Collecting online reviews from previous clients is great practice for companies of all kinds. Customer reviews honestly and sincerely present your capability as a company and the value you have provided to clients over the years. They’re an invaluable source of social proof – the new word of mouth.
It’s a great feeling when your business receives a glowing review through a site like Yell.com, TripAdvisor, or Google My Business – but it doesn’t have to end there. Why not maximise the promotional potential of your most complimentary reviews by integrating them into your other marketing communications?
Let’s take a look at 10 excellent places to republish your business’s online reviews.
Brief sidenote: Seek the reviewer’s permission when you’re using their review in your marketing materials – especially if you intend to use their name and/or picture.
1. On Your Company’s Website
Your company’s website acts as a virtual storefront – where better to get people to pay attention to your reviews? Featuring a “Testimonials” page on your site is a great idea, but it’s not the only option available to you.
Not everybody will necessarily click on a testimonials page, so you may benefit from including positive reviews elsewhere on your site; for example in a banner, within your site’s footer, or on a service landing page. Look at your Google Analytics to find out which pages receive the highest traffic – these could be a great place to spotlight your most positive reviews.
2. Within Your Print Marketing
Online review content can also be used to great effect in offline print media. Magazine ads, leaflets and brochures can be quite impersonal, so including reviews or evidence of star ratings can provide valuable social proof.
If a reviewer gives permission for you to publish their review, ask them if you can use their name – even an anonymised version such as “Mrs P. from Walsall”. This helps to show that the review has come from a real person.
3. On Company Storefronts and Vehicles
If your company relies on foot traffic and kerb appeal, or if you have one or more branded vehicles doing the rounds, why not present your star ratings where people can see them? Displaying a brief “Rate Us on Yell.com” or “Check out our 5 Star Rating on Yell” can be a great addition to any shop window or vehicle livery. Though it might be tempting to include the full text of a particularly flattering review, it can be distracting (especially on vehicles), so it’s probably best to keep it “at a glance” by showing a star rating or similar. You can download a pack of suitable Yell.com logos here!
4. On Social Media
Social media is a great place to share your most glowing reviews. If the reviewer is happy to be identified, you can also tag their social media handle in the post – an excellent way to show that your review has come from a genuine person or organisation. Though reviews make great text posts, we are naturally drawn to visual media, so using the text of their review to create a simple but attractive image (perhaps using a free tool like Canva) can really help a review stand out on your feed.
For best effect, showcase your best reviews on the social platforms where your following is most engaged and where your ideal clientele hangs out.
5. In Marketing Emails
Email marketing is a valuable promotional avenue for many businesses. But while we’re busy singing our own praises in an email campaign, it can be easy to forget the power of social proof.
By including a review in your marketing email, you validate the promotional message. You’re effectively saying “We’re awesome! But don’t just take it from us…”. Reviews help to prove any points made in the marketing copy, and evidence that you deliver on the values you promote.
6. In Email Footers
Marketing emails may be a great place to include reviews, but your regular everyday emails can also play a part too. Though your email footer should communicate the usual details such as name, phone number, website address, etc., it can also be a great way to spotlight your latest rave review; a nice extra touch when you’re liaising with potential clients!
7. On Individual Product Pages
Here’s one for you online retailers! It’s not really a place to republish reviews – more of a source of new feedback. Retailers should consider implementing review functionality for every product in their catalogue, and display star ratings and textual reviews front and centre. Though these ratings will be different to your overall business rating, they’re still a great source of visible customer feedback. You can then republish rave product reviews within the item’s listing or elsewhere.
8. In Calls to Action
A lot of work goes into a good call to action. It needs to be succinct, persuasive, and clearly define the action to take next. If you’re struggling with the “persuasive” part, you could use the content of a review for inspiration.
Whether it’s a short sentence from a happy customer or a simple star rating, reviews can play a part in any CTA; or could even be stripped down to something like “Join (X-many) Happy Customers Today! Click Here to Join!”.
9. On Blog Post Pages
Blogging is a great way to get people to pay attention to your brand. By discussing in-demand topics, you increase your chances of people finding your site whilst looking for answers to their questions. Some of these visitors are likely to be potential customers, so any way you can subtly prove your credentials to them could pay off.
However placing testimonials within a blog post’s content unannounced is probably not a good idea. If your blog pages have a sidebar, then consider assigning a small spot for a randomly selected review, or a slider displaying a small handful of your most positive feedback. This way your review is separate to the main body of content, but still has a visible presence on the page.
10. In Video Content
Needless to say – the realm of online video is huge. If you’re looking to get in on the video action, why not ask the people who’ve left you glowing reviews whether they’d be happy to say a few words on camera?
There’s a lot to be said for video testimonials. A happy customer singing your praises on video is incredibly valuable. Viewers not only get to see that the compliments are coming from a real person, but can see the genuine satisfaction in their body language and facial expressions.
Do you use customer reviews in your marketing materials? Do you use customer feedback in any interesting ways that I’ve not mentioned here? Or do you shy away from using review content? If so, why? Please share your thoughts in the comments!
Article originally published on 18 December 2017, and updated on 13 February 2020.
