Facebook, Yelp, Zomato, Trip Advisor, Agoda, Epinions, eBay, Amazon, Sazze, Buzzillions, ConsumerSearch.org… How do reviews factor in to your purchasing decisions? Do you often make choices based on word of mouth information? How often do you seek out reviews online?

Personally, I tend to read reviews for big purchases, for example a TV or new pair of downhill ski’s as well as for services like hotels and restaurants. Or, when I used to shop on eBay back in my University days sellers star-ratings were an important factor.

It is important to understand how important reviews are to your business so this can be factored in to your overall marketing strategy.

First it is important to understand that by simply having a social media account you open yourself up to conversation and feedback from consumers. Facebook now has star ratings and written reviews available to consumers on all business pages. These reviews are public and cannot be deleted. If you get a negative review it is important that your social media manager understands how to politely and effectively respond. On Instagram, while there is no place for formal reviews, it is common to get feedback in your comments. Instagram tends to get more positive reviews applauding your post, business, or even tagging a friend so that they check out your post (digital “word of mouth” if you will). It is important to reply to the positive reviews too, engage, say thanks, use it as an opportunity to get more information from the consumer. Lastly, Twitter reviews typically come in the form of replies to tweets, or original tweets direct from the consumer. You only get 140 characters to reply publicly, so use them wisely! My recommendation across all platforms is generally to respond once and take the conversation OFF social media and to a more platform like phone or email (DM’s work too). Ask the user to contact you direct in the way you prefer, gather all the information you need and go from there. It is very important that your social media manager has customer service experience if they are the person who will be replying to consumers over these platforms.

Diving deeper into reviews as related to marketing strategy, if reviews are important to your business. For example you are a restaurant or hotel, part of your marketing strategy should be to offer incentives for customers to give you a review, especially happy customers. Special offers, deals, discounts, prizes, etc. What benefit will that customer receive if they write you a review? I often find people are more likely to post a review after a negative experience vs. a positive, so it is important to consider how you can facilitate gathering positive reviews.

Finally, if you’re wondering “what’s with the photo and how does it relate to what we’re discussing”? Well, in the middle is Anna Bendzik, my sweet grandmother who has three favourite foods: Hawaiian pizza, chips and gravy, and dumplings. My Baba’s thoughts on the dumplings in this picture (from Shanghai Classic in Calgary) included: “best ever”, “my favourite”, and “worth the money” haha. All three of us agreed, 10/10 will recommend to a friend, and eat again!