Increasing customer satisfaction and engagement is a key target for many consumer-focused businesses. The ability to measure this critical metric and track its progress is fast becoming an essential element of any dynamic marketing lifecycle.
As a major aspect of this process, review management supports brands in furthering their understanding of customer feedback and helps them strengthen consumer relations. Not only can businesses get to know their customers better, but they also harness the ability to shape future customer service management.
Overseeing reviews through online platforms can deliver a host of benefits. Customers talk to each other online, which greatly impacts business visibility and brand reputation. In fact, 91% of customers regularly read reviews before they make a purchase, exhibiting their growing power over customer behavior.
How Does Review Management Boost Customer Engagement?
Review management is the practice of tracking, assessing, and responding to reviews left by customers about your business, often through online platforms. Reviews are a potent source of information for consumers about your products and services and how you treat your customers day to day.
Reviews may affect a business’s profit margins and reputation. When it comes to engaging and enticing customers, review management may deliver these potential benefits:
- Online reputation rewards
Consumers turn to reviews for help. They want to know how your business performs and what advantages they can receive by buying from you. Customers share stories about your products, which have the capacity to power a more robust online reputation.
Even if you have some negative feedback, don’t shy away from responding. A recent survey by PissedConsumer.com shows that 40.6% of consumers would be more likely to trust a company that responds to negative reviews. Timely support with helpful advice makes all the difference for your customers and your online reputation.
- Customer trust creation
Honest reviews about your products and services heighten credibility and help you to have a more substantial brand presence online. A good review management policy enables you to connect with customers, whether they are pleased or need more support.
- Feedback foresight
Reviews can reveal insight into how you and your products perform in the marketplace. This knowledge can feed into product improvements and help streamline customer services.
If you and your team see negative reviews as learning experiences, you can maximize opportunities to grow more robust, resilient practices that help your brand evolve to its next stage.
- Competitive advantage
Responsive interaction with your customers through review management can help you stay ahead of your competitors. Straightforward, helpful communication and quick resolution of issues show the market that you have your finger on the pulse and understand your customer base.
5 Steps to Customer Engagement with Review Management
A successful review management strategy that enhances customer engagement doesn’t happen overnight. Crafting your review management playbook so your team can use it in their daily work takes clarity of strategic planning, research, and implementation.
Business reputation relies on both in-person and online presence. Brands that take advantage of the benefits review management delivers are seen to be more capable of presenting a positive public reputation. Recent studies indicate that 94% of businesses utilizing reputation management tools experience a return on investment.
Here are five steps to leveraging review management to build customer trust and loyalty for the long term.
1. Craft review standards
Once you have researched reviews and how your business is seen by customers, creating a proactive review playbook is a natural next step. This will help all of your employees, particularly in marketing and customer service, to support customers with proven, trusted, and helpful advice in their review responses.
Consistently communicating transparent customer review management processes across your organization ensures customers know what to expect and feel they are being treated fairly. This can encourage them to share positive feedback through online reviews.
2. Foster customer reviews
Encouraging customers to feel comfortable online can be half of the review management battle. To achieve this aim, you can employ several strategies to help them leave reviews about your business.
According to the latest surveys, 34% of consumers stated they would likely leave a review if requested by email. Offer incentives, send follow-up emails, personalize messaging, and provide an easy path to a review platform in your communication to make things super easy for your customers.
3. Rapid review response
There’s nothing worse than customers feeling they are at the back of the queue or being ignored. When they take the time to post a review, they do so to get a response from you and resolve their issue.
Even if it’s a positive review, a friendly reply thanking customers for support can go a long way. More importantly, customers who need additional steps from you, whether it’s advice or further action, will be increasingly responsive if you reply in a timely manner and solve problems as soon as possible.
4. Maximize review management platform potential
Review management platforms provide ample opportunities for brands to interact with and nurture their existing or potential customers.
These online hives of activity provide a thriving place for brands and customers to communicate and build productive relationships that deliver benefits on both sides.
5. Leverage feedback to shape goals
Uncomfortable as negative feedback may be, there’s nothing more practical when it comes to shaping future ways of working. Customer feedback is likely to be honest, and there is no better way to help your team learn and adapt to increase customer satisfaction levels.
Can Review Management Engage Your Customers?
Exceptional customer service takes professional insight and initiative to get right. But it’s challenging to do it on your own. Monitoring online customer reviews and analyzing customers’ views on your brand help refine how you interact with customers to deliver an enriched consumer experience.
