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What people do trust are the recommendations they get from their friends and other consumers. That's why 85% of consumers read online reviews before they buy something, and up to half of all purchasing decisions involve some form of consumer-to-consumer communication.
In fact, marketers can save money and improve their market perception by encouraging customers to leave product reviews online - part of a strategy known as "advocate marketing." This way, customers will do the marketing for you by giving other consumers the information and endorsement they need to buy your product or service. Many companies have been very successful using advocate marketing to boost other efforts.
Here are three things you can do to turn your customers into brand advocates:
1. Know where they are.
It's likely that there are customers already advocating for you - you just may not be aware of who they are. One way to find them is to search on social media and blogs for those who are saying positive things about your brand. Chances are, they won't mind writing a review if you reach out to them and ask nicely.
You can also send customers a survey after they make a purchase to ask whether they'd be willing to refer you to a friend or review your product at a later date.
2. Don't let the negative reviews get you down.
There's no avoiding the fact that many consumers actively seek out reviews from customers who have bad things to say. That's why negative posts on G2 Crowd, a business software review site, generate between 200% and 300% more views than positive ones.
The good news is that these poor reviews can actually lead to greater sales. A recent study by the review company Revoo found that 68% of consumers trust reviews more when there are both positive and negative write-ups on the page. Even better? The same study found that those who seek out bad reviews convert into buyers 67% more than the average person.
Most importantly, negative reviews also provide marketers with the perfect opportunity to reverse consumer sentiment by reaching out to unhappy customers and working to set things right.
3. Give people a nudge.
Even your happiest customers will occasionally need a little push to review your products. Add calls to action on your website that encourage forwarding content, including your products in a blog post, or linking to your site in a tweet. This helps consumers to feel like they really have a voice, and can help form a long-term partnership.
The next step
Once you've established an advocate marketing strategy, you'll need to monitor its success. For the enterprise software industry, G2 Crowd is an excellent platform to use.
The site's dedicated community of more than 50,000 business software users posts authentic, detailed product reviews, giving companies a real-time overview of what their customers are saying about them. This allows them to find the people most likely to purchase their products.
Marketers today need to be as efficient as possible with their budgets - and one way to do this is by finding and working with consumers who are already fans of your brand to spread the word. Once you've done that, you should develop a strategy for ensuring that there are new reviews coming in on a regular basis. By keeping an eye on the types of reviews your company is getting, you'll be able to react and favorably impact your marketing efforts in the end.
Check out G2 Crowd for peer-rated software reviews.
This post is sponsored by G2 Crowd.
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