As of Summer 2022, businesses relying on Google for customer feedback (which is nearly all of them) will have to switch things up and adapt to a new way of managing reviews. Google has merged Google My Business (GMB) with Google Maps
What does that mean for you?
No matter which industry you are operating in, you will have to use a separate dashboard altogether to manage your reviews. Before the merger, eCommerce websites could collect feedback through Google Customer Reviews while all the other businesses had to use GMB.
Following the merger, Google My Business has been retired and replaced by Google Business Profiles, which will be responsible for review management hereafter. You can also access your Business Profile through Google Maps directly and see the detailed reviews that customers have left for your business. Local businesses are also much more likely to get found, making it easier for them to get noticed by customers in the immediate vicinity.
While all this seems like a positive change, countless businesses are still confused about which platform garners the most positive response for their products and services. Because Google is just one channel. There are hundreds of review platforms with millions of active users. So, it can be a struggle to focus on one channel to get your reviews. If you are finding it challenging to navigate just that, here is a guide to help you.
Reviews have a powerful impact on your business
Right off the bat, reviews can help improve your SEO ranking. Search engines such as Google use reviews to determine how credible you are and how many sites link to you, which helps increase your search engine rankings.
This also helps drive traffic to your site. If many people are recommending your brand or product, it may be easier for a consumer to discover you through other sources, like search engines and social media.
Reviews can help you increase sales by letting more people know that you are safe to do business with. By increasing your credibility and trustworthiness, positive reviews can boost the perceived value of your brand and can positively influence the consumer’s decision-making process.
Online reviews can be used to show how you incorporate personalization into your customer service to potential customers. If a customer has had an issue with their own experience with a product or service, they are likely to share it with others in order to warn them not to make the same mistake they did. But if you tailor your service according to their problems, they will write about it and help you spread the good word about your business.
Finally, reviews can also influence future sales for businesses by providing valuable feedback about products or services that may be used as reference points for future purchases or referrals from friends or family members who had experiences similar to yours.
Best review platforms based on your industry
It is important to note that not all review platforms are created equal. There are a number of different types of review sites, and each works uniquely for different industries. So, it is important to do your research and find the right review platform for your business to get the most impact out of your feedback.
Hotel and restaurants
If you operate in the food and hospitality industries, you could benefit from gaining reviews on platforms like Uber Eats or Door Dash because that’s where the final step of the decision-making process takes place. Hotels should focus on getting reviews on authoritative sites like Trip Advisor and Hotels.com as they have high credibility among the people you are looking to cater to.
Travel
Like hotels, travel businesses should also focus on Trip Advisor, Hotels.com, and Booking.com to get the most out of their feedback because that’s where the conversion occurs.
eCommerce
As mentioned before, eCommerce businesses could collect reviews on Google Customer Reviews but with Google Business Profiles, they can use the same system as other businesses for online reputation management.
For your online store, you can not only consider focusing on getting reviews from Yotpo, Referral Hero, or Loox but also repurposing these reviews by incorporating them into different content pieces, such as your site’s testimonial page, ad landing pages, or social media posts.
Product-based businesses
Product-based businesses have a wide selection of review platforms to choose from. For your business, you could either go the generalized way or the niche way. You could consider getting Google and Facebook reviews to target the traffic that’s coming from both these platforms. But if you want to optimize the returns from your feedback further, you can filter your preferred platform based on the product category.
For instance, if you are a software business, having reviews on sites like G2and Capterra can make a huge difference in your bottom line. These sites are considered to be highly credible and countless buyers use them to make the final purchase decisions.
Service-based businesses
Like product-based businesses, service-based businesses also enjoy a diverse catalog of reviewing platforms for managing their online reputation. But again, not all of them will work for you because not all of them would have your target audience.
Although your service-based business should be focusing on Google reviews, you are positioned to benefit more from reviews on TrustPilot, Yelp, or even Better Business Bureau.
For instance, if you are a salon business, getting reviews on Yelp can help you rank better in front of your target audience and get their attention faster than if you were to go the Google route. These reviews would naturally be more effective because the prospects on Yelp are already in the last stage of their buyer’s journey and are looking to make a purchase immediately.
Lastly, you could also have reviews on social media and your own website to increase your service’s credibility on your own digital assets.
How to determine which review platform is best for your business
More than 70% of customers will leave a review if asked. They want to share their experience with other people, so they can inform the world about the quality of goods and services they received. It is up to businesses like yours to ensure that they are positive. But the bigger question is where should you ask them to leave their feedback to get the most out of it?
Finding the best review platform for your business can be a struggle. There are so many review platforms out there, and each one has its own pros and cons.
But the easiest way to choose your review platform is by understanding where your target buyer is, where they are most active, and how much time they spend on each platform.
For example, if you have a small business that only sells on Amazon, then it is probably safe to say that getting reviews on Amazon is the best option for your business. That’s a no-brainer.
However, if you sell products or services through your own site, then you would need to dig deeper, do your research, and filter by industry, product or service category, and even demographics to find the right platform for your business.
How reviews help in online reputation management
Online reviews are one of the most powerful ways to get results for any business. They are a great way for customers to express their appreciation for your work, and they can even help improve your business’s bottom line. Here’s how:
Reviews are a great way to establish trust with potential customers. They work as social proof to bridge the knowledge gap about your business among prospective customers by showing them feedback from your existing customers. Since people buy from people, your reviews offer you an opportunity to shape your brand’s reputation.
This also means that if you are not careful, you could find yourself losing out on opportunities because of negative feedback from people who aren’t happy with their experience with your business.
Reviews are also a great way to stay in control of your reputation. Responding to criticisms and appreciation properly can help you build a strong identity for your business online by giving your brand a solid voice.
Using reviews to improve your brand reputation
The two most important traits that brands need to adopt when dealing with reviews are empathy and acceptance. You can’t fix issues unless you put yourself in your customers’ shoes and acknowledge the problem -regardless of its magnitude.
You also need to be extremely patient and recognize that every customer will have different expectations from their interaction with your brand. So, it is up to you to design your communication in a way that tells your customers exactly what to expect from your brand and the list of deliverables that you will be providing them with.
Here are some ways to optimize reviews in order to improve your brand –
- Evaluate your current reviews: If you don’t know whether or not any of your existing reviews are positive or negative, look at them now! Ask yourself if there is anything missing from the review that could explain why it isn’t as positive as you expected. Is there something wrong with your offering itself? Was it shipped late? Was customer support not trained properly? If so, address those issues before responding to the feedback.
- Be responsive: Responding quickly to customer complaints is one of the best ways to prevent them from becoming public knowledge. When someone posts negative feedback about your business, let them know that you have received it and will look into it as soon as possible. Don’t make promises you can’t keep —just be honest about the time frame in which you will address the issue.
- Encourage new reviews: It is important to keep encouraging people to leave reviews about their experience -irrespective of whether it was good or bad. Your prospects will always be on the lookout for newer feedback on your brand before making a decision. Therefore, ensure that you refresh your reviews regularly to maintain your brand reputation.