As many old school business owners will tell you, the best kind of marketing is word of mouth. They are right. Word of mouth helps spread your reputation like wildfire when done correctly, especially when you take advantage of the many online reputation tools available to you through Brainer, the leading online reputation management tool. Now you may be aware that online reviews boost sales, but do you know exactly how that is?
The Power of Word of Mouth
Alright, this might be obvious, but if I’m put on to a product by somebody that I trust then I’m 100% more likely to purchase that product from that company. Why? Because I trust my friends and if it’s good enough for them then there might be something to it. That’s true regardless of what the product, service, or industry that is.
Word of mouth is so powerful that it may not even matter if the product that was recommended costs more if it’s considered to be a superior product by a trustworthy source then it will be perceived to be worth it.
When applied to the world of online reviews to boost sales, this holds true. According to the Pew Research Institute, 82% of online shoppers read online reviews in order to determine whether or not they should buy a product.
Increase Visibility Online
Did you know that the more reviews that you have online, the more visible your product is? This is because search engines like to display relevant information first; meaning that if you have more reviews, it is more likely that your product or company will be displayed.
The More [Realistic] Reviews the Better
While having more reviews is good, don’t go flooding your own reviews with phony 5-star reviews that claim that you’re otherworldly. More reviews are good for visibility and they are also good for persuading online shoppers, but many shoppers also consider whether or not reviews are real and trustworthy. 5-stars might be too good to be true.
Because of this, many shoppers will disregard 5-star reviews and look for the more realistic 3 and 4-star reviews. If somebody took the time to write a 4-star review, it is more likely that the person is a real online shopper and not a fake review that was added by an over-zealous new customer or worse, a bot.
More Consideration, More Power
It’s one thing for an online review to say that your product is great, it’s another for a customer to go into detail about what exactly they loved about your product. The latter will have more sway with potential customers.
Displaying Reviews Boosts Conversions
Finally, the end goal of this all to increase the number of customers that actually convert, which if you do everything correctly, they will. Studies have shown that customers are almost 3 times more likely (270% in fact) to convert when they see that a business or product has plenty of great reviews!
So what are you waiting for? Start managing your online reputation with Brainer today!