Positive customer feed show that the people who purchase from your business care enough to share their experience in a review that can be seen by others who may be potential customers. If you’re lucky enough to get a large amount of positive reviews, then that shows a lot of credibility to people when making purchase decisions, which can result in better sales and traffic to your website, store or socials. Reviews are a simple thing that can be invested into, if you have a base of happy customers or sell a product that people like. You can offer a percentage off, a coupon code, free shipping, or whatever else is relevant to your business as an incentive to get customer reviews. The small investment of a one-time discount code can pay long term dividends if the review is positive, as it will stay on your social media or webstore indefinitely.

If you’re selling on a platform like Etsy, Ebay or Poshmark, reviews is a built in product, and an indicator to that platforms algorithm of where to place your product listings in search. Because of this, you also have a direct financial incentive to get more positive reviews for your product listings, as more positive listings means that your listings show up higher in search results, making sales more likely. Once a potential customer gets to your product listing, having a lot of positive reviews is an indicator that you sell a quality item, worth a customer spending money on. Two identical listings, one with reviews and one without, a potential customer is more likely to purchase from the listing that has the social proof of a review.

Reviews work so well that even average reviews are more powerful than a product listing with no reviews. According to Qualtrics, “93% of customers read online reviews before buying a product.” People read reviews, and products that have reviews make potential customers feel more familiar with what they may potentially purchase. Having no reviews gives a potential customer no feedback about what they want to buy, and gives them nothing to expect from the purchase. Investing in reviews is an investment in a potential customer’s experience with your product’s listing, similar to in store merchandising.

It is also important to be responsive to your reviews. Thank positive reviewers, and help resolve negative reviews. You don’t have to respond to everything (though that will be a big boost to customer engagement), but try to give thanks to positive feedback and stay on top of any problems that arise. According to GatherUp, “Businesses that don't reply to any reviews earn 9% less revenue than average. Businesses that reply to their reviews at least 25% of the time average 35% more revenue.” Continuing, “75% of businesses don't respond to any of their reviews.” This means that by just responding to the most immediate reviews, you’ll be more responsive than 75% of businesses online.

Customer reviews can be repurposed to be social media posts as well. You can anonymize the quote, or ask customers if they’re fine with you sharing their review. Quotes can be made into graphics, and these graphics can be posted onto social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Be creative with your reviews, and show off the best of what people say.

Reviews are important for businesses, brands and organizations. Businesses tell potential customers what to expect when they spend with you, and help businesses build credibility in their location and industry. Reviews are important for all businesses, but are critical for online only businesses. Directly ask your customers and following via social media or a sign at your cash register. Offer a discount or deal for people who review your business. Your investment doesn’t have to be a large amount of money, but the return you should see will be multiples of that amount. Reviews give life to your business, it’s almost like a potential customer walking into your business on it’s best day, just by reading. Who are your best customers?