Using Customer Reviews and Testimonials to Build Trust and Credibility
Building Trust With Your Ideal Customer
Customer reviews and testimonials are becoming increasingly crucial for businesses looking to build trust and credibility with potential customers. As Arttu Haho, Product Manager of review management platform Trustmary, explained in a recent Software Spotlight podcast interview, reviews provide social proof that helps consumers make purchasing decisions. This blog post will explore the benefits of using customer reviews and testimonials to build business trust and credibility.
The Rising Importance of Online Reviews
In the past, word-of-mouth recommendations from family and friends were consumers' primary source of trust. Now, online reviews have become the modern form of word-of-mouth. According to Haho, 85% of people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
As more industries move their businesses online, the need for a credible online presence increases. Industries like software, healthcare, real estate, and professional services that didn't rely on online reviews in the past are now seeing its importance. Haho explains, “If you want to stay relevant, you need to be able to demonstrate what your customers think about you.”
7 Benefits of Customer Reviews
Customer reviews provide many benefits that can help businesses build trust and credibility:
Social proof
Positive reviews reassure potential customers that others have had good experiences. This builds trust in the company.
Credibility
Reviews lend credibility, especially for new businesses competing with established players.
Customer voice:
Reviews allow customers to share their experiences and feel involved with the business.
SEO value
Reviews help businesses rank higher in local search results.
Lead generation
Positive reviews attract and convert more leads.
Understanding customers
Businesses can analyze reviews to understand customer needs and improve service.
Brand awareness
Reviews spread brand awareness as they get shared across the internet.
5 Strategies for Generating Reviews
The first step is to start collecting reviews from existing satisfied customers. Some effective strategies include:
Email requests
Send personalized post-purchase emails asking for reviews. Offer an incentive like a discount to encourage responses.
Checkout review requests
Add review requests on thank you and checkout pages to capture feedback about the shopping experience.
Social media
Promote the request on social media and offer incentives for leaving reviews.
CRM integration
Sync your CRM with review management software to collect customer reviews automatically.
Make it easy
Provide links, QR codes, or review cards to make leaving reviews simple for customers.
9 Ways To Optimize Reviews for Maximum Impact
Once you have customer reviews, you need to optimize them for greater visibility and impact:
Respond to reviews
Reply professionally and empathetically to negative reviews. Consider feedback an opportunity to improve.
Update online profiles
To build credibility, update Google My Business and other online profiles with recent positive reviews.
Showcase reviews
Feature curated reviews prominently on your website, product pages, checkout process, and other high-visibility areas.
Leverage visuals
Reviews with images and videos get more attention. Consider ways to incorporate visual elements.
Promote on social media
Share positive snippets, quotes, and stories from reviews on social media.
Repurpose as testimonials
Turn written reviews into powerful testimonial quotes, videos, and case studies to use in advertising.
Keep it genuine
Avoid fake-looking reviews. Focus on collecting and showcasing authentic customer experiences.
Review Management Software
Platforms like Trustmary allow businesses to easily collect, curate, display, and analyze customer reviews in one place. Key features include:
- Collecting reviews across multiple platforms like Google, Facebook, and more.
- Generating customized review collection pages.
- Moderating and responding to reviews.
- Creating review widgets for websites.
- Automated review request emails and surveys.
- Review analytics and integration with CRM.
- Social sharing and review promotion.
The Impact of Reviews
Ultimately, customer reviews allow consumers to learn about a business from other real customers. This peer-to-peer trust is more potent than promotional content from companies.
Haho summarizes, “What the customers say is more credible and reliable. It also sets the expectation to the right level. It needs to be relatable for your audience. That's the most important thing.”
By actively collecting and showcasing credible customer reviews, businesses can build trust, improve their reputation, and attract more customers. Integrating reviews seamlessly into the customer journey can create a competitive advantage for companies in any industry.
Conclusion
Customer reviews and testimonials have become crucial to any business's marketing strategy. As more industries move online, the need for social proof and credibility through customer feedback increases.
Reviews provide many benefits – they reassure potential customers, lend credibility to new businesses, give customers a voice, improve SEO rankings, generate leads, provide insights, and spread brand awareness.
Businesses should actively collect and showcase authentic reviews across platforms like Google, Facebook, and their website. Effective strategies include sending review requests via email and checkout pages, offering incentives, promoting on social media, and integrating with CRM software.
Once collected, reviews should be optimized for maximum impact. Businesses can do this by professionally responding to reviews, updating online profiles to display reviews prominently, incorporating visual elements, and promoting positive snippets on social media.
Credible and positive customer reviews are vital for building trust and boosting a company's reputation. By seamlessly integrating them into the customer journey, businesses can gain a competitive advantage and stand out from competitors in their industry.
Sign up for a free Trustmary account and add reviews to your website today.
View Featured Trustmary Podcast: Trustmary Product Manager Arttu Haho joins host Michael Bernzweig to discuss their customer review platform. Haho provides background on Trustmary and demonstrates key capabilities like collecting Google reviews, importing existing reviews, creating review widgets, and A/B testing review placement to boost conversions. He positions Trustmary as an easy, consolidated solution to systematically collect and leverage customer reviews for trust-building across industries.
