Turn Customer Reviews into a Potent Marketing Tool

By Mariana Goodwin

---

Did you know that customers are one of the most useful tools a business can use for marketing and boosting brand reputation? What better way to show other potential customers about your business, than through existing customers who have already had a positive experience! 

People want assurance when making a purchase. They want to know that other people have enjoyed the product or service and that it was useful. A simple and effective way to promote this is via the use of online customer reviews. In today’s digital world, many eCommerce platforms like Shopify allow customers to leave reviews relating to your products or business. These, in turn, can be amazing marketing tools, and help bring in new customers.

In the article below, we look at some simple ways that you can utilize customer reviews to improve your business reputation and sales!

1. Publish customer reviews on your website homepage

The key aspect of customer reviews is their visibility. Reviews are most effective when they can easily be read by potential customers. As a result, many businesses have a section on their website homepage dedicated to customer reviews. This is typically a scrolling review feed or a simple band on a scrolling homepage. The key is to make the reviews obvious and to emphasize the positive aspects. For example, you could consider making keywords bold, or adding a star rating. Don’t overload your homepage with reviews, but adding 3-5 in a logically placed section can help greatly.

2. Add customer reviews to enhance the buying experience on product pages

Aside from having things like a logo (you can use tools like Logocreator.io to make a logo) and product images, product pages should also include reviews. If you look at popular online stores like Amazon, you can always find a review section. This typically includes a star rating system, and review comments from customers. Many online store builders have product comment or product review plugins that you can add to your eCommerce store.

3. Share amazing customer reviews on social media

Social media is a powerful marketing tool in its own right. You can reach thousands of people and build a huge audience with minimal effort and expense. It is therefore a great idea to post customer reviews on your social media platforms. Always obtain permission first to repost customer reviews as this could break data protection laws - you could include an option on the review submission form that states customers are happy for their reviews to be shared.\

When promoting products on social media, you could include snippets of customer reviews underneath the product info to improve its attractiveness.

4. Request customer reviews for third-party rating sites like Trust Pilot

Customer reviews are not only useful on your website. They can also be incredibly powerful when posted on third-party platforms. The wider you can spread your reputation, the easier you can improve your brand rep, and gain new custom. Consider asking customers to submit reviews to third-party websites like Trust Pilot and Google Businesses. Trust Pilot, in particular, is often considered a modern benchmark for quality. If you can get a high rating on this website it will help boost your business reputation and sales greatly.

Reputation is highly important for business. Customers want assurance when spending their hard-earned money. This is why real customer reviews are so beneficial. Positive reviews from actual customers let potential new customers see exactly the quality of what they are potentially buying. Using various online methods, you can share these reviews, and put them to good use.