At this point, there’s no debating the fact that analyzing feedback from your customers is the best way to track your business’s progress. Whether you are a new or established business, reviews can mean the difference between success and failure. With the future of your business hanging in the balance, you need to take control of the situation and evaluate the steps you can take to generate more positive feedback from your customers.
So, how do you get your customers to engage with your website and give your business the desperately needed reviews? Moreover, how do you cultivate the feedback you want without boxing in your customers? This article shares a couple of tips on how you can grow organic and informative customer feedback.
Create a call-to-action
One way you can gain feedback from your customers is by clearly establishing an avenue of communication to contact you. For example, including a call to action button on your website that prompts customers to reach out to you lets them know that you’re open to communication. Knowing that you are anticipating feedback from them can give your customers the confidence boost they need to initiate the conversation.
Making the first move can be equally exciting and nerve-wracking, so it’s essential to give your customers options for communicating with you. Phone calls are a great way to connect with your customers personally, but this amount of intimacy can be off-putting for some individuals. Multiple-choice surveys are another common technique that businesses use to cultivate information from their customers. By limiting the number of choices your customers have, you take the pressure out of making decisions.
Every platform for communication between business owners and customers has its advantages and drawbacks. Determining which options your customers prefer may take some trial and error, but the process will pay off in the long run. Ultimately, the more comfortable your customers are with their options for contacting you, the more likely they are to reach out.
Incentivize Clients To Leave A Review
The second way to get user feedback is to present them with an incentive for leaving a review. Try offering your customers a discount or a free sample of your products for completing a survey. If such a grand gesture isn’t in the cards for you, make a point of responding to the reviews left by your customers. A simple, “Thank you! Your feedback is much appreciated.” lets your customers know that you are reading and paying attention to their responses.
Simple efforts like this lead customers to develop a positive image of you and your company. Additionally, by taking the initiative to engage with your customers, you make yourself appear more friendly and approachable.
Dive Into Social Media
The third avenue you can use to generate customer feedback is social media. With the barrier of their screen and the entirety of the internet between you, customers are more inclined to share their honest opinions. An excellent place to start searching for these opinions is on popular social media platforms and networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Yelp.
Many of these sites have incorporated different tools that individual users and companies can use to quickly identify and gather relevant information. For example, Facebook encourages users to leave reviews and interact with various polling tools. A glance at your review page or the results of a recent poll will provide you with valuable information that you can use to adapt your customer outreach strategy further. Don’t forget to also look at comments and direct messages as viable sources for information collection.
Find The Hidden Reviews
Finally, you should be using data analytics to find out how customers are interacting with your business. Take a close look at your site and note how people interact with your FAQ section, chat section, and review page. According to HelpScout, “If your FAQ section has a 0:09 average on-page time and an awful bounce rate, you know something isn’t being communicated clearly.” The patterns that analytics identify in how people interact with your website are a good indicator of how well your website communicates information about your products and services.
Moving Forward
Customer feedback is priceless when it comes to marketing your business online. Although gaining reviews often requires us to practice patience and humility, the insight we gain from our customers impacts our ability to create engaging content. By applying the tactics discussed in this article to your marketing strategy, you can expedite the growth of your online presence and your customer base.
