Customer reviews are essential to any business’s marketing strategy because consumers are taking the time to research products before they purchase. The internet has made it possible to find information and find it fast. A recent study conducted by BrightLocal indicates that 85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations when making purchasing decisions. This forward progress in technology has opened up a wealth of information to consumers that was never there before.

Even in niche industries such as software design and programming, reviews are becoming a driving force in marketing and profitability. Consumers in important positions, such as CEOs and executives, research their buying options well before pulling the trigger. Customer reviews drive traffic, increase brand loyalty, and improve revenue so they must be included in your marketing strategy to maximize revenue potential. These reviews also have to be aggregated in more places than your amazon product page or website, however. This short guide will teach how to get customer reviews and use them to drive more conversions.

How to use customer reviews in marketing

1. Use a custom landing page

When directing your customer to leave reviews during an outreach campaign, whether it is on TrustRadius, through helpdesk software, or your own webpages, make sure you are sending them links to the actual product they are reviewing. Sending them to the home page and making them seek out the place where they are going to leave a review is not an effective way to engage. Make reviewing as easy as possible for the consumer. Using a tool like HelpScout or one of its alternatives can make managing the review process even simpler.

2. Send more marketing emails

Send emails to your customers and ask them to review the product that they purchased. You can also offer your customers incentives for reviewing such as gift cards or exclusive offers. Keep in mind that you want to target a broad set of customers to get a representative sample of responses and avoid cherry picking reviewers. This can help you represent the different personas and use cases for your product or service.

3. Persistence is key

Your email marketing software can be used to see how many, and who, are opening the emails you sent. If your emails are not being opened, try switching up the subject line message, ensure you are using their first name, and use a lively, conversational tone, especially in your first sentence of the email.

4. Reviews on all platforms

It is not enough to have customers leave a review on one single review site or your website. Consumers should see information about your company on all platforms used for branding, including social media accounts. If your customers are following your business on social media, that is the first place they will go to see what people are saying about the products and services you offer. Try to spread out your reviews across your social media platforms, website, Etsy, and Amazon pages (and anywhere else your business is represented).

5. Reviews on all platforms

After a customer leaves a review, follow up. Whether the review was negative or positive, asked for or organic, you should always address your customers whenever you can. This shows that your business cares and wants to listen to what consumers have to say, which generates repeat customers and more reviews being left.

Customer reviews are the tool most consumers now use to make buying decisions. Getting customers to leave reviews of your business or products can be daunting, but it is essential to growing your business.

Krystle Dickerson is a researcher and regular contributor to TrustRadius, where she shares her knowledge of the latest trends in B2B news and software.