How Social Media Reviews Impact Brand Reputation

If you have a business, an organization, or a personal brand, you need an online presence. There’s no getting around it.

You build a website. You create social media accounts. You put up a blog. You develop different digital marketing campaigns. You update your business listing. What else?

You need to build a positive online reputation. A tool that can help you realize this goal is a social media review plugin. You solidify your brand’s online reputation with different variables. It isn’t just the result of what you put out on your end. It’s the outcome of each occurrence that your brand appears online. Part of these occurrences are social media reviews.

Online customer reviews serve to emphasize various aspects of your brand. They highlight both the pros and cons of doing business with you. They can talk about your products or services. They can comment on the company’s customer support engagements. Online reviews can make or break the company’s reputation.

These reviews are on different platforms, including but not limited to:

• Search engines like Google that provides local results
• Niche websites like TripAdvisor for travelers
• Directory websites like Yelp
• Paid review websites like Angie’s List
• Social media sites like Facebook

These platforms present direct reviews and star ratings for customers. But consumers may also post their feedback on various social media channels, like:

• A third-party blog site where your content is an external link
• The comments section on your blog site
• The comment sections on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram

The Power of Social Media Reviews

Online reviews significantly influence the purchasing behaviors of consumers today. Thanks to social media sites like Facebook and Foursquare, consumers can review local businesses. A social media review plugin on your website also makes the process faster and easier.

Any review your brand gets has the power to reinforce or destroy your online reputation. Social reviews, in particular, can spread like wildfire. These comments can draw or drive away potential clients.

Want proof?

• YouGov: 88% of US buyers trust site reviews as much they trust their loved one’s suggestions.
• Cone Communications: 4 out of 5 online buyers change their mind based on a negative review.
• Influence Central: 90% of buyers believe that reviews have more weight than promo ads.

It’s really not a surprise that businesses now embrace online reviews. They see feedback as a critical factor in their marketing campaigns. Reviews can also boost the effectiveness of the company’s social media strategy.

Benefits of Social Media Reviews

Favorable social media reviews are great for the business. But they do a lot more than just make the brand look good. They also:

• Spread “good vibes.”

You can emphasize the value of your brand in every way possible. But nothing is quite credible than a stamp of approval from your customer. Furthermore, you can spread the “good vibes” on other platforms and social channels. This amplifies the effect of the positive feedback. Cross promotion of online reviews is beneficial as it saves you marketing resources.

• Provides business insights.

Reviews from customers can generate a positive impact on the business as a whole. The comment isn’t just for a specific product or service that your company offers. It’s also about what potential customers can experience from your brand.

Reviews on social media enable the customer to highlight a service that stands out. A simple comment on Twitter that says “super fast delivery” matters a lot. It goes a long way in stressing how your brand values your customer’s time. Social media reviews also highlight the little things that you may not notice yourself. For instance, how “friendly” your email reply sounds like. These little things matter to clients and can stand out on reviews online.

• Expresses the brand’s personality.

Consumers love a brand that interacts with them. How you respond to online reviews will shed light on your company’s personality. Your response has as much of an impact as the comment itself. This is particularly true on several social media platforms. Twitter, for instance, has moral restrictions.

The way you answer feedback shows the brand’s personality to the public. This is also magnified on unfavorable comments. If you express gratitude for the positive comments, it’ll say that your brand is appreciative. If you take care of unhappy comments, it’ll show that you value what your customers think and feel.

• Solidifies trust.

If the brand has a wealth of good feedback, but no negative comments, people may find that suspicious. It’s normal to have a disgruntled customer or two. If you get a negative review, don’t fret too much about it. Politely respond to the reviewer. See if you can iron out whatever his concern is. If you can’t do anything about it, end the conversation gracefully.

The fusion of several good reviews and a few bad ones will add elements of transparency to the brand image. The combination helps solidify customer trust.

• Improves search rankings.

External online reviews are a big deal with Google. When the brand has a lot of positive reviews on third-party sites, it’ll have a better SERP ranking. Online reviews today are more than just the testimonials on your website. With a social media review plugin, your customers can see comments from different platforms. This interconnectivity helps in boosting the organic search result of the brand.

Ways to Incorporate Social Media Reviews in Your Marketing Strategy

Consumers trust buyers who already used the product or service they’re interested in buying. As mentioned above, online shoppers check reviews first before making a purchasing decision. Thus, using social media reviews as part of your marketing strategy is a smart thing to do.

Good feedback is a win for the business. But, it becomes priceless when it is shared across the board. It leverages the brand’s credibility exponentially. Multichannel comments can also generate leads.

Here’s how you can incorporate social media reviews on your general marketing strategy:

• Stay on top of the online reviews, from whatever platform they may be.

In general, customers rate a product after they’ve used the item. The rating system is the simplest act of giving a review. Just think of Amazon and Goodreads. Their 5-star rating system is golden. And easy to track.

But some consumers review their buying experience with your brand on other platforms. Your job is to look for this kind of feedback.

Monitoring comments on various social channels is essential. This way, you can stay on top of things. You can also check what the public thinks about the brand. It’s also a way to respond quickly to their feedback – positive or otherwise.

• Respond to negative reviews.

A bad comment can outshine a dozen of positive ones. That’s why you must track all the reviews your brand gets. When you see a negative feedback, take a few minutes to understand where the customer is coming from. And then, acknowledge the comment.

If the feedback is harsh and unjust, be patient. Ask questions first. Find the root of the problem. If it’s a company’s mistake, fix the problem at once. Otherwise, explain your side of the matter. State facts, but don’t be clinical about it. Sometimes, a customer is irate just because he wants to feel appreciated. If you make time for his complaints, then there’s a chance that the negative comment will be reversed.

• Post social media reviews on your social media accounts.

And by that, we mean both positive and negative reviews. When you post a negative comment – and your reply to it – it’ll show transparency. It’ll let people know that the brand is authentic. It shows that the company makes an effort to fix the problem.

Consumers get suspicious with a squeaky-clean image. Posting an unfavorable comment or two can actually build more credibility, loyalty, and sales.

Market Your Brand with Rateky

Customer reviews and comments need to be visible on your website. They also need to be visible on different social media platforms. One way to conveniently showcase them is to use a social media review plugin. For WordPress-powered sites, Rakety social media review plugin is the top choice.

When you add this social media review plugin to your site, you get to:

• Import reviews from various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Zendesk and more.
• Display the reviews as you like – in a grid, floating or inline form.
• Have the option of a specialized business review page.
• Decide which reviews you want to be visible on your website.
• Add custom posts on your company’s business page.
• Connect with more than 700 apps to ensure an automated review workflow.

Using a social media review plugin highlights comments the brand gets from its market. The plugin consolidates the reviews on social media channels. It also professionally displays them.

Wrapping Up

Your brand may offer the product or service, but it’s the consumers who have the ultimate power. They decide if they want to patronize your brand or not. Through their reviews, they can also make or break your company’s reputation. So, give importance to what they have. It’s the perfect way to stay on the positive lane at all times.