If we have a group of customers who are satisfied with our products and services, we treasure an asset that we often do not know how to take advantage of: their positive opinions . Because there is nothing better than your comments and recommendations to provide social proof of the quality of our commercial proposal and invite others to make a purchase.
Keep in mind just one fact: 68% of online shoppers consider the opinions of others before clicking “Buy”.
So today we want to tell you how to classify those opinions, what are their benefits and what tools you can use to collect and share them. Because it is clear that you cannot stop incorporating them into your sales strategy. Keep reading!
Types of opinions
Customer feedback basically falls into two very simple categories; but it is important that you be clear about what they are and how they differ.
- About products . When consumers focus on the features, quality, uses, and benefits of an item.
- About services . When customers make comments about a specific service (for example, a consultancy) or about the treatment they received in a store, both physical and online. Among other topics, they can talk about the attention of the sellers , the resolution of problems, the state of the facilities, delivery times, etc.
Benefits
In addition to providing social proof, positive customer reviews have other benefits:
- Conversion rates and sales increase .
- They improve the number of visits from potential customers to physical and online stores.
- They improve the positioning of products, services and brands in Internet search engines (after all, comments are content generated by the users themselves).
- They reduce the percentage of returns, since customers are better informed about what they will receive in exchange for their purchase.
- They improve the value proposition of companies, since customer opinions are very useful to discover opportunities for improvement or to launch new products or services.
How to collect customer reviews
The basic tools for collecting customer feedback are social networks, because in them people feel comfortable sharing their point of view and experiences with a certain product or service. Blogs can also be very useful, especially when we publish content related to business activity (such as consulting or other professional services).
In the case of an e- commerce , there are online opinion systems that can be easily integrated into the platform in order to automatically and efficiently manage the collection of comments left by customers.
It must be taken into account that many platforms to build and manage online stores, such as Woocommerce , already have their own opinion systems incorporated. But they are not as efficient, since, for example, they do not invite buyers to leave their opinion and depend on their initiative to assess a product or service.
The good news is that there are specific and more robust alternatives on the market that also verify opinions , generate alerts when a comment is negative, publish it in different formats (for example, stars on product sheets) and generate statistics.
What feedback systems are available? Some of the most popular are Trusted Shops , eKomi , and Trustivity . Ask other entrepreneurs in your field for references who use them, analyze their functions and take a free trial to see how they adapt to your online store.
Where to share customer reviews
Finally, there are several channels where you can show feedback from your current customers to attract the attention of potential consumers, increase the digital visibility of your brand and increase conversions.
- Website
Do not miss out on the showcase of the main page of your online store and the sub-pages, such as the catalog, the “Who we are”, or the payment and check-out process .
Remember that positive ratings increase a customer’s confidence during their shopping trip.
- Social networks
If you want to form a community of followers attentive to the news of your brand, nothing better than posting photos of your products accompanied by recommendations and positive comments from your happiest consumers .
Just think about the importance that you yourself give to the opinions of other people when you search for a product on the Internet, especially in stores like Amazon or Mercado Libre . Today, the social proof of customers is essential to develop a successful online sales strategy.
Finally, don’t miss out on the tools offered by the search engine to show your customers’ rating stars, both organically and through ads. To do this, you’ll need to collect feedback through Google Customer Reviews or a review system provider that’s a Google partner .
In the case of an advertising campaign, another requirement that you must meet is to have collected at least 100 reviews in the last 12 months in the country where the ad will be displayed. And, in addition, have a rating of 3.5 or more stars
