If you have a fair number of reviews on platforms like Google, Yelp or G2, you can put them to good use. There are plenty of articles on how to respond to a negative Google review (here’s one from HubSpot), but we’ll focus on what to do with them as a whole.
Here’s how to use your [Google] reviews.
Read them and reply to build brand trust.
Read them. Don’t get stuck staring at the number of stars. Someone took the time to mention your business. Now it’s your turn to take the time to read what they’ve said. Then, reply. When you reply to your reviewers, they (and others) will see how engaged you are. Be honest and direct. Handling comments with class will build brand trust.
Add reviews to your website as testimonials.
It’s great that people searching for your company can read Google reviews, but don’t let it end there. Add them as testimonials on your most viewed web pages, or all your pages if you have enough. Please don’t hide them on a page that only has testimonials. Put them places that will encourage people to take the next step. And don’t stop there. Consider how testimonials could fit into the rest of your marketing (think: email campaigns and social media).
Analyze them.
Analyze your reviews to see what value your customers get from your product/service. A simple way to do this is to briefly write the main points of a review. Let’s say the first review highlights how family-friendly your business is. Write family-friendly. Any time another review mentions the same thing, put a tally mark next to family-friendly. Do this for every review, and you’ll have a sheet full of the reasons people love (or maybe don’t love) your business. This analysis is powerful.
After you’ve analyzed them, take action.
As a marketer, my first instinct is to write content with the key themes in mind! But you can also:
- Compare your analysis to your business strategy
- Encourage your employees by telling them what they’re doing well
- Focus on one thing you’d like to improve
- Use the most common points and words in your marketing
Create a case study
A good case study lets a prospective buyer see what it would be like for you to solve their problem. But business to consumer (B2C) companies sometimes have a hard time writing case studies because they can’t get “that one person” to share their story. Here’s a workaround. Group like reviews, and use that insight to write a case study about how you’ve solved a certain problem.
Go beyond getting more Google reviews. Make the most of what you have.
I can’t argue with getting more stars, but don’t stop there. Doing the work to get the full value from your reviews will boost your brand, strategy and marketing.
P.S. I’m not the one with 7,930 reviews!
