5 Ways to Leverage Customer Reviews to Increase Sales

Having social proof has never been so powerful for startups.

In a world where many aspects of businesses can take the shape of “fake it until you make it”, customer reviews are one of the only things that stand between failure and success.

Here, we will look at five of the best ways you can leverage your customer reviews to increase sales and take your brand to the next level.

Short on time? Here are the key takeaways

Feature them across your website: Displaying reviews on key pages can increase credibility and conversions.
Integrate them into your marketing strategies: Embedding customer testimonials in email marketing can enhance engagement.
Optimize your SEO strategy: Integrating customer reviews into web content can improve organic search rankings.
Increase trust and conversions at the point of sale: Adding reviews to retargeting ads can reassure hesitant potential customers.
Transform reviews into compelling case studies: Turn customer experiences into detailed case studies to attract new clients.

5 Ways to Leverage Customer Reviews

Without further ado, let’s dive straight into five quick and easy ways you can get the most out of your customer reviews, and make them work harder for your brand.

Feature them across your website

Customer reviews can do so much more than just remind you how great your product or service is. They can also be an incredible tool for boosting conversion rates.

How many times have you found yourself close to buying from a new brand, only to talk yourself out by convincing yourself the product or service on offer is likely not going to be as good as it sounds?

Now imagine a world where your potential customer has that very thought; only in this reality, they see customer reviews from like-minded people, further proving your product or service is perfect for them.

Displaying great reviews on key pages can increase credibility and, therefore conversions, as more potential customers decide to take the leap and purchase from you.

Integrate them into your email marketing strategies

Embedding reviews into your many email marketing journeys is another excellent way to utilize the kind words your customers have to say about your business.

Whether it’s part of your post-purchase welcome series, abandoned basked follow-up emails, or any other promotional email campaigns you are running, reviews are great for email as they take up very little space (which is vital for an effective email message), but tell a great story in that limited space.

Play around with testing different types of reviews at different locations in your email flows to maximize your open and conversion rates.

Optimize your SEO strategy

When many people think of SEO, they likely think of aspects such as keywords and content structure. However, for many brands regularly updated customer reviews can also have a significant impact on organic search rankings.

With more and more generic content appearing on the internet, Google is working in overdrive to find legitimate content that provides genuinely helpful content.

And what’s more helpful than hearing what like-minded customers have to say about a product they have purchased?

Using customer reviews within articles and other web content in an organic and legitimate way can have a significant impact on how high your brand ranks in your chosen industry.

Increase trust and conversions at the point of sale

As I have already touched on, some potential customers are more willing to try new brands than others. Some are happy to ‘take your word for it’ and purchase what you have to offer, whereas others will be more cautious about buying from a company they have never heard of before, which is also understandable.

However, it is very frustrating when your website traffic isn’t converting into paying customers! Using reviews is a great way to eradicate some of those concerns, whether it be at the purchase stage of the process, or even as part of retargeting ads, helping reassure hesitant potential customers.

Transform Reviews into Compelling Case Studies

When thinking pragmatically, it’s easy to think that the most effective sales content is, well, sales content! Promotional content certainly has value, but case studies are another great form of sales content.

Case studies can be used across your website, across your email journeys, all over your social media channels, as part of retargeting ads, and even within any investment pitches, making it extremely versatile and reusable.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there are many ways that customer reviews can help you grow your business’s reputation, increase customer loyalty, and improve the trustworthiness that new customers have with your brand.

To learn about other steps you need to take to move your brand to the next level, be sure to check out foundr+, your gateway to eCommerce success for just $1.

Frequently Asked Questions About Leveraging Customer Reviews

How do customer reviews impact sales?

Customer reviews significantly influence purchasing decisions by building trust and credibility.

What are the best ways to feature customer reviews on a website?

The most effective ways to showcase customer reviews on a website include placing them on product pages, using review widgets, displaying star ratings, and highlighting user-generated content such as customer photos and videos.