How Product Reviews Can Lead To More Sales For Your Online Store

If you’ve been in the Ecommerce game for any amount of time, you can probably appreciate the value and importance of a positive product review. After all, a review or even a simple five-star rating can have a significant effect on the product’s performance, and help you build social proof for your store. 

Now, there are many important elements of a thriving Ecommerce business, such as having an adaptive website design, excelling at customer service, or shortening the customer’s journey. Reviews are a vital part of the success puzzle as well, which is why one of your key objectives should be to inspire your customers to give you as many positive reviews as possible.

Today, we’re going to talk about product reviews and what you can do to turn them into powerful selling and brand-building tools. Here’s what you need to know.

Focus on getting positive Google reviews

First things first, let’s talk about Google reviews and how important they are in the Ecommerce industry. When people are searching for products and product categories, or even products specifically from your brand, they will come across Google reviews in the search results even before they get the chance to visit your website. 

This can be a big problem if you don’t have any reviews, or if you have negative reviews on Google. You might think that your primary objective should be to get as many first-party reviews as possible. In reality, though, it’s equally important to get more Google reviews to generate leads in the Google search results and build social proof for your brand – this will inspire new customers to come to your site ready to take action.

With that in mind, make sure to remind your customers to leave you Google reviews specifically and not just on your site. You can do this in your thank-you email or via DMs, or even on the checkout page.

Weave reviews into your Ecommerce app

The app market is growing across the world in various sectors and industries, and Ecommerce is definitely one of them. Building your own Ecommerce app as a growth-oriented online store would be a wise investment in 2022 for many reasons, one of which is the facilitation of reviews, testimonials, and other user-generated content.

There are many ways you can create your app nowadays, as you can hire in-house developers, outsource to remote dev teams, or even use no-code app development tools. The key here is to minimize financial waste and roll out your app as quickly as possible to capitalize on market opportunities, better user experience, and make it easy for customers to leave positive reviews.

Remember, your app is a direct line of communication to your customers, so if they’re not willing to leave a review via desktop, they might feel incentivized to do so via the app. After all, why shouldn’t they leave a review if they can earn a few loyalty points or a small discount. 

Turn negative reviews into success stories

Negative product reviews can ruin your online reputation and affect everything from your ranking on Google to your word of mouth, sales capabilities, and more. In the long term, if you leave negative reviews unaddressed, you risk jeopardizing your entire online business. 

One of your top priorities should be to transform negative online reviews into success stories, and there are two ways you can do that. The first option is to address the issue publicly, and the other to address the problem privately.

If the issue is not a sensitive one, you can address the review publicly and present a solution to the customer. If it’s a sensitive matter, you can engage with the customer privately and set task reminders for each customer and when and where you’re supposed to reach out. You can then engage with them via email or DM, remembering to post a success story after you have resolved the issue.

Inspire positive reviews through direct messaging

Speaking of engaging with customers in the DMs, keep in mind that direct communication is a powerful way to achieve many marketing, sales, and support-oriented goals. It’s also a great way to inspire customers to leave a positive review, share their stories with the community, and become devoted brand followers. 

It’s all about the way you build meaningful relationships and nurture your communication with your customers, and engaging with them in the DMs is a great way to generate positive feedback. Use direct messaging to thank your customers for their purchase and then remind them how much you would appreciate them sharing their experience with the community.

Remember, it’s all about building a positive narrative, so don’t just ask for a review – tell them why it’s important for their voice to be heard. 

Use product presentation videos to get better reviews 

Video marketing is a powerful tool in the digital marketing industry, and it should go without saying that you can use it to boost Ecommerce sales in 2022 and beyond. Everyone likes a well-optimized product page, complete with high-res photos and captivating copy that’s both informative and engaging. But you can take things a step further.

In order to generate the best possible user experience and put the shopper in the best possible mindset, you can use a product presentation video that creates the right narrative, sets the mood, and showcases the product in the best possible light. This will help the shopper envision themselves using the product, setting the right expectations, and you can also incentivize them to leave a review at the end of the presentation. 

Follow up with every customer after their review

When someone leaves a product review on your site or on a third-party platform like Google, you want to follow up quickly. Why? Because people want to feel appreciated for their effort. This is especially important when you’re trying to lead and retain a millennial generation of customers, as showing appreciation is one of the best ways to build social proof and inspire even better reviews in the future. 

Whenever someone gives you a review, it’s important to respond, but this could also be an opportunity to engage with them directly. You can follow up with customers via email or a direct message to personally thank them for their review and purchase, and emphasize how much you value them as an individual.

It is this kind of appreciation that will truly boost your word of mouth and social proof.

Use photography wisely to achieve results

Lastly, don’t forget that the products that sell the most are the ones that are accompanied by beautiful visuals, and that means that their photos are on point. Not only that, but you can use user-generated product photography to spice up every review and make it even more impactful.

For one, it should go without saying that you need to invest in professional product photography to add value to your offering. But when it comes to reviews, you can use this opportunity to inspire customers to attach photos to their testimonials, further building social proof for your brand. 

Ask people to leave a photo with their review, let them show others how they use the product, and watch as these positive reviews become powerful sales and marketing assets.

Over to you

Over the long term, product reviews can help you build a thriving online store, while negative reviews can severely impact your profit margins. Worse yet, if you don’t tend to negative reviews quickly, you might end up pulling entire product categories and even shutting your store down for good.

Don’t let this happen and instead focus on capitalizing on reviews as much as possible. Use these tips to inspire people to leave positive feedback and boost your word of mouth, and make sure to transform negative reviews into success stories to build social proof for your Ecommerce brand in 2022.