Last year Vendasta published an infographic titled '50 Stats You Need to Know About Online Reviews' and it does a great job illustrating just how much impact customer reviews have to any business online.

Here’s some powerful insights from that infographic:

• 88% trust reviews as much as personal recommendations, vs. 83% in 2014
• 40% of consumers form an opinion by reading one to three reviews, vs. 29% in 2014
• 26% of consumers say it’s important that a local business responds to its reviews
• 23% will visit the business premises directly after reading positive reviews
• 95% of consumers suspect censorship or faked reviews when they don’t see bad scores

Which review sites will have the biggest impact on consumer trust?

• Google My Business
• Facebook
• Trip Advisor
• Your own website

So how do you go about increasing your reviews for your business? Here’s 5 things you can start doing today:

1. Ask for reviews -

Build some email templates that you send to your customers asking for reviews. To make it really easy you can include directly to your Google My Business listings and Facebook reviews page. If you provide a really great service and let your customers know that they might receive an email from you asking for feedback this will help prepare the customer.

2. Keep it simple -

When you email the customer, keep the email simple. Make sure your emails thank the customer for their business, but get straight to the point about what you’re asking them to do. If you want the customer to leave a review on Google include the link directly to your GMB page.

3. Personalise the experience -

When you are sending the emails ensure that you include the customer's name and also business if you can. Also, if you can make the email come directly from the company owner.

4. Email Signature -

Include a direct link in your email signature. This will help when you are talking to your customers. If you mention that you have a link in your signature, they will be able to click from there directly to your profiles.

5. Respond to Reviews -

When you get reviews, make sure you take the time to respond to them. It will show that you really care and that you appreciate the customers time.

6. Bonus Tip - Use third party tools, like the hg皇冠直播在线观看免费软件 Generation Platform 😉 -

Using a third party review generation tool will ensure much more efficiency and effectiveness. This will take the time factor out of the equation and often with technology and automation you will see more reviews and higher rating from your customers.

Want to see our own digital marketing reviews ?