“Most businesses in Trinidad and Tobago don’t ask you for a review.”

Why Reviews Are Important

…to which I say, you can tell by their marketing.

Reviews, why are they so important? Why can’t the client just click a link and write what they feel to write? And, why aren’t pictures or certain types of videos considered reviews or enough to be used as a review?

Write A Review Based On Your Experience!

If you were to seek out local service providers or businesses with reviews, you’ll commonly get “reviews” that either sell a laundry list of services or sound like:

1. “It was a great experience.”
2. “I learned a lot.”
3. “It definitely exceeded my expectations.”
4. “You’re a transformer.”
5. Just a string of stars.

But that means nothing to someone with a certain result or outcome in mind!

Read: How Much Is “Almost Free” Costing You In the Long Run?

Therefore, vague reviews are a result of the client’s lack of clarity on where the transformation was. While before and after pictures can show this, ONLY when images are paired with words it impacts communication by 65%. This is why well-crafted reviews are important. When you’re in an industry already known for missing the mark in this area, and you’re approaching reviews the right way, you’re a freak to the ideal prospect.

95% Of Companies Rely On THEIR Reviews To Drive Their Business

I know small service business owners in Trinidad and Tobago don’t grasp just how important reviews truly are. Because they’ll often argue why the act of thinking about their experience is frustrating to a client probably because they themselves don’t want the work of being committed to delivering on their brand’s promise.

Yes, folks, the cat’s out of the bag!

Your reviews aren’t just feedback — they’re a critical part of your marketing strategy! And time has expired on the current way local businesses are leaving feedback. Too often as customers or clients ourselves we experience the impact of a business not actively managing the quality of what’s being said — yes I said manage.

Let Your FREAK Flag Fly

As a 1–3 man show, you think your tools are purely physical, but your business exists online too. Capturing the essence of what makes you special to whom and why, means your processes (and not just your software), are also tools except this bite-sized part of an entire system, support the most important experience of the brand for the client.

Here is where you manage what needs to be said.

Surprise! When clients start working with you, they are buying into your entire process — not just two-thirds of it. Failing to capture the complete experience in a review robs your brand of its marketing value.

Another way this feedback loop works (if you have a good design strategy) is that it provides future prospects with clarity on the transformation. So they aren’t disinterested when it’s time to speak about their experience, which leads me to conclude this article on the topic of

Using Certain Types Of Videos As Reviews!

If you were to seek local video reviews, you can tell the person isn’t excited to speak about their experience.

The “deer-in-the-headlights” stare is often a giveaway — they don’t fully understand how the service has impacted them moving forward.

I remember when the CEO of XN General Insurance said “I’m satisfied” amongst other things in the middle of reviewing her brief. I had to hide what I was going through internally because it was such a labor of love to create a system that is dedicated to visually branding a client’s business.

This is why I can say when the business owner lacks this clarity on what’s valuable about their services, so will their client. And when you can’t convert a prospect into a client, you have a marketing problem which is why certain types of “video reviews” can hurt you.

In a choir full of small service businesses it’s difficult to BE HEARD when YOU’RE ALL SINGING THE SAME SONG, and when you haven’t yet FOUND YOUR VOICE, it makes it even harder to BUILD BRAND AWARENESS. Ensure every review — whether written or in video form — captures the true value of your services and watch your freak flag fly.

If you need help with your review strategy, book The BrandConductor Design Interview.

I am The Owner and Visual Brand Strategist at The BrandTUB

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