The Impact of Online Reviews on Your Business

When we were kids, we were taught that a single apple can spoil the whole basket.

People are willing to ditch a perfectly good basket of apples because of one rotten piece.

Sounds so unfair, doesn’t it?

Even though this little proverb was a lesson on keeping good company― it’s actually a pretty cool analogy to explain the impact of online reviews on your business.

Think about it. We’ve all heard stories about how a single review has pulled a brand’s image down. Or how people are skipping local businesses for international services because of the latter’s stellar reviews.

Admit it or not. Online reviews are a vital part of your business’ virtual presence. Moreover, they’ve got the potential to leave a substantial effect on your bottom line.

Do you want to know how?

Here’s a definitive guide to understand the importance of online reviews for your business:

The Reasons: Why Do Customers Read Online Reviews?

Did you know? 9 out of 10 shoppers check out online reviews before they select a business.

This statistic indicates that reading reviews before a purchase is a pretty common habit. That’s because smart shoppers like to make informed decisions.

Unlike a brick and mortar store, consumers can’t test, try or feel these products. That means they are basically taking a big gamble when they make a purchase. In order to ensure that they won’t get ripped off, they check online reviews.

They look at online reviews to get the answers of questions like:

• Is this the best product in the market?
• What are its best features?
• Is the company trustworthy?
• How well is this product being received by the general public?
• Does the customer service team address negative reviews?

The list is endless. But you get the point. Your target audience likes to thoroughly assess the product before they head over to the virtual cash counter.

 More importantly, they want to ensure that your services are reliable. This is the kind of information that your customer feedback offers them.

Why do they trust reviews over company claims?

It’s pretty simple. Your company and any other advocate has only one aim in mind: to sell the product.

In contrast, your customers don’t have any ulterior motives. They’re just there to express their feeling about the product. So in that way, they appear more sincere and reliable than the brand marketing them.

Additionally, they tend to believe that a customer has more authority over the product than the brand. That’s because, in their mind, other consumers have a better understanding of what they need.

So they trust their assessments over the product page.

The Causes: How Does It Influence Customer Behavior?

In this digitally inclined world, most customer transactions are conducted online. The whole purpose of your virtual marketing campaign is to lure interested buyers to your online store.

But what happens next?

There are two likely scenarios:

1. The prospective customer will be persuaded by your compelling copies and buy the product/service
2. The potential buyer will browse for online testimonials and reviews

In most cases, the first action only occurs if an interested buyer has previously bought something from your store. Or if you’re one of those high profile names like IKEA, Burberry or Heinz that don’t require a background check.

This is why we consider the second scenario. In most cases, it’s been observed that online reviews have three major functions.

Let’s look at the roles the online reviews play in manipulating their decision:

1. First Impressions

Imagine you’re planning to go dine out with friends. But the gang is divided on where they want to go.

This is when someone pulls out their phone and says, “Google, show the restaurants near me”. Once the search results come in, most people will look at the reviews rather than the menus.

 That’s because you want to eat at the trendiest place in town. (And you want to avoid food poisoning.)

Are we right? That’s why online reviews matter so much for new businesses. They’re often the first interaction with your target audience.

 It acts as a reflection of how well the company is performing and if it’s worth the investment.

This is why you need a bunch of reviews to help speak for you. Without them, the potential client won’t have any tangible proof to make their decisions.

This will lead them to skip Google’s suggestion and opt for a business that does have reviews.

2. Credibility Checker

Online reviews are also used to verify if the company is reliable enough. You’ll fail this litmus test if you don’t have reviews. But things aren’t that easy when you do have reviews. That’s because customers will obviously be skimming them over to search for negative reviews.

This is where it gets a tad bit tricky. Consumers confess that they’re more likely to read multiple positive reviews before they make a purchase. However, they will ditch the prospective sale if they find a single negative review.

So just like our proverbial ‘rotten apple’―a single negative review has the potential to ruin your reputation. It doesn’t matter if the other reviews are positive or not. Nor do people care to see how great your services are.

The fact of the matter is that bad reviews can darken all your company’s future prospects.

So in a way, they have the power to decide the fate of your company’s future.

3. Word of Mouth

Each customer review tells a tale. And you want it to be a happy one. That’s because these reviews can reel in more customers.

Social media tends to lead the pack here because it has more options to share these stories. Hence, the new trend of viral marketing. Although statistics do show that only 30% of your customers have the urge to share a positive review.

Whereas almost 40% of the customers wind up writing about their bad experiences― so this might tip the scales against you.

But you can still strive through with glowing feedback. That’s because online reviews help you cash in the millennial feeling of FOMO.

Don’t believe us?

Let’s give you a current example: Marvel’s popular superhero franchise just pulled in some big numbers at the box office. Within the first few days of its release, the movie has raked in around 400 million bucks. You’d say that this was because of their famous star cast and separate movies. Those are factors that played a role in this successful run.

However, you can’t rule out the fact that the Avenger’s popularity rapidly grew in popularity after the ‘Infinity War’. That’s because the crowds were going gaga over the climax. And that’s the only thing people were talking about for months. As a result, many people who didn’t care about the Marvel universe got interested in the movie. This led them to binge watch the movies before the last one released.

Long story short, popularity can actually win over the public. It might not be a victory as big as this blockbuster. But it’ll still garner interest in your company.

The Benefits: How Can You Use It Influence Your Performance?

1.  Rank Higher

Remember that Google search example a few headings back?  

Local businesses benefit from it due to their proximity to the customer. But location isn’t the only variable that helps determine your rank. Apart from your location, your back-links play a big role in raising your rank on a search engine. This is where online review boards like Yelp, Houzz, Angie’s List and Trip Advisor come in. The more accounts and reviews you have, the more proof you gather for your credibility.

Moreover, you also collect back-links with the help of these virtual spaces. This helps search engines like Google to determine if you deserve a spot on the first page. Therefore, you must create a company profile on all relevant forums. And always remember to sync it with your official websites.

Moreover, you also collect back-links with the help of these virtual spaces. This helps search engines like Google to determine if you deserve a spot on the first page. Therefore, you must create a company profile on all relevant forums. And always remember to sync it with your official websites.

2. Build Relationships

Online reviews aren’t just a testimony of how wonderful a product is. It also shows the onlookers how you deal with disgruntled customers. That’s why it’s really important for you to reply to those negative reviews.

Then follow up after you’ve taken some action to resolve a problem. When a first timer will see these interactions, they’ll know that you are aware of the issues with the company. And that you’re doing the best to fix them.

Moreover, customers feel valued and special when their positive review gets a shout out. It lets them know that you do care when people compliment you. And that they are an important part of your business.

Here are a few tips to use customer feedback to boost engagement:

• Frequently check your social media pages/review sites for feedback
• Always reply to customer feedback whether it’s good/bad
• Avoid discarding negative reviews or ignoring them
• Never be rude or abrasive towards customers who have written a complaint
• Try to follow up with your customers

You never know, these efforts might be a chance to turn things over and create loyal customers. Ones who acknowledge that despite a major setback, you were willing to make amends.

3. Boost Your Sales

Lastly, online reviews help you reach that elusive bottom line. We’ve already discussed how positive reviews can lead to more conversions. So now we’ll focus on how you can utilize customer feedback for your own use.

The first thing you can do is use positive feedback as your official testimonials on your website. Not only will this serve as a shout out. But it’ll also be a way of letting the new visitors what kind of experience they can expect from your business.

However, this isn’t where the story ends. You need to also look into the negative reviews and use them as an assessment. It might be hard to go through the harsh ones. But it’s important to get an insight into what the customers are saying about your business. 

From slow delivery services, rude customer support team to poor product performance― negative reviews highlight all the bad things you overlooked. This, in turn, will allow you to figure out the weaker points of your operations.

 And once you fix those, you’ll be moving a step further with your sales.

The Plan: Working Your Way towards Better Reviews

So, you see, online reviews are a great asset for your business. They have a big impact on your brand awareness, its reputation and the sales too. Therefore, you need to do all you can to get customer feedback. This might prove harder than it looks.

That’s because even though buyers love to read reviews. They aren’t as forthcoming when it comes to writing them. Thus, you need to use some clever strategies to get some response from their end.

Here are a few things that you can do:

• Send mandatory customer feedback surveys via email a few days after the transaction
• Place social plug-ins in your official website to increase user engagement
• Train your customer service providers on how to reply to negative reviews
• Create competitions and giveaways for people who share reviews

The general idea is to use every opportunity you can get to ask for a review.

The Bottom Line

In a nutshell, online reviews are a big part of your public image. Even if you turn a blind eye to the customers ranting about their bad experience―your consumers won’t follow your read. So whether you want it or not the reviews will affect your conversions, ratings and reputation.

In fact, the more agitated the complainers get the more drastic measures they take. So don’t let your customer reviews be the source of controversy for you. Instead, start paying equal attention to all kinds of reviews.

Understanding the customer sentiment and respond appropriately. All these efforts will help you a great deal in the long run. Moreover, it’ll give you an edge over the rivals that have yet to learn its importance.

That’s it! This is all you needed to know about how online reviews impact your business. Hopefully, this guide served its purpose and you’re ready to look at reviews from a fresher perspective.