Online Review Management - The What and Why?
Online Review Management is not a very new practice in the marketing sector. However, the attention it has garnered over the last few years is relatively new!
Before the internet gained ubiquity, our source of reviews was limited to friends and family. And this research could take days, weeks, and even months! Whereas, modern digitization has enabled access to millions of online reviews. It has expedited the consumer’s capacity to gain insight into a brand or its product’s quality.
Studies claim that almost 91% of people aged between 18-34 years trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. And 93% of consumers have accepted being influenced by online reviews before purchasing a product.
That is why businesses need to prioritize online review collection and management.
Online review management helps you stay one step ahead in maintaining your brand reputation. More importantly, it makes your customers feel VALIDATED.
So what exactly is
online review management?
What is
Online Review Management?
“Online review management is the process of monitoring and responding to customer reviews posted about your brand on websites and social media channels.”
Regular monitoring, analysis, and responding to online reviews, despite whatever sentiment they may exhibit can help you tackle negative (and fake) reviews more than that it facilitates the promotion of positive ones. This builds a strong positive brand image.
But why is it
important to respond to these reviews? What value do online reviews hold?
Here’s the answer to this.
Why Is It
Important to Respond To Online Reviews?
Online reviews act as a medium for your customers to tell their stories. It has the potential to act as social proof for other potential customers.
Let’s take a hypothetical situation.
Imagine you visited a resort for a summer vacation with your family. The staff, ambiance, and amenities everything was to your liking. Yet, when a family member hurt themself, the medical help arrived later than it should have.
Now, even though it isn't entirely a bad experience, that one incident has stuck with you. And you feel it's important for future visitors to carry their own medical aids for emergencies. As a result, you take to the social media platform and online review platforms to share your experience.
This review, now, is a credible service for both future customers as well as the resort.
It enables the customers to make a well-informed decision before availing a service. In other words, it builds the base of the research that a customer performs before engaging with your brand.
However, it plays a much more important role for your brand. It can help you understand customer pain points, all the while allowing you to regulate and respond to the reviews present online.
Thus, online reviewmanagement not only helps you build a trustworthy relationship with your
customers but also increases your brand visibility.
Important
Benefits of Online Review Management
So far we have understood what online review management is and why it is important.
Let us now have a
quick look at its benefits.
So, those are some of the most important benefits of online review management - increases social proof, better brand reputation, and possibilities of higher ranks in Google Maps, all leading to an increase in sales.
Maintaining your online reputation is as important as maintaining your product quality. And it can be a time-consuming process.
An online review management tool like SimplyReviews can help you monitor, manage, and respond to reviews across channels from one place. You can also set auto responders for reviews and makes the overall process a piece of cake.
Once you've managed
to carry out an efficient way to manage online reviews, it increases your rank
among your competitors. And like we already said, all of this undoubtedly
increases your sales figures.
Conclusion
It is no news that consumers are very resourceful. They can quickly make an opinion about your brand and product. And online reviews & testimonials on social media, review sites, and other platforms across the internet shape this opinion.
Even the target audience of almost all the brands, the Millennials! About 85% of them seek out online reviews before making a purchase.
Needless to say then, it is crucial for review collection and review management to be the top priority for your business.
Also, here is an
article to help you with choosing the right review management software.
👉How to Choose An Online Review Management Sofware in 2022
That said, it’s time
you start online review management now!
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