Customer reviews are among the most valuable resources in digital marketing, and not just the ones praising your products or services. People trust reviews, they use them as a point of reference when shopping online. Your brand’s response to customer reviews should be an essential part of your brand reputation management.
Your future customers aren’t just looking at the reviews and pictures, they are also looking at how your brand responds. Does your business provide solutions? Do you thank your reviewers for glowing compliments or useful analysis? Do you respond within a day, a week, or a whole month?
Businesses who ignore reviews are losing a chance to connect with customers, missing a valuable marketing resource, and creating a subtle reputation for the brand as unresponsive. When you get a product or service review from a customer, here’s why it’s important to respond diplomatically and promptly.
How Your Review Response Builds Brand Reputation
When a customer leaves a review, they are speaking primarily to the company. They are saying “Thanks for the great experience” or “There was something wrong with my order.” If you received either of these messages in person, you would respond in a friendly way. Do the same in the digital world. Thanking your positive reviews and offering to resolve negative feedback shows a brand that is awake and actively engaging with its customer base.
Customers who see review responses will know that, if they had something to say, they would not be speaking to a corporate brick wall. Simply answering reviews can build your brand reputation as attentive and responsive. Replying well can build your reputation as compassionate and understanding among brands.
What You Can Do With a Review Response
So what can be accomplished with a review response? What are the best ways to respond to an online customer review?
1. Provide Customer Service – Fast
Reviews of all stripes are often requests for customer service. A review might say the service they received was less-than-optimal, or something was damaged in shipping. Answering reviews – immediately – gives you a chance to provide responsive customer service to your customers who have just unpacked or completed a brand experience.
2. Turn Around a Bad Experience (and Reverse a Bad Review)
Bad reviews that are customer service requests can be turned around. If someone is upset by their order and within 10 minutes of their negative review, a replacement or refund is in the mail – they are likely to up those stars and offer a pleasing edit to the community.
3. Create Loyalty Feedback with Happy Customers
If someone says “Thank you,” of course, you say “You’re welcome!” This builds a positive feedback loop with your loyal customers and builds further loyalty. Always thank your positive reviewers with a *personal* message. Congratulate them on their ensemble, event, or adventure. Thank them for the specific analysis in the review. Do not copy-paste platitudes or risk losing credibility as genuine.
4. Show Off Your Diplomacy Skills
Truly toxic reviews are an opportunity to show off your diplomacy. It’s okay to be funny with “trolls” who don’t want a resolution or to neatly cut-off liars claiming to have a bad order or service when no such ticket exists. In fact, you’ll gain a little respect from your audience as a brand that is polite, but doesn’t take BS from non-legitimate customers.
5. Build a Record of Responsive Service
Finally, a record of responding to reviews stands on its own. When new customers browse your Google profile and review pages, they will see that your brand engages with reviews, cares about complaints, and resolves issues with a good attitude within the same day or week that a review appears. This tells future customers that you will treat them with the same level of attentiveness and care.
Take Control of Your Brand Reputation Through Reviews
Branding isn’t just about creating a memorable impression for your customers, it helps your customers understand what they can expect from your company. Your company will have a reputation whether you’re actively participating in it or not, so why not take control of what that reputation looks like and build a brand that customers can trust?
Are you ready to represent your brand through prompt and compassionate responses to reviews? Three29 can help you craft engaging content that represents your brand values and then post exactly the right responses for each customer review. From logo and branding graphic design to the representation of your business’s voice, we can help you strategize, create and maintain the brand you desire.
Reach out to Three29 today to start a conversation!
