By Sue Brady
It turns out that the easiest way to get consumers to review your business, is to ask them. And the best time to ask for a review is right after a customer has made a purchase.
Amazon is great at soliciting post-purchase reviews. Uber sends out an immediate request following a ride. Make it easy for your customers. According to BrightLocal, 68% of consumers will leave a review if asked to do so!
It’s no secret that consumer shopping behavior has changed in the last few years. Almost 50% of shoppers seek out online reviews prior to making a purchase. And 85% of consumers trust those reviews.
There are a few review sites where you need to make sure your business has a presence.
- Yelp
- BBB
- TripAdvisor (depending on your business)
As a side note, Facebook reviews are becoming more important. In fact, Yelp and Facebook are tied for being the most trusted review sites. Google comes in 3rd. BBB.org is 4th (source: Brightlocal’s October, 2017 Consumer Review Survey).
As a business, make sure you have the review feature enabled on your Facebook page. Here are instructions on how to do that.
How can you ask for those reviews? Here are a few suggestions:
- Send a ‘thank you for your purchase’ email and ask for the review there. You can include a link to the review site you prefer.
- If you aren’t comfortable asking at the time you say thank you, wait a few days and send a follow-up email that includes the request.
- Include a ‘review us’ on your company website that either goes directly to your preferred review site, or that offers choices.
Taking a few easy steps can make a huge difference in your online review presence.
- Identify review sites that are important to you.
- Make sure your company has a profile on those sites.
- Invite your customers to leave reviews.
This recent post focused on the importance of negative reviews. It’s worth the read!
Digital Marketing Musings 