User-generated content (UGC) significantly impacts businesses, particularly ratings and reviews. Product reviews are a crucial component of customers’ decision-making and also review management process, whether they are browsing casually, making comparisons, or preparing to make a significant purchase. These evaluations are taken into consideration by algorithms to suggest products or services, and it is already enough to take review management into consideration.
Customers also heavily rely on them to make their choices. They consider reviews with varying levels of attention, and real customer feedback holds significant power to influence their decisions.
What Is Review Management and Why Are Online Reviews So Important?
Online review management is the process of actively collecting, monitoring, analysing, and responding to online user feedback.
How often have you ever seen a review request after using a mobile app or an online service?
How often do you check product reviews on Amazon before you buy something?
Almost always!
Reviews have become an essential part of our daily lives.
Before booking a vacation, we check user reviews on various websites.
We also rely on reviews to find a suitable restaurant for a night out, and even when exploring the city, we check review sites on our smartphones to find the nearest local business.
And, of course, the children’s learning app will only be installed if it has positive online ratings and if the app developers respond to online reviews and show their responsibility for their product!
Your online image is important for your actual and potential customers;
That is why review management is essential!
How can positive reviews work like friends’ recommendations?
The opinion of other users is trustworthy for us; that’s why reviews serve to create or improve customer trust.
Online platforms have replaced offline discussions among friends, with reviews now taking their place, and positive reviews play the role of recommendation by your friend.
How can negative reviews bring you to the spot?
Negative reviews are actually an important aspect of a brand’s online presence.
They provide an opportunity for businesses to demonstrate their commitment to customer satisfaction and showcase their ability to respond to reviews professionally and effectively.
Businesses can effectively handle negative reviews by responding promptly and empathetically. This shows potential customers that they value feedback and are willing to resolve issues.
A mix of positive and negative reviews can enhance a business’s online reputation, demonstrating authenticity and transparency.
Customers are likelier to trust a brand with a realistic mix of reviews rather than one with only glowing praise.
3 Pillars of Review Management
Business reviews are important for companies as they can make or break a product or service.
They have a crucial influence on consumers, and several studies have proved their impact.
All companies that have anything to do with the consumer (i.e. ultimately all B2C companies) should nowadays take a professional approach to managing customer feedback.
Generally, this statement implies three things:
- Generating and collecting new reviews
- Analyse existing reviews
- Respond to reviews
How To Generate Online Reviews And Collect Them?
Generating More Reviews
Review Management allows the brand to boost overall customer satisfaction and works better when brands generate more reviews.
Plans to generate more reviews are included in a successful review management strategy.
But when it comes to review generation, buying fake reviews sneaks into everyone’s mind,
But it’s the worst idea! Reviews should not be bought under any circumstances!
It not only counteracts the sense and purpose of the review management (which was supposed to assist the brand -really- improve) but can lead to drastic penalties from the respective platform and enormous damage to the brand’s reputation.
Moreover, fake reviews prevent the business from optimising marketing strategies according to the end users’ feedback.
Instead of buying unreal reviews, companies should first make sure that their service or product is visible to be rated by end customers on every review site.
Review platforms and social media forums haven’t noticed yet about a product?
Then it should be pitched to them!
Even the best review management software cannot really help brands when they do not have any user reviews!
Companies must ask their consumers to leave a review, whether it is a positive review or a complaint, proactively.
Considering the respective individual review site’s guidelines, this can be done using various email tools. For example, buyers of the product or users of the service receive an after-sales email and are asked to write a review.
Collecting All Reviews
After the brand successfully convinces its customers to leave their feedback, then it is time to collect them, bringing them to a centralised dashboard to analyse and respond to reviews.
This requires the right tools, such as online review management software (review management platform), to track and manage reviews from different sources efficiently.
Utilising a robust review management strategy and the right tool to streamline the review management process is key.
Many review platforms offer widgets and APIs that can be integrated into your management solution. A dedicated online review management platform allows you to monitor and manage profiles across multiple review websites, use customer responses to gain valuable insights and maintain a consistent online reputation across all channels.
4 Questions Helping Analyse Customer Reviews
Consumer reviews provide an authentic viewpoint for other prospective consumers. It can also be utilised by companies as a form of market research.
This is a cost-effective way for companies to gain insights directly from the user’s perspective.
- What do the users like, and what do they not like?
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of my service or product?
- What makes the competition better or worse?
- Why does the customer decide for me, and why for the competitor?
All the positive and negative reviews provide insights into customer needs and expectations.
Every company should use a review management system for review monitoring and conduct an audit of each review to gain these essential insights by analysing reviews and improving its business accordingly.
Effective review management is also a crucial aspect of any successful reputation management strategy.
By regularly monitoring and managing customer feedback on review sites, You can manage your online reputation, take control of your brand’s online presence and build a strong, trustworthy brand image.
How To Respond To Customer Reviews
Reviews offer the opportunity to communicate directly with the end customer for the first time. Therefore, an online Review Management strategy is key nowadays.
Depending on the platform, it’s possible to interact with reviewers directly by responding or commenting on their existing reviews.
In the “Direct-to-Consumer” era, such customer engagement should be utilised to improve your reputation management.
By professionally answering reviews and addressing negative feedback, you can enhance your online reputation and build trust with potential customers.
Relevant Platforms For Online Review Management
There are various review platforms, but to be able to use reviews professionally, companies should first concentrate on the few large and sector-relevant online review platforms.
These include Google and Amazon, for example, but iOS and Android for mobile apps (leaving out the restaurant and travel industries with their dedicated platform players), too.
Manage Online Reviews On Google Business Locations
Google Business Profiles are one of the most important platforms worldwide. Due to its reach, Google reviews are extremely important.
Users can rate any business or location, including restaurants, hotels, retailers, petrol stations, bank branches, etc.
By analysing these reviews, companies can gain valuable insights into various aspects such as the friendliness of staff, store cleanliness, product range and services offered.
Companies can also react to ratings and communicate directly with users to improve their image. Our online reputation management software for Google can help manage multiple business profiles for different locations.
In addition, our other blog post on “How to manage Google Reviews” is a comprehensive guide for embracing the reviews on Google Business Locations.
Manage Product Reviews On Amazon
Amazon is the largest online marketplace in the Western world and the number one product search engine; product reviews on Amazon have an enormous impact on our consumer behaviour and are, therefore, of significant importance for all manufacturers and retailers.
Reviews on Amazon influence online shopping and offline shopping since most consumers today also research online before they shop offline.
Therefore, especially brand manufacturers should analyse customer feedback in the form of reviews to improve their products. Commenting on negative reviews and answering product questions is very important, especially for high-priced products that require explanation.
Our Amazon Product Review Management Software allows businesses to manage all of these tasks. Additionally, our complete guide on Amazon reviews and product questions: this is how you do it (right)!
Manage App Reviews On iOS & Android App Stores
Mobile apps for iOS and Android are very important for almost all companies. APP ratings have a decisive influence on consumers and must be actively managed, too.
Our “gominga” mobile app review software allows you to monitor, analyse and respond to reviews on mobile app reviews.
Professional Review Management Software with Gominga
Gominga is a leading technology company that specialises in monitoring, analysing and responding to online ratings, customer reviews and questions across several global platforms, like Google and Amazon.
Keeping track of reviews on multiple platforms can be overwhelming, which is where “gominga” comes in to help.
Companies can now use gominga’s review management tool to monitor and manage all reviews from over 300 platforms and tools.
This is what review management looks like with the gominga Review Manager Tool:
- Gominga’s technology speeds up the brand’s online review management.
- Gominga Analyses user-generated content in terms of questions and reviews online on marketplaces, mobile apps, Google My Business, brand shops, etc.
- Gominga transforms customer feedback into valuable insights for your marketing, sales, and product development teams.
- And we also let you know how to engage with customers on Amazon & Co. – just by using ONE tool: our gominga review management software.
Conclusion: How Does A Review Management System Assist?
In conclusion, ratings and review management have become crucial to the modern consumer journey, influencing purchasing decisions across various industries. As a result, effective review management has become essential for businesses looking to maintain a positive online reputation and drive growth.
Implementing a comprehensive customer review management strategy that includes monitoring, analysing, and responding to customer feedback across multiple platforms can provide companies with valuable insights into customer needs and expectations.
This leads to improvements in products and services, ultimately resulting in enhanced customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Investing in review management software like gominga’s tool streamlines tracking and managing reviews across platforms. This allows businesses to monitor and manage their reviews with ease.
User-generated content and engaging with customers through professional review responses can build stronger relationships with their audience, demonstrate commitment to customer service, and differentiate from competitors in an increasingly digital landscape.
As the importance of ratings continues to grow, adopting a strategic approach to manage online reviews will be key to success for businesses of all sizes and industries. Insights provided by customer feedback and continuously improving products and services based on this valuable data can not only improve your online reputation but also drive long-term growth and success in an ever-evolving digital marketplace.
Our video shows how our technology allows our clients to manage online reviews in an easy and scalable way:
By loading the video, you agree to YouTube’s privacy policy.
Learn more