Sarah Jacobson 
Online reviews are a fantastic addition to your marketing and promotions plan. You can use them to attract new customers and bring existing customers back to buy more from you. Sometimes businesses are wary of customer reviews, but if you approach them correctly, reviews can be a great way to grow your business.
In today’s world, customers expect to be able to get a complete understanding of a product or service before committing their cash. So if they buy it and it is not what they were expecting, they will make sure everyone knows. This is particularly true for online purchases. But, on the other hand, customers are also quick to praise stuff that they love.
In the past, a customer would go into a shop and possibly talk to a salesperson to decide which item they wanted to buy. They might have asked family or friends for their opinion on larger ticket items or read up a review in a consumer magazine like Which?. Now, much of this process happens online, making it much easier for people to air their views. Having control of the review process is essential for any aspiring business. Social media means that your reputation is on the line.
It is essential to take notice of what people are saying about your business. You cannot just ignore online reviews, and you cannot stop people from commenting on your service. Whether you set out to illicit reviews or not, people will post about their experience. Unfortunately, people are more likely to take to social media when things go wrong. Therefore, if you want people to create good reviews, you probably need to prompt your customers with their feedback. You can manage your reputation with Rep.co.
Initially, this can be quite daunting, but do not be afraid of hearing something you do not want to hear. Even negative feedback can be regarded as part of market research. You can turn an unhappy customer into a contented one by listening and taking action. It is time to be proactive, get your business listed on the review websites, and ask your customers for their feedback. Business review sites tend to be either peer-to-peer pages or professional review sites.
Professional review sites are usually industry specific. These types of reviews have always existed, but they used to be published in newspapers and magazines. Professional critics will write a review about the latest TV shows, books, and films. We often wait for the critics’ opinions before booking cinema tickets or buying a book.
There are now entertainment review sites like IMDb for movies, and the London Review of Books is available in print and digital formats. The online casino industry also uses professional reviewers to inform customers about the games on offer; for example, gambling experts from kasynainternetowe23.net compare which operators have the best services and promotions.
When these reviews professional reviews are published, the movie distributor, casino, or book publisher proudly displays them and uses the reviews to build confidence and sales. Great reviews will make it to the promotional poster or even book jacket! Peer-to-peer sites can either be generic, like Google and Trust Pilot, or industry-specific, like Trip Advisor. Google My Business has more than 158 million monthly hits in the US alone. Over 3 million people post reviews on Trust Pilot every month. If you are not keeping up with the reviews people post, you could be missing out on a large market.
You need to set up an account for your business on these sites, and then you can embed links from them onto your home page, so the reviews update automatically. After a sale has been made and you know the customer is in receipt of the goods, send an email or text with a link so that they can leave a review. You can share the good reviews on your social media pages – it’s always good to blow your own trumpet every now and then.
