Ok so you have a website promoting your products and services and you’re starting to see some results from being online. This is great right….?
But along with that traction comes the online word of mouth those new customers are creating, they are starting to leave their reviews on your business. Just how important are those reviews? Do they really matter?
First let’s look at why people look at reviews online
Typically, there are four reasons that a person would look for an online review:
To get social proof from customers that have used the product or service
To learn more about the product they are buying
To reduce the possibility of making a bad purchase
To get a better sense of the product’s benefits and limitations
Now let’s look at the stats...
According to the latest online review statistics, nearly four in five (79 percent) consumers say they trust the reviews they read online as much as personal recommendations (BrightLocal, 2020).
Emarketer found that visual reviews are particularly compelling for today’s shoppers. Around 62% of customers indicate they’d be more willing to buy a product if they can view the photos and videos left behind by other customers.
The purchase likelihood for a product with five reviews is 270% greater than a product with 0 reviews. [Source: Spiegel Research Center, How Online Reviews Influence Sales]
Customer reviews are essential to the ongoing success of any brand. In fact, a whopping nine out of 10 people view online reviews before committing to a product or service. Nearly nine out of ten (89 percent) consumers worldwide make the effort to view reviews before buying products (Trustpilot, 2020).
According to experts from Bright Local, around 39% of customers over the age of 55 say they trust reviews as much as personal recommendations. In the lower age group, the level of trust is even higher. Around 89% of consumers aged 35 to 54 say they trust reviews as much as personal recommendations.
``A proof is a proof. What kind of a proof? It's a proof. A proof is a proof. And when you have a good proof, it's because it's proven`` - Jean Chrétien
Bottom line, customer reviews and testimonials matter. In fact, if you learn to control the message and get out in front of your customer reviews, they can be one of the largest contributing factors to your company’s growth.
In future articles we will look at how to do exactly that and more, but for now, if you have any questions about reviews and how we can help, be sure and reach out to us and let’s chat.