Using customer reviews in marketing is the single most powerful way to demonstrate to potential customers that your products are worth purchasing. Here are five tips on how to collect customer reviews and use online reviews in your marketing campaigns, product pages, email campaigns and communication.

Why Are Customer Reviews Important For Ecommerce Businesses?

Customer reviews play a pivotal role in the success of ecommerce businesses, and their impact is well-documented through various studies and statistics:

• Positive reviews are the single most important factor in purchase decisions.
• Consumers trust reviews from a community more than review sites. (Source)
• Just five reviews for a product can increase sales by 270 percent. When reviews are available for higher priced items, conversion rates increase by 380 percent.
• Over 36 percent of consumers read reviews before making a purchase.
• Consumers who interact with customer reviews are 120 percent more likely to convert than those who do not.

These statistics underscore the importance of customer reviews in building trust, influencing purchasing decisions, and ultimately driving sales for ecommerce businesses.

How To Use Customer Reviews Publicly In Digital Marketing

Online reviews and customer testimonials are not only important for converting potential customers, they’re also expected. So what can you do to make customer testimonials and reviews a part of your brand’s digital marketing strategy?

1. Post-purchase review requests

Post-purchase review requests are emails sent to customers asking to leave a review for the products they purchased or the brand itself. They are by far the most effective way to get feedback from your customers, over 80 percent of all customer reviews are collected using them. Giving your customers an opportunity to provide positive feedback, after each purchase will generate more reviews and more valuable feedback from your customers.

Overall Marketing Activity: Email marketing

High-level Marketing Objective: Gather customer feedback

Digital Channel: Email

How:

1. Create a review request email template within your email marketing platform. Don’t be shy—use this as another touchpoint to showcase your brand’s personality by spicing up the copy of the email
2. Schedule your emails to control how long after purchases are made a customer receives one. Make sure to give customers enough time to enjoy your product before asking for a review – we recommend waiting 7-10 days after a customer’s order has shipped
3. If you already use post-purchase emails, add this as a step where it makes sense (usually after a shipping confirmation email!)

2. Treat your review section as a customer service touchpoint

The most common thing brands are getting wrong when it comes to customer reviews is not thinking of them as part of the customer experience. Product reviews are a key touchpoint and an interaction with customer service can enrich the overall customer experience with your brand. A one-way review section with high ratings and glowing reviews does a great job of building trust. But, a two-way review section where brands interact with customers and reply to their reviews drives customer retention while building trust. Harvard Business Review conducted a study that shows brands that interact with customers through product reviews receive higher ratings and more reviews overall. It’s also a way for you to have control over your online reputation and influence how your brand is perceived in the eyes of the customer. Replying to customer reviews should be a best practice in your customer service playbook. 

Overall Marketing Activity: Customer engagement

High-level Marketing Objective: Build customer trust and drive customer retention

Digital Channel: Website

How:

1. Reply to every comment acknowledging and giving your appreciation for their review. Go above and beyond by sharing reviews across your business profile and social media
2. Use any negative feedback or constructive reviews as an opportunity to gather product feedback and use this information to iterate your products.  For example: if a customer leaves a review saying they wish your product had a certain feature—if you build that feature; reply to their review and let them know!
3. Resolve any product complaints by engaging and understanding why the product didn’t live up to their expectations. When applicable, offer a free replacement or refund – this will help to win back customers. 

3. Use product traits to highlight product features and strengths 

Traits are additional fields customers are asked to rate when leaving a review. They help determine additional attributes of your product like fit, quality, comfort, etc. They can help tell a product story and provide helpful context. 

Ikea does a great job with product traits:

Product traits can also communicate product features and strengths that other customers love. For example, brands that use EcoCart’s carbon-neutral option at checkout receive raving reviews from customers applauding them for their eco-conscious efforts. Brands like Merge4 and KaiBae, have received many customer reviews sharing how much they love the carbon-neutral feature at checkout. 

These are perfect instances where a product trait such as “Carbon offset order: Y/N” can be used to show off your brand’s sustainable initiatives to browsing shoppers. This also speaks to how review sections can act as product advocates and highlight subtle product features that might have otherwise gone unnoticed. Customers love to champion brands that share their values, by offering carbon-neutral shipping with EcoCart, your customers will want to talk about the feature and share your brand.

Overall Marketing Activity: Website optimization

High-level Marketing Objective: Brand awareness and product positioning

Digital Channel: Website

How:

1. To identify what product traits you should be using, look through customer support chats and existing customer reviews for common themes. 
2. Create a new product trait with your review provider
3. Use multiple-choice questions to gamify the experience or text fields for more open-ended responses

4. Create a dedicated reviews page to showcase customer reviews

Having a dedicated landing page for customer reviews increases your online visibility. Brands with dedicated customer review pages rank higher on search engines results pages and drive more traffic to their website? It’s true. For example, Mejuri, a popular jewelry brand, doesn’t have a dedicated reviews page, so when customers search ‘Mejuri reviews’ their website is the 8th search result. Whereas Oats Overnight does have a reviews page, and when customers search ‘Oats Overnight reviews’ it’s the first search result. 

A reviews page is a dedicated landing page that showcases all of your customers’ reviews in one place. Creating a reviews page not only builds trust with your customers with social proof but also makes that information easy to find.

Overall Marketing Activity: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 

High-level Marketing Objective: Increase store traffic

Digital Channel: Search Engine & Website

How: 

1. Go to your Shopify store theme editor and create a new page on your website—title the page ‘Customer Reviews’
2. Aggregate all product and store reviews to display on the page

5. Reward customers for leaving reviews 

Incentives are a way to encourage your customers to leave a review. You can use promotional offers like free shipping or discounts that customers will receive once they leave a review. At first thought, the concept of offering financial incentives for customers to leave a review might seem odd, but studies show that review incentives improve a customer’s review writing experience and result in more positive reviews. You can also use review incentives to reward customers with a higher discount if they leave a photo or video review. Recent studies have shown that 93% of consumers look at reviews before making a purchase and that the content of the review is the most influential factor. A good word goes a long way and a picture says a thousand words. Both positive reviews and photo reviews are sure ways to build trust with customers and inform them about your product, resulting in higher on-site conversion rates.

Overall Marketing Activity: Promotional offers

High-level Marketing Objective: Increase sales 

Digital Channel: Email marketing

How: 

1. Choose a review provider that creates review incentives for you, or use create discount codes with Shopify and set up an automated email flow within your marketing platform that is triggered when a new review is created 
2. Choose the type of incentive you’d like to offer
3. If a fixed discount or percentage discount, input the value
4. Choose whether or not you’d like to offer this to unverified buyers as well (we recommend not)
5. Add incentive!

As the number of new products in the marketplace grows and the fight for consumers’ attention continues, creating a holistic customer experience is crucial to standing out in today’s marketplace. Effectively communicating with your customers at all steps of the pre and post-purchase journey is the thread that ties this holistic experience together. Having a consistent brand voice throughout this journey makes customers feel closer to your brand and builds a loyal customer base. Incorporating an effective digital marketing strategy that leverages customer reviews is crucial if you want to stand out in today’s crowded marketplace.

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Conclusion

In ecommerce, customer reviews are crucial for success. They directly influence buying decisions, build trust, and enhance your brand’s credibility. Integrating positive reviews into your marketing – from email campaigns to product pages – not only enriches the customer experience but also boosts sales. Engaging with customers in review sections, highlighting product strengths, and incentivizing customer feedback are key strategies. Additionally, adopting sustainable practices like EcoCart’s carbon-neutral shipping can further appeal to eco-conscious consumers. Ultimately, leveraging customer reviews effectively is essential for standing out in the competitive ecommerce market.