As a consumer, you’re the most powerful person in the relationship between business and customer. You can promote businesses that treat you well, warn other customers away from businesses that let you down, and create change in the marketplace based on your experiences as an everyday user of products and services. One of the most important ways to wield this power is reviewing businesses online.
The Power of Customer Review Sites
Not too long ago, there was a time when people had no choice but to rely on others’ opinions to decide what restaurants to visit or what products to buy. These days everyone is an expert! All consumers can access online review sites, where millions of reviews can be found with a quick click. You don’t need to ask friends for recommendations anymore; you can just go online and read through hundreds of customer reviews before deciding.
And because these reviews are written by real customers who have used (and loved!) these businesses, they carry more weight than any marketing campaign ever could. In fact, research shows that 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations from friends and family.
That’s why it’s so important to leave reviews for companies you do business with. Your honest feedback will help other potential customers make informed decisions about which products and services they want to use. So here are some tips for leaving great reviews.
Reasons You Should Leave a Review
1. If You Have Something To Say: The purpose of a review is to share your honest thoughts about your experience—whether it was good or bad.
If you liked something, tell people! This is a great way to spread positivity across your community and share recommendations on places or things that helped meet your needs well. On the other hand, if something wasn’t right, speak up too! It’s important to let others know when they can avoid making similar mistakes themselves.
2.It Helps Other Consumers Make Informed Decisions: A review is one of the best ways for consumers to get information about a product or service before making a purchase decision. By reading reviews by others who have already bought and used a product, you’ll be able to learn about what worked (and didn’t work) for them.
3.Review Sites Help Businesses Improve Their Products And Services: One of the most effective ways to improve customer satisfaction is listening to customers. When you take time out of your day to write a review, you’re sharing valuable insight into how businesses can improve their products and services based on your personal experiences.
4.Leaving Reviews Can Help Your Reputation Online: Every time you post a new review online, it creates another opportunity for someone else to find out about your brand or company. Even if you don’t plan to sell your own products or services anytime soon, leaving a few reviews can help build trust among potential customers.
Where to Leave Reviews Online
Online reviews play a huge role in how consumers shop. So if you’re a business owner, it’s in your best interest to encourage customers to leave reviews. With Google featuring review data prominently in its search results (and penalizing those who do not follow Google’s new policies), online review sites are vying for your attention.
Yelp!, OpenTable, TripAdvisor, and Amazon, to name just a few. The most important thing is that you make sure that you have an established presence on at least one of these sites.
You can also ask customers to leave reviews on their own social media channels like Facebook or Twitter, which many people use when they want to share their experiences with friends and family members. Finally, don’t forget about local directories like CitySearch or YellowPages—they still get a lot of traffic from local residents looking for information about local businesses.
How To Write A Review
Reviews are helpful—but how do you write them? Here are a few tips.
- What did you like or dislike about the product?
- Did it work as advertised?
- Did it meet your expectations?
- What did you find frustrating or inconvenient about using it (if anything)? Would you recommend others purchase and use it, too?
- Why or why not?
- Is there anything else that would be useful for someone considering purchasing to know before they buy (for example, related products)?
- Do you remember having toys similar to today’s popular devices, such as iPads or iPhones? What were they like, and how did they compare to their modern counterparts?
That’s all for now!
Happy reviews!
