor alongside their preferred brands’ own websites to initiate a dialogue on the quality of products & services and offer genuine suggestions & tips.

With that said, the following are some of the main reasons why online reviews are sought after.

Online reviews do convert into offline sales.

One is more likely to make the purchase if others around him/her – even total strangers – agree that it is a good decision. We are talking about purchasing decisions. Now-a-days, online reviews are the cardinal source of social-proof, and their impact on sales has never been clearer.

Many brands have been able to drive somewhat 60% higher average order value on the company’s website and it’s no surprise that the 3000 five-star reviews that populate the ecommerce site’s various product pages have helped a great deal.

Tip: Encourage reviews by emailing customers after purchase to check their satisfaction and also ask for a review. It is also a good way to gain customer loyalty.

Online reviews increase your brand’s visibility.

Online reviews make you a lot more visible to the public, as most shoppers will look on search engines such as Google or even on Facebook, when deciding what to buy, it leads to potential customers. These websites have their unique way of indexing and surfacing content, nevertheless, they all value authentic and fresh content, and customer reviews definitely help feed the content machine, keeping your brand favored by algorithms.

When you’re ranked higher, algorithms and people alike, tend to see your website as an authority in your industry, leading to more exposure.

Tip: Online reviews give you a steady pipeline of – hopefully – positive content that search engines value highly when choosing which results to return.

Online reviews reinforce customer trust in your brand.

Your brand can build substantial trust and reinforce its credentials from a steady flow of positive reviews. Researches proved how powerful reviews are at building your brand’s online identity. So create a good customer experience and have your customers talk about it.

Most people distrust brands that have ratings below – or even above – four stars as it leaves a small margin of error at the top, though, brands with healthier average ratings are considerably more likely to see reviews converted to traffic and sales. Make sure to be aware of your negative reviews.

Tip: The way people talk about your brand is as essential as the fact that they’re saying your name. Having a highly-positive footprint will definitely drive more sales, simple math!

Online reviews expand the brand’s outreach.

What sounds better than expanding a conversation about your brand?

Good & bad reviews have a way of quickly spreading. So, encouraging consumers to review your brand is an easy gateway to expanding the brand’s outreach. When people have good things to say, they are also more likely to share their reviews on more than one place. This is great marketing strategies!

These social platforms are vital to your online presence, as Google collects data from these sites when building its own results ranking. Even on an individual level, having positive reviews can help push further reviews and bring you potential customers.

Tip: Reviews on your website are always useful, however, satisfied and happy customers are seriously more likely to share their thoughts on as many places as possible, which greatly increase your multi-channel footprint.

Online reviews facilitate the customer’s decision making.

Online reviews are essential to the decision-making process a customer goes through. A proactively-promoted brand is one that spreads your online visibility, and today, this means encouraging several ways for people to converse about your brand. Social media and Social Media channels are a great tool, though the ability for customers to take the conversation to other channels is a crucial component of your presence. You as well always want to keep an eye out for those negative reviews left behind.

Almost two-thirds of shoppers think that online reviews are an indispensable part of the decision-making process. When they want to know the best places to go and the places to avoid, they’re more likely to turn to the likes of Google and TripAdvisor than they are to a newspaper or even their friends and family!

Tip: By focusing on creating a steady-stream of reviews, your brand is more likely to show up when customers are making their next shopping decision. So, keep the conversation going. It can never be repeated enough, take care of your negative reviews so the positive ones outweigh the bad ones.

Positive reviews positively impact sales.

Case studies and theory can sometimes be ambiguous as reality doesn’t necessarily abide logic. But there’s a growing body of benchmark data proving that reviews do empirically lead to increased revenue. It is about marketing efforts. Putting your reviews towards social media marketing is a gold mine.

A study by the Harvard Business School came to that online reviews can demonstrably impact your bottom line. It is time to set a few business goals.

Higher sales is the award of brands that are viewed positively with excellent customer feedback, even improving your star rating can have a positive effect on your sales. It is all about the ranking factor.

According to the study, a one-star improvement can lead to a boost of 5% to 9% on sales in the short term.

The takeaway here is, reputation is one of the most treasured marketing assets a brand or a business can have. Sadly, marketers and business owners remain in the mindset of “managing” the reputation, that is, tending to it only if problems arise. Instead, we should be seizing this moment of radical change in what attracts and influences customers to brands.

Take time out to learn about your online reputation management. Localyser can be of help and guide your business in the positive direction. It is time to look after your reviews and search engine optimization.

With a little adjustment in thinking, we can win the future by asking our customers to speak up and by amplifying their voice.

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