- Customer Loyalty
- Ecommerce Marketing
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Revolutionizing Your Review Strategy: 5 Expert Ways to Boost Customer Reviews
Dec 18, 2023 | 7 minute read
Lindsay Kolinsky
Director of Marketing
Reviews give consumers the confidence they need to make a purchase.
In fact, according to Okendo’s ecommerce trust research, 95% of customers read a review before they decide to buy – and the more reviews you have, the better. More reviews mean more opportunities to engage and convert new customers. People who interact with reviews are 4-5x more likely to convert than those who don’t, making them one of the main driving forces behind fast and efficient growth.
You can even extend the persuasive power of reviews to your broader marketing channels to:
- Increase conversion rates on Google
- Increase placed order rate in product recommendation emails
- Increase revenue per recipient in abandoned cart emails
- Increase average order value on-site
But how do you collect more reviews for your online store? Sending a review request email to customers post-purchase is the first step. But that merely scratches the surface of what it takes to implement and scale a reviews program that leads to growth. Let’s examine five simple and proven strategies to take your review program to the next level.
1. Understanding Customer Communication Preferences
Engaging your customers in a way that resonates with them is crucial for effective review collection. This begins with understanding the communication preferences of your different customer segments. For example, younger demographics may respond better to SMS or social media-based review requests. On the other hand, a customer base that skews older might find email communications more trustworthy and convenient, preferring the detailed and less intrusive nature of this medium.
Utilizing data from past marketing campaign performance, you can gain insights into the highest engagement communication channels for your customer base. This enables you to tailor your review requests in a manner that increases receptivity and engagement. By respecting and aligning with your customers’ preferred modes of communication, you not only increase the likelihood of receiving reviews but also enhance the overall customer experience, fostering loyalty and trust.
2. Brand Consistency in Review Requests
In an age where competition is fierce, maintaining a strong and consistent brand identity is crucial. This extends to every aspect of communication with your customers, including your reviews strategy. Consistency in your review requests reinforces your brand identity, creating a cohesive and memorable customer experience.
Consider your brand’s unique voice – is it professional and formal, or casual and friendly? Your review requests should mirror your brand voice, ensuring that customers feel a seamless transition from purchasing to post-purchase interactions. Visual consistency is equally important. With Okendo, you can customize your brand’s look and feel into your review requests. This visual alignment not only reinforces brand recognition but also contributes to a professional and polished look, enhancing your brand’s credibility.
A well-crafted, brand-consistent review request is an opportunity to further engage with your customers and enhance their overall perception of your brand. When customers recognize and resonate with your brand’s narrative in every interaction, they are more likely to feel a connection, increasing their likelihood to leave a review.
3. Navigating Incentives for Reviews
The art of incentivizing customer reviews lies in striking the right balance between encouraging participation and maintaining authenticity. When done correctly, incentives not only increase the volume of reviews but also deepen customer engagement and loyalty. The key is to choose incentives that resonate with your customer base and align with your brand’s loyalty strategy.
For brands that have already invested in building a robust, points-based loyalty program, offering additional points for reviews can be a strategic move. This approach not only incentivizes the review process but also embeds it seamlessly into the broader customer loyalty journey. It encourages customers to stay engaged with the brand, earning points that contribute to future rewards. This method effectively transforms each review into an opportunity to deepen the customer’s investment in the loyalty program, enhancing the sense of value they get from interacting with your brand.
Alternatively, for brands that prioritize immediate sales and customer acquisition, offering discount coupons in exchange for reviews can be a powerful tool. This approach can be particularly effective in attracting price-sensitive customers or encouraging repeat purchases. Coupons serve as a direct incentive for customers to make another purchase, potentially increasing customer lifetime value and fostering brand loyalty.
With Okendo, you can tailor your incentive strategy to fit your brand’s unique needs. Whether it’s integrating with existing loyalty programs or creating custom coupon codes, Okendo provides the tools to implement a seamless and effective review incentive system. The platform’s flexibility allows for experimentation with different types of incentives, enabling you to discover what resonates best with your customers.
4. Timing Your Review Requests Optimally
Timing is a critical factor in the effectiveness of review requests. The nature of your product should guide when you ask for reviews. For products with results that manifest over time, such as skincare or health supplements, it’s important to time the review requests to coincide with the period when customers are likely to see these results.
Vegamour, which takes a holistic approach to hair wellness, switched to Okendo from Yotpo for the flexible review platform and superior customer service, enabling personalized, timely review requests. Vegamour now uses targeted email campaigns and precise timing of review requests, leading to a 277% increase in conversions and 21% of all revenue influenced by Okendo. This seamless transition to Okendo’s user-friendly platform has significantly enhanced Vegamour’s customer engagement and revenue generation strategies.
It’s important to identify the ideal moment to send review requests, ensuring that customers have ample time to experience your product and provide meaningful feedback. This strategic timing not only increases the likelihood of receiving reviews but also ensures that the reviews are more comprehensive and reflective of the customer’s true experience.
5. Simplifying the Review Process
Customers answer survey questions if it’s convenient — with 75% saying they are happy to answer survey questions. To capitalize on this willingness to engage, it’s vital to streamline the review process. The key is to make it as effortless as possible for customers to leave their feedback. This means eliminating any unnecessary steps or content that could act as barriers. For example, avoid cluttering the review request with excessive information, multiple calls-to-action, or unrelated promotions. These can distract or even frustrate customers, leading them to abandon the review process altogether.
Grace and Lace, a women’s apparel company, demonstrates the effectiveness of a simplified review process. By integrating Okendo’s customer marketing platform, Grace and Lace achieved an impressive 80% review completion rate. This success was partly due to their straightforward review capture form, making it easy for customers to leave feedback. Additionally, their use of Okendo’s tools for review requests and referrals contributed to a 25% increase in email revenue, showcasing the power of an efficient and user-friendly system for gathering customer reviews.
A simplified review process should ideally be a reflection of your brand’s messaging and ethos. It should resonate with the overall customer experience you aim to provide. When the review process feels like a natural and easy extension of the customer journey, customers are more likely to respond positively. This approach not only maximizes the number of reviews you collect but also contributes positively to the customer’s perception of your brand.
Collecting reviews is a strategic endeavor that requires a nuanced understanding of your customers, alignment with your brand identity, and a focus on simplicity and accessibility. By employing these strategies and leveraging Okendo’s customer marketing platform, you can transform your review collection process into a powerful mechanism for building trust, enhancing customer engagement, and driving your store’s fast and efficient growth.
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