Best Practices for Effective Online Reviews Management

If you’re in brand marketing, word-of-mouth, internet search results, and paid advertising are all well-known forms of consumer communications. But you may also have a potentially untapped opportunity: online reviews platforms. Online reviews are an often-overlooked channel that, although they may seem daunting due to the rules and regulations that marketers must follow, can offer a wealth of value to your communications strategy.

To reveal the untapped power and influence of online reviews, I’ve gathered a few statistics for you. Recent studies have shown that a staggering 89% of customers won’t take action until after they’ve read online reviews, with only 6% reporting they do not trust customer reviews at all. Moreover, 15% of users will go as far as to say they do not trust businesses without reviews. This is a reminder not only of the prevalence of online reviews in your consumer’s decision-making process, but also the importance of how companies should be utilizing these platforms to reach consumers.

And, if you’re worried about potential negative reviews, I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to be. According to Brightlocal, only 6% of consumers exclusively leave negative reviews, whereas an astounding 37% of consumers report leaving only positive reviews. Additionally, negative reviews offer more opportunity than what we as marketers may assume. Negative reviews not only communicate potential issues or areas for improvement, but they also give companies the chance to respond directly and make the consumer experience better.

As I’ve observed in our agency work, a comprehensive online reviews strategy can improve search engine results and rankings, increase customer trust and brand credibility, and establish a line of communication with consumers.

Developing Your Online Reviews Strategy

Unsurprisingly, Google and Yelp are far and above the preferred platforms for consumer reviews. However, Facebook reviews have been on the rise in recent years, adding to the list of platforms you should consider when developing any online reviews strategy.

To understand what makes each of these review platforms unique, a great place to start is by distinguishing what can and can’t be done on each. Here’s the breakdown:

After understanding the dos and don’ts of each platform and deciding which makes sense for your online reviews program, you can begin developing your strategy. For your online review strategy to be both comprehensive and effective, our agency has developed a process to get things started.

• Agreement on philosophy and the goals you’re hoping to achieve.
• Audit of existing online reviews for benchmarking and identifying key themes.
• Develop library of responses and set response processes.
• Regular monitoring and responding to online reviews in a timely manner.
• Leverage positive and negative reviews in your marketing initiatives.

Best Practices for Responding to Online Reviews

One of the most critical aspects to any online reviews strategy is managing and responding to reviews, establishing a consistent cadence and key messaging. And, as more reviews are left for your company, the positive, negative, and neutral reviews become an open forum for consumer feedback and act as an FAQ of sorts for prospective consumers. Because of this, how and when your company responds to reviews is crucially important.

To help shape an online reviews response process, here are a few best practices to keep in mind:

• Respond to every review – positive, negative, or neutral. This feedback loop can also help inform your brand messaging and product development.
• Keep your responses professional and sincere, while maintaining key messages and brand voice.
• Personalize your responses with reviewer’s name. And use an understanding and remorseful tone in your response, when responding to negative reviews.
• Respond quickly and within a timeframe that makes sense for your company and industry. Remember, consistency is everything.

So, What’s Next?

Online reviews platforms offer a direct line of communication with consumers and are highly prized by your prospective customers. To tap into this potential and ensure that no consumer reviews are left unheard, developing an online reviews strategy to listen to, respond to, and manage reviews is a vital addition to any communications plan.

While this is just the beginning to understanding online reviews and developing a comprehensive management and response strategy, these best practices can help pave the path forward. To learn how Maccabee Public Relations can help guide and improve your online reviews management strategy, visit our website.