It's no secret that knowing how to manage reviews is essential to any company's digital marketing strategy. So, if you’re still not taking advantage of your customers' public feedback, it's time to start! 

However, not all feedback is positive. Negative reviews are bound to happen at some point — whether they're from disgruntled customers or competitors trying to sabotage your brand. 

These are among the reasons why online reviews should be properly managed to provide actionable insights to help businesses enhance their lead generation and overall efficiency. If you want to know more about how review management should be done to optimize the many opportunities it offers to boost your marketing and sales results, read on.

Benefits of Improving Review Management

A recent BrightLocal study showed that 98% of consumers read online reviews before making a purchase, and 77% trust them as much as personal recommendations. Improving your review management strategy is a great way to increase the number of leads you generate for your business. 

With an enhanced strategy, you'll be able to respond quickly to customers when they have questions or concerns about their orders. This approach can help improve their experience and drive more sales.

Increased Visibility

Reviews are a great way to increase visibility. The more reviews you have, the higher your business will rank in search results. This means more people will find their way to your site and learn about your products or services.

Reviews can also help generate leads for businesses looking to grow their customer base. Use online marketing strategies like SEO to get visibility on Google and other search engines through organic traffic generation methods such as blog posts or branded social media posts about the company's products/services. This approach will drive potential customers back to your website, where they can convert them into paying customers.

Higher Revenue

You may have heard the saying, "the customer is always right." But what if you're the customer, and you're not happy with your experience?

You can do something about it. With the right review management strategy and tools in place, you can turn negative reviews into positive ones — and use those positive reviews to increase revenue and profits.

Reviews are critical because they:

• Help customers make purchasing decisions by providing firsthand information about products or services.
• Can function as social proof for your business's credibility (when people see others saying good things about your company.)

Enhanced Brand Reputation

Since reviews are a significant source of information for consumers, the quality of those reviews can directly affect their trust in your brand. Having positive social mentions and SEO will also help improve your overall reputation. 

It is also best to leverage reliable chatbots to elevate your overall brand reputation management. For instance, chatbot builders like Landbot offer personalized conversations that help to better engage prospects and convert them into paying customers.

Favorable Social Mentions and SEO

If you're looking to boost your SEO and social media presence, there are a few things you can do. One of them is creating positive reviews that help drive traffic to your website.

Another way is through social mentions. If people are talking about how great your business is on Twitter or Facebook, more people will likely want to know what all the hype is about — and try out your services themselves! Sharing positive reviews with the crowd on LinkedIn is now also an important part of a LinkedIn lead generation strategy.

Increased Customer Engagement

Happy customers are more likely to come back and buy from you again. They feel heard, valued, and understood. Engaged customers also tend to be more loyal than unhappy ones because they have a better experience with your brand or product/service.

Strategies for Improving Review Management

There are several ways to boost your review management. The following are some of the most effective methods to do so.

Use Review Management Software

Review management software is a great way to keep track of all your reviews and respond to them promptly. If you're wondering how to choose the right review management software for your business, here are some tips:

• Check out what other companies are using. If you can find some with similar needs as yours, see what systems they've installed and how well they work for them. This can give you good ideas about which products best suit your needs.
• Think about whether or not this will be something that will grow with your business over time. If so, consider investing more money into something robust enough now so that it won't need replacing later.

Develop a System for Managing Reviews

You must develop and implement a management system to ensure your business uses reviews to their full potential. Here are some guidelines:

• Set up a regular schedule for analyzing reviews. 
• You should check the status of all reviews in your system at least once per week. 
• Consider setting aside specific days or times to complete this task. This way, it becomes part of your routine — for example, Friday afternoon after lunch could be "review day."
• Respond to each review within 24 to 48 hours. 
• Develop systems for handling negative and positive reviews separately from each other and neutral ones (more on this below).

Monitor Reviews Regularly

You should be monitoring your reviews regularly. This is the only way you can ensure that your customers are happy and satisfied with their experience with your business. 

You can use social CRM tools to help you better track your reviews. Platforms like HubSpot, Insightly, or Nimble alternatives offer robust features for this purpose.

If there are any negative reviews, take them seriously! Look at what caused the customer not to be satisfied and see if there's anything to improve for them to give you another chance. 

If there's nothing wrong with how you handled things from start to finish, then it's time for some marketing updates.

Use Reviews to Improve Your Marketing

Reviews are the voice of your customers, and they can help you improve your marketing strategies. Why? Because reviews provide valuable insights into what customers think about your product or service.

Use reviews to understand your customers better. If someone says they liked a particular feature of your product or service, highlight it in future ads or promotions. But if someone complains about something being too expensive or difficult to use — or even just not working as advertised — then use this information as part of a strategy designed to improve customer satisfaction.

Use reviews to create a better customer experience and lead generation. There are several ways for people interested in buying from you (e-commerce website or brick-and-mortar store.) You could tailor your marketing efforts so that each type becomes aware only of those options where we have strength, e.g., e-commerce.

This approach also allows you to avoid others where there might be less demand but higher competition from other businesses offering similar services nearby. Likewise, this provides greater control over your lead generation efforts while effectively reaching out across all channels so that everything gets noticed accidentally!

Take Negative Reviews to Help Make Improvements

If you've ever read a negative review of your business, you know how frustrating it can be.

But what if there was a way to use this information to help improve your business?

Use reviews as an opportunity to learn more about your customers. What are they saying about their experiences with your brand? How do they feel about the products or services you offer? Are there any common complaints coming up again and again that need addressing ASAP? 

First, take some time and think about why your customers left reviews in the first place. Was it because they didn't like something specific about your company or product? Did they feel an employee or team member needed to meet their needs? Or did they not understand something related to how things work around here (and, thus, came across as ungrateful)?

Next, decide on an action plan based on those reasons — or any others that come up during this process — and then put together a plan for improving these areas moving forward so that future customers won't have similar experiences again.

Finally, if you want to get even more specific about using customer feedback in your business, here are some tips: 

• Look for patterns in the reviews. If many people are saying the same thing, it might be worth taking a closer look at what's happening behind the scenes. You may find that one aspect of your business is causing customer problems and needs immediate attention!
• Consider the reviewer's background or social profile. If a customer leaves you a 1-star review giving but says in the text that they need to learn about your industry, it may be better to take the feedback seriously.

To further boost your review management activities, be sure to leverage relevant technologies. Aside from marketing software, you can choose from the best customer service tools list to support this critical business aspect.

Conclusion

Don't let your business fall victim to a poor review management strategy. 

These strategies are sure to help create an environment conducive to getting more reviews, which will help generate more leads and improve your customers’ experience.