Reviews are part and parcel of running a business website. With competition so fierce nowadays, businesses of all shapes and sizes rely on online reviews to help persuade consumers to choose them. But have you ever stopped and thought about the impact replying to online reviews has?
Replying to and apologizing for negative reviews aside, responding to positive online reviews is one of the easiest and most effective, yet sadly neglected online marketing strategies. To help you make the most out of your online reputation and persuade more customers to do business with you, we’ve outlined the importance of replying to positive reviews and provided few handy tips to keep in mind when doing so.
The Importance of Responding to Positive Reviews
There are plenty of good reasons why you should reply to positive online reviews, but for simplicity’s sake, let’s stick to three of the most beneficial ones.
Show that You Care About Every Customer
Businesses that only take the time to respond to negative reviews seldom realize they’re doing their loyal customers a disservice. By only replying to negative reviews, you’re rewarding these negative experiences with your time – time better spent appreciating all the customers who left positive reviews of your business.
Think about it, how would you feel when browsing a business’ reviews if you saw no or few replies to positive reviews, but lengthy and thought-out responses to negative ones? Chances are you’ll come to the conclusion that the business cares more about defending its own reputation than its valuable customers. By responding to all reviews with a personalized and well-planned response, you’re showing potential customers that you appreciate those who had a positive experience just as much as you’re willing to (hopefully) smooth out any negative customer experiences.
Increase Customer Lifetime Value
Responding to positive customer reviews gives you an amazing opportunity to remarket to existing customers. Since customers typically know when you reply to their reviews, they’re likely to feel more appreciated and remember your business when it comes to making a second purchase. Moreover, they’re more likely to spread awareness of your business through word of mouth when you publicly reply to their review.
Rather than solely focusing on attracting new customers, replying to positive reviews and caring for your existing customers can give you a great ROI. This is especially true considering it only takes most businesses less than an hour or two a week to reply to their reviews.
Increase Search Engine Visibility
Did you know that responding to positive reviews increases search engine visibility? If you knew, you’d likely be spending more time replying to them! When search engines like Google rank businesses, they pay particular attention to the number and nature of reviews it receives. The more positive reviews your business has and the more often it receives them, the more attention search engines are likely to give to your business – especially for local searches.
Google, for example, tends to favor local businesses with solid business profiles and lots of positive Google reviews, but it’s a good idea to encourage reviews across several different platforms. To help boost your review count, consider setting up an automated email campaign to ask past customers to share their experiences with your businesses. You may be surprised to find how many will follow through!
How to Respond to a Positive Review
So now that you know the importance of responding to a positive review, it’s time to learn how to reply to one. Every review is different and requires a unique response, and following these steps should give you a good idea of how to respond to a positive review:
- Don’t wait too long to reply. Replying promptly to reviews looks more genuine and shows that you really care. While there’s no need to be constantly refreshing your review pages to instantly reply to new reviews, you should aim to reply to customer reviews within 24-48 hours of them going online.
- Use your reviewers’ names. As simple as it may seem, something as small as starting your reply by addressing your reviewer by their first name can have a significant impact on engagement. Replying to reviewers by name shows that your reply is genuine and that you’ve taken the time to read and get to know a bit about the reviewer.
- Thank your reviewers for their time. When replying to reviews, whether positive or negative, it’s important to keep in mind that whoever wrote the review took time out of their day to share the experience they had with your business. Acknowledge the time they took to leave their feedback and be thankful for the time they spent talking about your business.
- Address all the key points. Most positive reviews will mention at least one thing the reviewer liked about your business. Acknowledging the specific points and thanking reviewers for their feedback is yet another way to show that you care and actually took the time to read their review.
- Give reviewers the same priority they gave you. If a past customer writes a fantastic, detailed review of their experience, don’t leave them hanging with a generic one-liner. Putting the same amount of effort into your replies as your customers put into their reviews can be a great way to turn happy customers into lifetime advocates for your business.
Kickstart Your Online Marketing Efforts Today
Helping businesses in Calgary and across the globe grow their online presence since 2003, The Three Marketers is dedicated to helping you achieve success online. Get in touch with us today to find out more about how our cutting-edge marketing strategies can give your business the boost it needs to stay ahead of the competition.
