Review Management and the Art of Responding to Critics

Many business owners spend a lot of time on positive, proactive marketing, but considering that nearly 90% of consumers look to online reviews before making a purchase, you may be missing a key portion of your business' digital reputation. Whether you own a large, successful company or a small shop, these tips will help you convert more potential consumers to customers with a few easy steps. 

First, some facts. Google My Business has become integral to click through rates. Six out of 10 new consumers now look to the platform for reviews on local business. Your Yelp, Facebook and TripAdvisor (where applicable) profiles will also pop up below Google reviews and are frequently the next stop for customers. (If you haven't claimed your business on these sites, this should be your first step to gain control of reviews). Word of mouth matters to consumers, but these days, online reviews are an acceptable substitution for word of mouth according to 91% of 18-34 year olds. Reviews can be contested by business owners, but rarely result in the review being removed, making reviews more legitimate to consumers. In fact, nearly 70% of consumers are more likely to consider purchasing or hiring a business with positive online reviews. 

Positive reviews aren't enough. More than half of consumers (57%) will only consider a business with 4 stars or more, and the number of people who value the quantity of online reviews climbs each year (49% in 2019 vs 35% in 2016). So what do you do to encourage people to change their rating and potential customers to trust your brand and business ethics? You must respond to negative online reviews, even better if you take the time to respond to all online reviews. 

How you manage reviews matters more than any other method employed in your digital marketing strategy. Eighty-nine percent of consumers read the business owner's response to online reviews, while 63% of consumers say that a business has never responded to their review. This is a bad business practice. Your customers want to know that if they do encounter an issue with your business, you will immediately and satisfactorily fix the problem. 

Responding to good reviews is easy, but how do you respond to negative reviews?

• First, reply to the negative review with an apology.
• Let them know you would like to fix the issue and ask if you can have them contact you and provide contact information, preferably an email address or ask them to direct message your page. 
• Offer a discount towards a future purchase, or offer a free replacement or meal. Use your best judgement to come up with a suitable solution for both of you. 
• Where appropriate, follow up with the negative reviewer to see if they took advantage of your offer. Ask if they had a better experience. If they have, you can ask them if they would consider editing their review to update their rating and message to reflect their better experience. 
  
  

Tips: 

• If you own a business that produces a product, consider following up with an email a few days to a week after you ship the order. This is easily achieved through an email marketing website like MailChimp or Sendinblue. Encourage them to leave a positive review with their experience (make sure to provide links) and invite them to contact you directly if they have a complaint. Large companies will generally use a no-reply email address for this, but I recommend using a monitored reply address. This makes it easy for your customers to reach out with concerns. 
• If your business is a brick and mortar shop or restaurant, make sure to encourage customers to leave reviews on receipts, business cards and other literature you can tuck into bags and leave on a counter. QR codes can be a helpful solution to getting people to the right review links. You can also request contact information for a newsletter or offers. (Make sure you have permission to contact them before using any contact information or you may be in violation of GDPR). 
• Try to prevent bad reviews before they start. Any good small business marketing should include some level of customer relations management (CRM).
• Offer discounts or free product for referrals and reviews.
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​Expect review management to take time, especially if you have a busy business. Social media marketing is time consuming. Part of digital marketing for B2C businesses is staying on top of customer relations, and you can easily expect this aspect of your business to add an additional 2-6 hours of work per week, depending on the size of your business. The return on investment of your time is worth the effort in customer retention and attraction. 

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Don't have the time? Not sure how to proceed? I've got you covered. Contact me to learn more about CRM, review management and bulk email services. We offer options to fit every business' budget. ​