Think back to the last time you bought a product online…
Your latest book purchase, your newest pair of shoes or even the last time you wanted to treat yourself and splurged on a fancy watch or luxurious jewelry — after considering the costs and researching on the best item that you could find, what was the cherry on top that convinced you to finalize your sale?
Honest product reviews and a lot of product ratings, right?
This makes sense. After all, there’s an increasing trend that leveraging social proof helps build successful and profitable Ecommerce brands: current data shows that nearly 70% of consumers rely on reviews and ratings when making a purchase.
What’s even more shocking is that 54% of respondents say they would try a product recommended by someone they know even if it had negative online reviews.
In terms of credibility and trust, social proof is definitely effective in encouraging sales. That’s why you’ve seen a lot of my content focusing on asking for product reviews and ratings lately.
Since we still have a lot of ground to cover, in today’s article, let’s jump into the five clever ways you can do to get more product reviews.
Sending a post-purchase follow-up email to ask for reviews is good. If there’s no action yet, sending a reminder email is better. And doing these essential tactics is the best:
1. Have an omnipresent on-website prompt for customers who are browsing your website.
Sure, email is one of the best ways to get reviews from your customers. But, every time you send an email, there’s a chance your customer isn’t available, isn’t willing, or isn’t at the right frame of mind to give an honest and helpful review, so having an omnipresent on-website prompt is the key.
This way, a customer who purchased from you before will see the on-website prompt and will be encouraged to give a product review because they’re currently browsing your website and reading product reviews from other customers.
2. In one-on-one conversations, simply ask for a review.
Your customer may initiate a one-on-one conversation if they need help with something. Here’s how you can get on their good side: resolve their concern satisfactorily and make sure they’re happy with the resolution.
Afterwards, personally ask for a review, whether via email or phone. A simple “Hey, nice chatting with you! It’s great to hear this product feedback from you. Can you please go to the website and leave us a review? It would help us tremendously. Thank you so much!”
3. Implement periodic, bulk review requests.
Identify which product you want to request the reviews for. Your target product can be your newest one which doesn’t have any reviews yet, or, it can also be your best-selling product which needs a boost in social proof to encourage sales.
After identifying the product, look into the product’s purchase history. Find the people who bought this item in the last 6 months and in the last 2 weeks.
Don’t just send the email yet. You also need to segment this further by identifying which customers have not left a review yet during this time period.
Once your list is finalized, simply send them an email in bulk (with their personalized name, of course) and ask them to leave a product review. Schedule this practice regularly — you can do this monthly, quarterly or yearly, depending on your personal preference.
4. Use incentives — coupon or loyalty points.
Incentives are there for a reason: to promote customer engagement and boost sales over the long run.
Take advantage of your company’s incentives by asking customers to leave product reviews in exchange with discount vouchers, store credit or loyalty points.
You can also make this more interesting by asking more and giving more. For example, you can simply ask for a review and give them 5 loyalty points as a reward. Or, you can ask for a review plus a photo (or a social media shout-out) and give them double the points. Tweak this as you’d like.
5. Let your best customers know where their reviews are being showcased. It’ll make their day.
Sometimes, you don’t need to spend a ton of money just so you can partner with an influencer or a highly specialized brand ambassador. You just need to identify your best customers: they’re the ones who’ve repeatedly bought from you, left multiple product reviews and are generally satisfied with your products and service.
Let them know that their feedback is much appreciated, and then ask them for more information:
- What services can you improve on?
- What purchase made them the most pleased with your company?
- What do they love the most about your brand?
And then don’t let all these amazing data go to waste! Spread them. Market them. Highlight them on your website and on your social media platforms. Then tell your best customers exactly where they can find their very own testimonials (alongside their photo, if they want). This’ll make them feel like a million bucks! And more likely to patronize your business.
Hopefully, this article was helpful in encouraging product reviews from your customers. Which of these tactics would you like to get started with as soon as possible? Hit me up in the comments below and let me know! Cheers
Originally published at conversio.com on October 23, 2018.
