The customer reviews you receive can make or break your business in more ways than one. We are in an age in which 93% of consumers read online reviews before buying. Highly rated reviews can help establish trust and drive sales, and unmoderated negative feedback can tarnish your reputation. That’s where a Review Management Service can be useful.
If you’re not sure how to handle them or even which service to trust, this guide is for you. By the time you’re done, you’ll know exactly what a Review Management Service is, why it’s important, and how to choose the right one for your business.
Review Management Service: What Is It?
A Review Management Service is a software or a platform that enables businesses to directly manage and respond to online reviews on a large number of platforms, such as Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor, or Facebook. These services enable businesses to track customer feedback, improve their online reputation and even improve SEO by creating more user-generated content.
With review monitoring, auto-replies, and insights built into the feature set, these services want to automate as much as possible when it comes to helping business owners manage their reviews.
Why Your Business Needs Review Management
Not sure you want to invest in a platform yet? These are the 3 biggest benefits of having Review Management Service for your business:
Reputation Monitoring
The greatest benefit is the ability to constantly keep an eye on what your customers are saying about you on the internet. Receive real-time notifications so you never miss when someone leaves a review, enabling you to respond quickly.
Example: A timely reply to a poor review might turn a customer’s experience around and demonstrate to new prospects that you appreciate input.
Improved Customer Relationships
An efficient review management tool to help make outreach responses possible. A thoughtfully written response to reviews is yet another way to show customers that you care, whether it’s a good review or a bad one.
Better SEO
Local Search Engine Optimization (SEO) relies heavily on reviews. Google rewards fresh, user-generated content, and the more positive reviews you have, the more likely you are to rank number one in localized searches.
Quick Fact: A business with 10 or more new reviews a month receives 54% more clicks than one that doesn’t.
Time Efficiency
It is time-consuming to comb through multiple sites manually in order to monitor reviews. A Review Management Service will put it all in one place for you and save you hours per week.
Important Features to Consider in a Review Management Service
All services are not created equal. Here is a breakdown of features that you should consider when selecting the platform that’s right for your company:
Multi-Platform Support
Choose a service that works on all the platforms where your customers leave reviews. After all, whether their audience is more Google Reviews or Yelp, you don’t want to leave anyone in the dust.
Automation Options
The top platforms provide automated processes such as auto review response or request emails. This way, no review gets lost regardless of how busy you are.
Analytics and Insights
More than simply learning how many reviews you’ve gotten. A high-quality service should be able to deliver actionable insights, such as the types of things people are praising (or complaining) about most in your business.
Review Generation
Some services do even more to help you drive even more reviews by automatically asking customers for feedback after making a purchase.
Customizable Templates
Crafting your review responses may seem intimidating. Good services provide response templates that can be edited to your business voice.
Best Review Management Service Alternatives to Rize Reviews
There are many reviews alternatives available, all of them with varying features and services. Here’s a look at some of the top players in the Review Management Service space:
Birdeye
Best for: Small to medium-sized businesses
You can track your reviews on popular review sites, solicit customer reviews, and also manage some social media messages with Birdeye services. It also provides market advice to enhance the customer experience.
Notable Feature: Personalized templates to get reviews replied to quicker.
Podium
Best For: Businesses with strong local competition
Podium is also especially favored among businesses looking to get an edge in local SEO. It facilitates gathering feedback from customers through text messages, which has been shown to solicit faster responses.
Key Feature: Receive more and quick feedback via text-based review requests.
Trustpilot
Best For: E-commerce brands
Trustpilot focuses on building trust with potential consumers in the form of legitimate reviews placed on product pages and advertisements.
Important Features: Custom widgets to display reviews on your site.
Yext
Best For: Multi-location enterprises
Yext Review management at scale Yext is a platform that enables businesses to track reviews for their individual branches, while also protecting their national brand as a whole.
AI Value: Sentiment analysis of reviews across thousands of locations.
Effective Ways to Grow Your Business Using a Review Management Service
Being established on a platform is just the first step. This is what you can do to make the most of your service:
Monitor Reviews Daily
Turn on notifications for new reviews so you never miss the right stay. And the faster you respond, the more favorably you are viewed.
Engage With Every Review
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Positive Feedback: Thank the reviewer and include something specific from their feedback.
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Negative Reviews: Thank the reviewer for their feedback and include a resolution plan (if possible).
Encourage Reviews Strategically
Be proactive about requesting reviews. Follow up with a nice email if a sale is made.
Analyze Trends
Look for patterns in customer feedback. Do you keep hearing about slow service or get praised for having a friendly staff? Leverage these insights to make future business choices.
Final Word: The Reviews Management Advantage
Product reviews are not just recommendations from one customer to another, but an integral part of your business model. A good online reputation can help to enhance your reputation, draw more customers to your business, and also polish your bottom line.
With the acquisition of the most appropriate Review Management Service, you could keep ahead of your competitors and develop your relationship with your customer base.
Want to bump up your reputation game? Give one of the above tools a go and feel the difference yourself. The sooner you do, the sooner you will see results.
