Using Customer Review Sites to Improve Your Sales
Using Customer Review Sites to Improve Your Sales
As consumers, often rely on product reviews as sources to give with honest insight into a product’s quality, function, and usability. By writing your very own product reviews, you are able to share first-hand information from your daily experiences which can greatly contribute to the greater body of subjective feedback already in place. However, writing a review is not merely a matter of regurgitating your experience with every product you use. Rather, a review is an opportunity to share what you learned about the product from its manufacturer, your experience with its delivery, its overall performance, as well as any improvements you may deem necessary in its future usage. These observations will prove to be invaluable to other consumers like yourself who wish to utilize or purchase the product as well.
When utilizing this service, the first thing you should remember is never to publish an online review if you haven’t even used the product in question. This is a golden rule that must be followed at all costs. The information you are compiling for your review must be unbiased and real. If you have only used it briefly, try a couple of variations of the product on various brands and models. If you end up liking the product, publish a positive review. On the flip side, if you were unpleasantly pleased with the product, do not hesitate to publish a negative review.
One way to get started when compiling customer reviews is by visiting a couple of local listings sites for similar products. For instance, if you are looking for a vacuum cleaner, visit a couple of consumer sites on the Web and see what they are saying about the specific vacuum cleaner brand you’re considering. If the information provided on both sites seem to be a good match, take note of the sites and visit them to see if there is a common consensus. You may want to visit the local listings sites again just to be on the safe side so you do not accidentally publish bad information about a competitor’s product.
The next step is to conduct some basic research into the two different sites you found and decided to use as your customer reviews. Make sure to search the Internet for manta searches, as this will turn up more sites than you can view in a single day. Take a look at the sites with the highest number of customer reviews and narrow down your search to the most helpful reviews. Write a brief overview of each site, including a link to your personal site so you can check out the testimonials firsthand.
If you plan to use a paid directory as a means to build trust as a reviewer, it would also be beneficial to leave reviews on sites where you’ve purchased a product in the past. These reviews will come at a small price. By leaving an honest review on a store that you purchased a product from months or even years ago, you will establish a good reputation for yourself. You’ll also help your fellow buyers by giving them a reason to trust your firsthand review. The same holds true if you were to review products that you used and gave away.
If you plan to use the services of an online directory as a way to build trust with potential customers, write five-star reviews and leave a website URL to your personal site. When leaving positive reviews on a product, tell the story in as much detail as possible. Describe the product, its benefits, and all of the pluses. Avoid bombarding the customer with lots of facts, as this could make the negative feedback seem negative. However, don’t nitpick or complain, as this could leave the impression that you are only wanting to criticize the item rather than actually positive.
These customer review sites are free to use! If you do not have a way to start building your list of positive reviews right away, it might be worth your while to consider signing up for the Better Business Bureau’s email newsletter. You can then use the Better Business Bureau’s email distribution services to send out an automatic email blast of customer reviews on new products and current bestsellers. Using this service is also a great way to stay on top of new trends as they emerge.
Do not feel bad if you occasionally find a product that you are less than pleased with. There will inevitably be times when you will have a hard time disagreeing with a review, or vice versa. It is important to remember that negative customer reviews are not always true. Many of these people may have only tried the product for a short period of time and are simply trying to vent their frustrations. On the other hand, many positive reviews are written by real consumers who are more than happy to share their experiences with others.