Have you ever bought something just because someone you trust shared their positive experience with a specific product or the brand itself? Not only that – think of all the times you were about to make a bigger purchase. How did you come to your final decision?
If one of the things you’ve done was reading online reviews, you belong to the majority of people who do the same. 88% of customers rely on online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
This makes customer reviews a powerful tool for your marketing strategy. In this article, you will find out how showcasing customers' experiences can benefit your business and see some of the best product review examples that can drive your business success.
- Why are customer reviews so important?
- Key benefits of happy customer reviews
- 7 customer review examples that bring more value to your business
Why are customer reviews so important?
People are social creatures who have been learning from each other and sharing their experiences for ages. Yes, it might have started by using gestures to “talk” about the best forests to hunt and where to pick the juiciest berries, yet nothing has changed. In this modern age, we still rely on each other’s positive (or not so much) discoveries and more often than not, let them influence our decisions.
That leads to the concept of social proof. Social proof is the idea that people will make their decisions based on the opinions and actions of others, especially the people that they trust. Whether consciously or not, we depend on previous buyers’ experiences when considering buying something. You wouldn’t buy from a company after reading negative reviews on its website, would you? Neither would 94% of consumers, according to a ReviewTrackers’ report.
Customer reviews are a form of social proof, but they have more weight than any other type of it. What distinguishes customer reviews from, for instance, endorsements provided by celebrities (or influencers) is that they are much more genuine, easier to relate to, and trustworthy. They don’t carry that “advertisement vibe,” and that is exactly what makes them so important for any business.
Key benefits of happy customer reviews
Reviews increase brand transparency, thus building trust
As the demand for transparency is growing together with the e-commerce industry, the information about the brand that people can find online becomes utterly important. By collecting and showcasing genuine customer reviews, you, as the shop owner, indicate that you are confident in the quality you provide. As a result, shoppers also feel more confident when buying your products.
Reviews boost conversion rates and drive sales
As trust is one of the driving factors for better conversion rates, happy customer reviews help to get your buyers off the fence and make a positive impact on your sales. Those who still have doubts or can’t choose among several options can be gently nudged in the right direction by just a few positive product reviews, going from website visitors to customers.
Reviews increase online exposure
You might have not looked at customer reviews from the SEO perspective, but here's why you should. Google “thinks” of good customer reviews as meaningful content, which means that you get the chance to rank better in organic search results. Moreover, customer reviews are “content” that comes with the right keywords, which helps potential customers discover your business easier.
Reviews help you improve your business
Last but not least, customer reviews, whether positive or negative, point out what’s right or wrong about your business. As an owner, you will never be able to see your products and services the same way as your customers do, which makes feedback a useful source of learning. You might find out what to improve about the product itself, how to make your delivery process more efficient, etc. This gives you a better overview of the way your business is operating and how you can make it better.
7 customer review examples that bring more value to your business
1. A trustworthy review has a verified tag
The impact of happy customer reviews can be significant to the overall business growth. That’s why some businesses try to gain as many reviews as possible, and not always in an honest manner. By hiring people to write good things about them or doing it themselves, businesses blur the line between what’s real and fake. The result? Lost customers’ trust.
One way to prevent the doubt and appear more trustworthy is to collect verified reviews only, and that’s easy.
After your customers’ orders are fulfilled or delivered, they’ll get an email asking about their experience with your products and can follow a unique link to provide feedback. Their reviews will be marked as verified reviews when you display them in your store.
That’s what we call a win-win situation. For customers, it’s a guarantee that the reviews they’re reading are from people who purchased at your store. As a result, authentic reviews might encourage them to proceed to the checkout, which turns out great for your business.
PRO TIP: Sending a review request email is the best way to collect more verified reviews, especially if your email has a catchy subject line.
2. Stories build an emotional connection
Customer reviews that tell stories and provide some additional context have a higher chance of building an emotional connection with those who are still considering shopping in your store. Stories are personal and telling one can take time. But this is how you know that you’re reading something important and sincere.
Besides, many people go through the same things in life. Those who are already looking for a solution to fulfill their needs may find a story-telling review relatable to their situation. This can make them feel that the product they’re reading about is exactly what they need, thus inspiring them to get it.
3. Specified results encourage actions
Although reading stories is great, customer reviews that cut right to the chase are sometimes even better.
Customer reviews that specify the results can indicate what can a visitor expect if they make a purchase. They don’t usually form any emotional bonds – instead, they’re telling the direct impact the product has made on the previous buyer's everyday life, and that's what makes it powerful.
Deciding to buy something when you know it’ll bring you positive results is so much easier than questioning it blindly. If it worked for somebody else, there's a chance it'll also work for you, right?
4. Details help educate customers about your products
The more information customers have, the easier they can make a decision. When good customer reviews have already described most of the features and functionalities of your products, store visitors won’t have the wrong assumption or bombard your inbox with basic questions. That's right – think of such reviews as a kind of user-generated content that helps you deliver a better shopping experience.
Although such reviews can help customers learn a lot about your business, they do not always provide enough information for you – the owner. There might be some hidden information you'd like to know beyond the star ratings or the review itself, for instance, how the customers found you, whether or not they are willing to recommend your business to their friends, or what they’d like you to improve.
That’s where custom forms can come in handy. By adding custom questions in your review requests, you can learn more about your customer behavior, their experience with your brand, evaluate your customer service skills, or find out about any other concerns. Even if you get some negative feedback, think positively – it’s a great opportunity to improve.
5. A positive review response from an owner creates better relationships
Whether you received a positive or negative review, responding to it shows your prospects and customers that you take it seriously and are willing to improve their experience. By doing this, you are telling your customers that they won't be left alone if anything else goes wrong, and can be confident in shopping at your store.
Furthermore, by responding to a negative comment and trying your best to solve their issues, you can regain your trust from a disappointed customer. Responding to a 1 or 2-star review within 24 hours has 33% higher chances that a customer will come back and upgrade it by as much as 3 stars.
6. Real pictures in reviews describe the experiences more vividly
We all know that visuals have a special role in marketing. Hence, customer reviews that come with pictures can have a much stronger impact on your store visitor's decision to do (or not to do) business with you.
When shopping online, there's no better way to know how a product looks in real life than seeing someone using/wearing it already. By providing that authentic feeling, photos give a much clearer vision of whether a potential customer likes it or not, and/or whether that specific item would look nice in their surroundings.
This is the user-generated content that impacts purchasing decisions of almost 80% of people, according to Stackla. On the flip side, the similar content generated by the brand itself can impact only around 13% of customers. Makes sense, though – we already established that people rely on other customers' decisions, so enabling shoppers to add visual content to their reviews can greatly benefit your business.
7. Speaking the local language builds a stronger connection with your local customers
Nearly 90% of customers who do not speak or can’t read English admit that they won’t even consider shopping on an English website. Speaking the same language is one of those things that create the tightest bonds between people. If you’re running your businesses in different markets, multilingual reviews are essential. Not only for overcoming language barriers, though. Collecting and showcasing reviews in your customers’ languages help you avoid miscommunication and give a more personal feeling to your customers. Seeing that someone around there has successfully purchased and is satisfied with the process can result in another sale.
Seeking good customer reviews for business growth
Letting your customers speak for your brand is one of the best ways to drive business success, and in today’s highly competitive environment, this simply can’t be overlooked.
The good news is – customer reviews are entirely in your hands. Everything you do – from the first interaction with the customer to the post-purchase experience – shapes shoppers' opinions about your brand. Hopefully, you're doing it right and have a chance to benefit from them.
Take advantage of the right tools to ask your customers for reviews, and use these reviews as your social proof and feedback to improve your business. Showing what you do best is a great way to build trust and increase conversion rates while also boosting your business growth.
This article is contributed by Renata. Renata has been working with content for more than 5 years now. Started as an editor at a popular online entertainment magazine that mostly covers light, heartwarming topics, she then switched to writing copies for e-commerce. Currently, she writes content for Shopify apps – Senderium and HelpCenter app, aimed at making e-commerce merchants’ lives easier.
