4 Ways Businesses Are Using Reviews to Increase Sales

Reviews are one of the first things consumers look at before hitting the “buy” or “add to cart” button. Amazon, one of the most trusted online retailers in the world, has reviews right on the product page to increase sales and build trust among consumers.

It’s easy to build trust for a product when most reviews are positive and negative reviews are never hidden. This builds trust for the retailers, too.

Businesses are using reviews to increase sales in the following ways:

1. Reviews to Build Trust

Over 90% of consumers read reviews online, and reading just one review can lead a consumer to build an opinion of a product or service. Trust is very hard for a business to gain, but when there are reviews from other happy customers, this allows a business to build trust by pleasing their past clients.

This is why businesses post reviews right in front of their customers, either on the main website page or product page.

2. Social Media Sales Boost

A great review needs to be broadcasted to the world to boost sales. It’s difficult to increase sales if no one sees or hears a review. This is why businesses are tweeting reviews or posting them on Facebook.

Reviews that are being broadcast to the world are going to increase sales, and it’s these reviews that will be able to push a potential customer to make a purchase.

It’s the extra assurance that the consumer is going to make a good purchase.

3. What Customers are “Saying”

Customers say a lot – some good and some bad. When a customer is praising a business, it’s a good way to push others to make a purchase or use a service. General Drain Works does this in their “What Our Customers Say” portion of their website.

Why?

Well, you’re able to build trust by having potential customers read these reviews, but they go a step further by adding the reviewer’s name and picture.

Pictures work as another visual aid to build trust. Perhaps you know Bobby, a person that left a rave review, and you know that he is a standup person that sticks by his word. Being able to see Bobby’s picture next to his name, putting a face to the name, can increase sales drastically.

4. Reviews in Print

Print advertisements are a great option for reviews, and we’re seeing a lot of businesses adding reviews in ads. Not only is the ad’s copy going to push the sale, but the review is going to strengthen the copy and increase the likelihood of making a sale.

Consumers trust the reviews of others, and this allows for another marketing portal to make a sale.

Just add reviews into your blog posts, marketing campaigns and social media posts. If you take out ads in the paper or in a magazine, a strong review may be placed next to the ad to increase your chances of making a sale.

Reviews are a trust-builder, and they’ll allow businesses to increase sales if the review is placed in front of the potential consumer in ads, posts, under a product description – anywhere.

Adam Richards

About Adam Richards

Adam Richards is a semi-retired business professional originally from Bangor, Maine. He spent the majority of his career in sales and marketing where he rose to the marketing lead of a Fortune 1000 company. He then moved on to helping people as a career counselor that specifically helped bring families to self-sufficiency through finding them rewarding careers. He has now returned to Bangor for his retirement and spends his free time writing. This blog will be about everything he learned throughout his career. He'll write on career, workplace, education and technology issues as well as on trends, changes, and advice for the Maine job market and its employers.