When was the last time you bought something online before looking up reviews?
Admittedly, I have often driven my partner crazy with my neurotic need to find the best-reviewed restaurants, hotels, activities and experiences before making a booking. Forgive the cliche, but I know I’m not alone.
Despite their largely unsubstantiated nature, peer reviews have a significant impact on audience behavior – in both a B2B and B2C context – which ultimately affects a company’s bottom line.
Externally, marketers can use them to emphasize their organization’s strengths and capabilities, improve brand awareness, and build trust and credibility in their product or service. Internally, they can be used to identify audience segments to target and to enhance messaging.
Indeed, because customer reviews and testimonials have the power literally to make or break a sale let’s look at why – and how marketers can ensure they’re effectively incorporating online reviews into their marketing strategy.
Why customer reviews matter (B2C)
Consumers trust peer reviews.
According to a 2018 BrightLocal surveyOpens a new window , more than 78% of people, and 91% of 18-34 year-olds, value online reviews as highly as personal recommendations. On the other hand, one study from HubSpot revealed that only 3% of consumers trust salespeople and marketers.
Such figures are a clear sign that customer reviews have become a key marker of the authenticity and trust of a brand, product or service.
That means reviews are now a crucial part of the B2C sales funnel. Consider the following statistics:
- Conversion rates can increase by 270%Opens a new window if reviews are displayed, a figure that shoots to 380% for higher-end products.
- Various studies have concluded that anywhere from 88-97% of shoppers are influenced by reviews in their buying decisions.
- 71% of consumersOpens a new window are more comfortable making a purchase after reading reviews.
This data confirms that consumers turn to reviews before making a purchasing decision. If it seems accurate and authentic, consumers will likely listen to that feedback.
Why customer reviews matter (B2B)
Customer reviews are often overlooked in the B2B ecosystem. They shouldn’t be.
Investing in B2B services generally requires a substantial commitment of time, resources and finances. Consequently, B2B buyers have traditionally had to spend significant time researching the best business solutions for their needs, a difficult and inherently biased process.
In this context, customer reviews can cut through all that noise, simplifying the process to help buyers make better-informed and quicker decisions.
Arguably, that’s why a 2018 report from G2 Crowd and Heinz Marketing found that nine of every 10 B2B buyers are more likely to make a purchase after reading a positive review.
Testimonials are a cost-effective way to prove the value of, and build trust in, a product or service by showing the benefits to the end user. In fact, this form of authentic user-generated contentOpens a new window  can actually have an impact throughout the B2B buyer’s journey, not just during the consideration phase.
While 71% of B2B buyers reference reviews when researching a product or service, half said they use reviews when they are still further along in the buying process.
Well-curated B2B reviews can prove to current and potential clients that an organization understands industry trends, as well as the needs of their customers. Moreover, such testimonials act as a brief overview of what it’s like to work with a company.
Marketers can even use the feedback they get to inform other departments of potential improvements in order to offer a better user experience.
Quantity and recency = quality
At a time when the issue of fake reviewsOpens a new window is attracting increasing media attention, consumer trust in online reviews is hanging in the balance. Depending on the industry or sector, several studies have documented that 20-35% of online reviews are fake.
According to the 2018 study from BrightLocal, trust in reviews dropped slightly from 2017 to 2018.
Hence, marketers must ensure their company has a good quantity of high-quality reviews across their digital footprint – for example, on their company website, product pages, e-commerce sites like Amazon and on social media – from Yelp to Facebook to Google reviews.
To maximize their effectiveness, marketing departments must strike a balance between recency and quantity of reviews.
The science behind the need for a large number of reviews is straightforward: Given the choice among products with similar ratings, consumers are more likely to buy whichever has more comments.
So what’s the magic number? A recent study of Google ReviewsOpens a new window  found that on average, local businesses have 39 reviews on the search engine. However, the top ranking businesses on Google have around 47.
Meanwhile, B2B buyers like to see 11-50 reviews.
As for recency, all buyers like to see that positive reviews have been posted within the past three months.
Yet, despite the buyer demand for reviews, only one in five companies are considering incorporating reviews in their marketing strategy. Marketers must realize the competitive edge that customer reviews and testimonials can offer, helping establish trust, build credibility – and to prove value.