Have you ever wondered, why do you buy what you buy? Just because you are reading this article, we can bet. Yes, you wonder. Our decision making is influenced by several emotional and logical factors. Our 90% of decisions are based on emotions, not logic. You might be wondering why am I talking about emotions here. Reviews are indirectly connected to our emotions and can play a vital role in our decision making. Emotions are part of subconscious decision making and reviews can be a leading factor in the product buying lifecycle.
When you are deciding whether or not to buy something, typically you would ask your friends, colleagues or family members and then do a lot of online research on recommended options. While doing this background product research you are collecting information in your memory warehouse. Information collected while doing research will influence your decision making subconsciously at the time of buying a product or service.
Whom do we trust?
- Our close aids like friends, colleagues and family members
- Influencers, bloggers or trusted online source
- Online reviews from existing buyers
Why reviews matter to your business?
Being a marketer you must be aware of the buyer’s journey where your potential customers are looking for additional information about your product that can’t be found online. The journey consists of a three-step process.
The graphic below illustrates a sample buyer’s journey.
- Awareness Stage: At this stage, a buyer realizes they have a problem or want to buy something
- Consideration Stage: A this stage, the buyer defines their problem, research product/service by reading blogs, reviews and watching videos.
- Decision Stage: The buyer chooses a solution. Information collected at the consideration or evaluation stage plays a vital role here.
Ideal places to collect reviews:
We don’t want you to trust us blindly and choose one or some of the below-given random review platforms but make a logical decision. We want you to think like a customer, not a product marketer. What will you do when you find a problem or decide to buy a product or service? Your answer will include this journey.
Review Blogs: According to a survey 90% of customers read online reviews and blogs before visiting a store or shopping from their website. Approaching authority bloggers and requesting them to review your business and services on their blog is the first step one has to take as a marketer. There are many product review blogs platforms for marketers to connect with authority bloggers, who can write product reviews on niche blogs. Getreviewed.com is one of the best, tried and tested bloggers reach out platforms where marketers can connect with authority bloggers.
YouTube: Afer doing Google search, people head toward YouTube. YouTube is the second most visited website in the world where an average user session is 40 minutes. People love to watch product and business reviews on Youtube. So what are you waiting for? Go get some business niche YouTubers and ask them to cover your business reviews on their youtube channel. Don’t forget to get your YouTube channel.
Google My Business: Google My Business, how can you ignore it. This could be your client’s first interaction with your business. People blindly trust in the reviews on Google’s platform. So, it’s your first job to get your business listing and ask your loyal customers to put some positive reviews over there.
Facebook: Facebook, everyone is there. This is the platform that allows you to get connected with your community every day and remind them of your presence. Just by creating a business page on Facebook and asking your loyal customers to put some positive reviews on your page can help you to build that trust factors. People who see your ads on Facebook or Instagram, more likely to check your Facebook page and customer reviews. So don’t lose that opportunity. Go, get it 🤔.
Review Sites: There are a number of product reviews sites designed and developed to collect customer reviews. It’s not that that effective but can help you to influence people who are searching for your business on Google. Trustpilot.com, G2crowd, and Producthunts are some of them where you can build your brand page and collect your customer reviews.
Online Stores: If you are in consumer goods and selling your products online then you should head toward online marketplaces. E-com stores like Amazon, Ebay and Flipkart are some of them where you can list your products and ask your loyal customers to share their reviews.
