How to build a community with reviews
Reviews help brands build and nurture a community by providing customer stories that resonate. Seeing their own wants and needs reflected in other shoppers can spark a connection between different customers. More than that, reviews instil brand loyalty and increase customer retention, which can create a cult-like following of consumers that hang on every word you say.
Here are some actionable ways you can cultivate a community with reviews:
1. Use attributes
Attributes allow shoppers to filter through reviews on your website to find like-minded customers. As well as creating a personalised experience, this also provides you with valuable customer and product data that can be used to improve the products you create for your community.
2. Respond to reviews
When customers interact with negative reviews, brands have seen an 85% increase in conversion rates. Why? Because it helps the brand become more authentic and allows you to show off your customer service. Plus, consumers actually find brands with no negative reviews to be ‘fake’ and untrustworthy.
But responding to reviews in general is a savvy tactic you should be doing. Consumers actually find businesses that respond to reviews 1.7x more trustworthy than those who don’t.
We recommend integrating your customer review software with your helpdesk so that your support staff can jump on negative reviews ASAP and iron out any bad customer experiences.
3. Send referral links
Sending referral links to customers that leave a positive review lets you build your community by having existing community members invite others via referrals.
Identify customers that have left four or five-star reviews and offer them an incentive to share your brand with a friend. These will be some of your most loyal customers, which makes it more likely that they’ll recommend your products to their inner circle.
4. Reward customers for reviews
Rewarding customers who leave reviews helps you create a collection of UGC that cements your community and helps to build customer loyalty. Customers are more likely to come back and purchase from you again if you offer them an incentive, like a discount code or a voucher for their next purchase.
You can take this one step further and offer a sliding scale of incentives based on the quality of a review. For example, a customer that writes a text review can unlock a 10% discount, while customers that leave a visual review can get 15% off their next order.
5. Make reviews visible
Don’t hide your reviews away! Make sure they’re visible across your site and on other marketing channels to encourage a sense of community and help build your word-of-mouth strategy.
Some places you might incorporate reviews include:
- Homepage
- Product pages
- In cart
- Checkout
- Emails
- Social media
- Ads
Bespoke map-making brand Muir Way showcases reviews and ratings in their Google Shopping Ads, which has led to a 30% increase in conversion rate and an 838% increase in revenue.
by Kevin Park
