Online reviews from customers refer to an innovative feedback method that has recently started in the field of marketing and customer relations. Getting customer reviews and opinions from customers plays an important role in creating trends in marketing. Sharing the impressions transparently in the brand review process will have a positive effect on building trust in your brand. In this week’s topic, let’s talk about how valuable customer feedback is.
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What is a customer review?
Feedback, which we define as customers’ comments, is a major resource for your brand’s growth path. As a store owner, it is important to listen to your customers and keep communication at the highest level. For instance, listening to your customer who has a problem with the purchases made from your online store and facilitating the process, because customer satisfaction and loyalty start right here. This feedback guides managers’ conscious decision-making processes.
Why is customer feedback important?
The easiest answer to the question “Why is customer feedback important?” is to make sure that your clients are pleased and loyal.
Feedback is as relevant to the store owner as it is to other potential customers. In other words, potential customers try to get information about the store by reading reviews before shopping, and this directly affects their decision to shop at that store.
If there are a lot of positive reviews about your business, potential customers tend to purchase from your store. PowerReviews, 98% of consumers say customer reviews are an important resource when making purchasing decisions. This rate was 89% in 2018. We can say that reviews become even more important.
According to Brightlocal research, 46% of consumers feel that online business reviews are as trustworthy as personal recommendations from friends or family. We can see the impact of customer reviews and how much they impact buying habits.
Both positive and negative feedback are acceptable. Your positive feedback motivates the brand. However, it is necessary to learn from negative feedback. On the other hand, no matter what, customers should be returned for the feedback they provide. You can send them an email saying “Thank you for your feedback” and even send them a discount coupon.
How to Collect Feedback?
You can use many different channels to gather feedback. These channels may vary depending on customer segmentation. You can start by deciding which part of the customer experience you want to improve by asking questions that match the characteristics of each group.
After collecting customer feedback, it is important to keep track of it. Make improvements to your business using the obtained data or reviews. Make sure to announce to your customers that you have taken action according to their feedback. Thanking positive feedback will also please the consumers. You make your communication stronger by showing your customers that you are listening to them. This is what is expected to happen in customer relations.
Further, there is a risk of creating a negative perception among consumers when negative comments made on social media are not responded to. However, most businesses do not particularly care about negative feedback since they act with the logic of “I saved the day”.
Ask for a customer review
There are many different ways to request a review. Choose an approach that fits the language of your brand and the customer segment you want feedback from. We have compiled a few commonly used methods for you below.
Customer feedback survey and question form
You can ask many questions in such a survey, but the critical point is the choice of questions. To get effective and useful results, keep in mind the following rules:
- Create customer personas and create surveys accordingly.
- Ask about only one topic in a question.
- Keep the scale of the questions the same throughout the survey.
- You can use pictures, icons, or emojis to keep the response rate high.
Emailing and SMS
Collecting feedback via email and sms is a very common method. Let’s examine the rules that should be considered when using this method.
- Create content compatible with a mobile phone or tablet. (Responsive design)
- Include a personalized thank-you page or note section for customers, especially dissatisfied ones.
Reviews sites
While you shouldn’t limit yourself to a single review site, don’t feel like you should target every single site on this list. Instead, follow the services that best suit your offering and your target audience.
There are both B2C and B2B review sites. You can choose from them according to your target customers. Some examples are Yelp, TripAdvisor, Trustpilot, Capterra, TestFreaks, Foursquare, etc.
When you start gaining a wider reach with the reviews you get from your website, you will have a positive impact on other profiles associated with your business. This includes the Google Business Profile (GBP). With GBP, you can collect and display your comments. You can optimize your business profile as more customer reviews make it more visible. This is because of the ranking signal that Google uses to show results in search. This means the more comments you get, the more your profile will be displayed to potential customers.
Especially local businesses can gain a competitive advantage through their Google Business account or Facebook page to understand the value of customer reviews. Therefore, local companies without reviews run the risk of being ignored when customers Google search for their product or service.
By asking your customers for feedback, you let them know that their opinions are important to you. By involving them in shaping your company, you make them feel more connected to it. Listening to customers helps you build stronger relationships with them. This is the shortest way to gain real brand ambassadors. And besides gaining new customers with these referrals, it is the cheapest way to become more trustworthy in the eyes of your current and potential customers.
To summarize, turning a negative situation or a crisis into an opportunity becomes easier if feedback is given importance. In this way, a business perception that cares about its customers and is solution-oriented can be created for the consumer.
Regardless of the sector, the more a firm cares, interacts, communicates, and values its customers’ feedback, the more ideas, suggestions, and constructive criticism it receives from the customers about the brand, business, product, or service.
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