Today, your local business is invisible to potential customers if it doesn’t have recent positive reviews. Local businesses need a strategy to collect online reviews. It doesn’t matter if it’s a restaurant, an online store, or even a hair salon- people will always want to know what others have thought about the experience they had with that company before deciding whether or not to make their own purchase.
87% of consumers read online reviews before deciding to engage with a business. Some businesses find it difficult to get reviews in the first place because of their location, and some customers are hesitant about leaving them because they fear retaliation from other customers who might think that they’re biased for one reason or another.
In this article, we’ll discuss four creative ways you can collect online reviews from your customers while solving these two problems.
1. Collect Online Reviews with Website Widgets
This is a widget that could be added to your website, which will allow customers to leave reviews about their experience with you without having to head out and find an online review site.
Plus, it can help save time for both the customer and the business- they don’t need to stop what they’re doing in order to write a review of how satisfied or dissatisfied they were because this information would already be available on your website!
Our Reputation Management solutions provide such a widget to allow you to collect online reviews from your customers.
2. Reach Out to Local Bloggers and Vloggers
There are plenty of local bloggers and vloggers who would love to have the opportunity to review your products or services for free.
If you provide these people with a product/service they can write about, they’ll be able to share their experience from an unbiased perspective on their social media pages in hopes that it will reach some of their followers!
See if any local blogs or vlogs want to advertise your business as well by offering them something like a one-year subscription of service (or whatever incentive you can provide).
3. Collect Online Reviews Using Social Media Advertising
If you already have a great social media presence, then it might be worth advertising on sites like Facebook and Twitter to target your existing customers.
This is another way for people who may not live near where your business is located to leave reviews about how satisfied or dissatisfied they were with their experience!
Plus, these are often free because the company offers incentives in exchange for leaving a review- so this would be an easy (and cheap) way of getting some more reviews from new customers!
And if you’re targeting people who recently purchased something online from your website, then set up email campaigns that ask them whether or not they liked what they ordered.
4. Offer Free Wi-Fi in Exchange for Reviews
Offer free Wi-Fi in exchange for reviews by providing a way for them to access the internet and enter their email address, social media information, or even just leaving an online review.
This is another easy (and affordable) way of getting more reviews!
The only thing you would need to do as a business owner would be setting up wifi somewhere on your property that’s easily accessible for customers who are looking to spend time there.
Some restaurants have started doing this successfully all over the world which has helped tremendously with boosting ratings.
Need Help Collecting Online Reviews?
Collecting online reviews can be pretty tedious. Automating the process can help you improve your online presence and attract more potential customers. Our Reputation Management solutions do the heavy lifting for you so you can focus on delivering more great customer experiences.
