4 Ways to Use Customer Reviews to Improve Social Media Marketing

When it comes to shopping online, more than half of consumers say that they always check reviews before taking the plunge and clicking the “buy now” button, especially on big-ticket items or services.

And when it comes to social media marketing, user reviews can significantly boost your credibility and increase interest in what it is you’re offering to consumers.

Here are four ways to make the most of customer ratings and reviews by integrating them with your social media strategies.

1. Pay attention to what your customers are saying

Reviews on your products or services aren’t just being placed on the site where they are being purchased, but also any number of other third party sites like Google+, Angie’s List, and Yelp. Be sure to check out any sites where your reviews might appear. Otherwise, you could be blindsided by a negative review that you didn’t even know existed.

 

2. Promptly respond to any negative reviews

Bad reviews happen, that’s just a fact of life (and business). While it might be tempting to just ignore a negative review, doing so can be detrimental to the life of your company. Respond to the reviews of consumers who weren’t happy with their experience and attempt to make things right, whether that might be with a refund, a credit for future purchases, or even an apology and the promise that you will do better in the future.

 

3. Post the good, the bad, and the ugly

Consumers love to read what their fellow shoppers have to say. By posting all of your reviews on social media, you are engaging your followers and showing them that others have used your product or service, as well. No one wants to be the lone gunman, so encourage potential customers to pull the trigger by sharing the experiences of other shoppers, no matter if they are positive or negative ones. Remember the old PR adage: there’s no such thing as bad press.

 

4.Track the social media response

Don’t let all of that sharing go to waste by not measuring it for future marketing campaigns. Record the response you receive sharing your reviews by tagging each by product type, URL, location, and keyword. The more information that you record, the better you can see what is (or isn’t) working and utilize it in future campaigns.

 

Consumers are out there, making decisions about what to buy based on the reviews and ratings that they see being shared. The question is, are you going to put this important part of social media marketing to use for you?