When it comes to generating leads, you can’t do better than ‘word of mouth’ recommendations between friends.
Happy customers are your greatest promoters in the real world, but how do you replicate that level of trust online, where you can reach so many more potential customers?
An online ‘word of mouth’ recommendation from a stranger may not have much impact on its own, but gather enough of them and you’ll build trust through the assumption that the crowd can’t all be wrong. A thousand 5-star reviews mean something.
A 2020 government survey into consumer habits found that around two-thirds of consumers now look for endorsements such as star ratings or online reviews to help their purchasing decisions.
If you want to add customers’ voices to your website (and there’s no question: you should), here are some tips to make it work for you.
- Don’t post customers’ comments on your website ‘naked’. Ensure each one comes in a ‘credibility wrapper’ such as a Google, Facebook or Trustpilot review. This will help engender the level of trust you want.
There are multiple websites that can help you pull your customers’ reviews from top testimonial platforms like Google, Facebook and Yelp. This one allows you to add a review button to your website that asks customers to leave a star rating. It even directs high raters to leave you a public review, but asks low raters for feedback first.
- Put your reviews front and centre, as Future Finance does, and give visitors several opportunities to read them, like Tree Fellas and Easy Blinds do.
These three businesses use Trustpilot, which is one of our favourite review platforms. It has some good advice about responding to negative reviews too (no, you shouldn’t delete them).
- Ask your customers to leave a review, and make it easy.
People generally like sharing their opinions, but not if you make them jump through hoops. Some will just want to leave a star rating or a one-line comment, while others may use the maximum character-count to extol your virtues. Offer all the options.
If you want to start adding customers’ voices to your website, we can help you set up the system that best suits your market. You’ll be building an asset that will grow more valuable over time, as it generates greater trust in your business and helps convert more leads into sales.
