Humans are social creatures, and we put a lot of value in our peers' recommendations and experiences. In the past, reviews about products or services have come from word of mouth. While that’s still an essential aspect of marketing, our digital era has put online reviews in the spotlight. They’re essentially word-of-mouth marketing on a mass scale, and your customers rely on them when making purchasing decisions. In fact, online reviews are so ubiquitous in the modern shopper’s experience that not having them on your brand’s website can be seen as a red flag. In 2021, 91% of adults ages 18-34 believe online reviews are as trustworthy as personal recommendations, and 93% of consumers report that reviews have influenced their purchasing choices. They’re especially important for buyers purchasing an unfamiliar product. Customers trust reviews more than any type of paid marketing, and they heavily influence the buying behavior or your target market.W

e can’t overstate how important it is to collect reviews from your customers. Conversion rates increase by 10% when a product gets its first review, and the rate increases by a staggering 40% when you go from zero reviews to 100. Collecting 100 reviews might seem overwhelming, but it’s absolutely doable! Most customers are happy to share their opinions. Armed with the right tools and information, you can quickly collect product reviews to boost your sales.

4 Ways to Get More Customer Reviews

1. Send Post-Purchase Emails or Gather Checkout Comments

It's true that most people are happy to share their thoughts about products or services they’ve used; but, it’s equally true that they likely need a bit of prompting to provide that feedback. Everyone is busy these days, so imagine your customers need reminders to leave reviews.

Post-purchase emails are an effective way to gently urge customers to share their opinions, so you should plan to send these targeted emails after a buyer has received their product. If you’re looking for additional types of customer feedback, like purchase intent, you can also request a review on the order confirmation page. These are referred to as “Checkout Comments” and can be a useful tool to not only provide social proof but also to create overwhelmingly positive sentiment.

To make leaving a product review even more appealing, incorporate the review request form directly into the email. This allows customers to share their thoughts without having to take the extra step of visiting your website. That single additional action is enough to lose the valuable attention of your buyers. Using software such as TurnTo’s Inbox Submission allows your customers to leave one-click reviews within their email. This easy tweak to your review collection process can increase responses by up to 30%. [caption id="attachment_12439" align="alignnone" width="232"]

Inbox submission allows shoppers to quickly share their thoughts without having to navigate to your brand’s website.[/caption]

2.  Offer Incentives

Running an incentive program to collect reviews is a fantastic way to get many reviews quickly. Try to get creative with the incentives you offer, keeping in mind your audience's tastes and preferences. If you’d rather stick with tried-and-true options, free shipping or discounts are generally popular for any industry.

When running a review-gathering campaign, make it clear that the incentive is in exchange for an honest review. You don’t want to coerce consumers into leaving a positive review of your product if they weren’t actually happy with it. Having a mix of good and bad reviews can even be a good thing. Customers put more trust in your reviews when they see there are some negative comments. It’s a good indication that the reviews are from real people and aren’t a scam.

3. Provide Samples of New Product Lines

Offering samples in exchange for honest reviews is an excellent tactic for any business, especially for new or established companies that are launching a new product. After all, you can’t get customer reviews for products no one’s tried yet!“Sampling” allows your target audience to experience your products firsthand and allows you to collect valuable, genuine Ratings and Reviews prior to even bringing your product to market.  Additionally, studies indicate reviews have a significant impact on organic search rankings. Once on your site, your product reviews can work their magic. When collecting reviews for a new company or a new product line, you want to aim for at least 40 reviews. This is the point at which customers feel confident about a product’s average star rating.

4. Use a Review Platform with the Most Advanced Collection Technologies

Using a review collection platform can give your company highly customizable tools that increase customers’ response rates. Beloved beauty brand Tarte learned this firsthand with TurnTo’s Rating & Reviews tool. The platform helped Tarte increase monthly reviews by 250% and allowed them to incorporate visual reviews with customer-generated content. The more methods you can employ to collect reviews, the better your success rate will be. Review services provide tailored strategies to encourage your customers to share their thoughts. Detailed analytics let you know exactly what’s working best, so you can further target the avenues that work best for your business. Customer reviews are one of the most important marketing tools for businesses today. Try these four review collection tips and watch your customer feedback (and sales!) increase exponentially.