Look all around and what do you see? Consumer product and service reviews are taking over the Internet. And more power to them. They’ve given some much-needed credibility to a marketplace that had begun to lose its luster in the eyes of corporate clients and consumers.
But just how believable are consumer reviews? According to Deloitte & Touche USA, “Consumer Survey: Market Transparency” as reported by eMarketer, a mind blowing 99% of Internet consumers find consumer-generated online reviews to be credible.
That trend is reinforced by Forrester Research’s North American Technographics Media and Marketing Survey for Q2 2008Â that was recently released.Based on comments from over 5,000 survey participants, Forrester reports that trust in online consumer reviews is second only to trust in email that comes from people we know.
To List Reviews or Not to List Reviews… There’s Really No Question
Are you using consumer-generated reviews on your site?If you operate a services-based website, do you include links to reviews from Yahoo! Local or other client testimonial?While testimonials aren’t the identical twin of reviews, they are the closest living relative that service-based companies can turn to.
In case you missed it, the point is that the credibility of your copy and your site overall can be bolstered with the inclusion of consumer-written reviews and/or testimonials.
What else? The Forrester study reported that online consumers put trust in the results returned by search engines. Boosting your SEO copy is one important way to contribute to a gain in rankings. The survey didn’t specify whether participants were talking about organic or paid results so improving your PPC copywriting might also bolster your credibility.
Don’t Rely Too Heavily on Your Blog
Surprisingly, blogs have the least amount of consumer confidence.They fell dead last in the Forrester study.I’d like to know why.I find it laughable that message board posts and online classifieds have a higher trust level than corporate blogs.
Of course, these are today’s findings. Check back next week and blogs may have reached the #1 spot 🙂
Proof of Performance
Really, it all goes back to proof of performance. If you can show others that you’ve got what it takes, they’ll gladly spread the word.
Do you read Karon’s very credible copywriting blog? 🙂 Find it today at https://blog.marketingwords.com.
Very interesting. Thanks for this!
There is not a week that goes by that we do not have 5-7 new orders placed for one of our services based on “we saw your reviews and figured you knew what you were doing”. Consumers do read and they do take the time to post. We also add testimonials to our site but for us so far, it is the reviews and our performance tht is making a difference in our bottom line. Thanks for the article!
Sher
Thanks for sharing Sher! Your comments are appreciated.
We also have had great success with our online reviews and I agree too, shoppers do choose us over other florists because of our great reviews online 🙂
Hi Adam! I check the reviews for practically everything I buy… including flower arrangements 🙂