How Reviews Can Become Your Best Free Marketing

Most business owners have a strong reaction to online reviews. Maybe you watch yours closely like a hawk, fist-pumping at every five-star review. Or maybe you’ve written them off, deciding it’s just not worth the stress of agonizing over every detail.

Whatever your reaction is to online reviews, there’s one thing you can’t deny: they’re important. Some studies estimate that up to 92% of consumers read online reviews, and star rating is the most important factor consumers consider when making a purchase. With sites like Yelp, Google+, TripAdvisor, and Facebook, potential clients have more opportunity than ever before to learn about your business before stepping through the door.

With so much word-of-mouth already circulating about your business on these review sites, the question then becomes how can you leverage these reviews? We broke down 4 ways reviews can become your best free marketing:

#1: Encourage Them

This may seem like a no-brainer, but many business owners forget to just ask for a review. It’s highly likely your most passionate members would sing your praises online if you just asked them to take the time. You can ask in person, prompt them in an email drip, give them an easy opportunity to write one when they visit your social pages or website, or prompt them to leave a review when they’re in your studio’s app.

If you don’t already have an app that quickly and easily collects reviews, check out how WellnessLiving’s Achieve PRO Client App can get your studio more positive reviews by prompting your clients to easily share their thoughts.

#2: Display Them

If a potential client wants to read reviews about your business (and most do!), they’re not that hard to find. So why not keep visitors on your website by displaying reviews there? Displaying reviews – both good and bad – on your website can build trust with potential clients, showing them you’re proud of what people have to say and that you’ve got nothing to hide. In fact, 63% of customers are more likely to make a purchase from a website that has reviews.

Plus, each new review that’s published on your website can actually bolster your searchability. The more organic content your page has, the likelier it is your business will appear higher in search rankings. That means each review you display on your website can be one more step up the SEO ladder.

Rather than taking the time to painstakingly post each review to your website as it comes through, invest in a software like WellnessLiving that manually pushes the reviews for you! With our software, you can see each review before it gets published so you can monitor your online presence and proactively respond to any unresolved issues.

#3: Respond to Them

If someone gives you a compliment in person, do you thank them or do you ignore them and walk away? You thank them! (We hope…) The same should go for online reviews. When someone leaves you a positive review, take the time to thank them. This can not only strengthen their relationship with your business, but in the same way new reviews can boost your search ranking, your response can help with SEO. Google has even explicitly stated you can improve your searchability by responding to reviews.

Make sure you’re responding to negative reviews too (which you can do easily through WellnessLiving’s software!). This gives you the opportunity to resolve any issues with clients and also tell your side of the story. After all, when a future potential client stumbles across a negative review, don’t you also want them to see your response?

#4: Leverage Them

If you get an award, do you hide it away in a closet where people have to really want to go looking for it? Of course not! You display that award proudly in a spot where your guests can’t miss it. The same should go for positive reviews. If you’ve got glowing reviews, take advantage of them.

These free testimonials can be great fodder for social media posts, giving the reviewer a shout out and sincere thank you for the kind words. You can also reach out to positive reviewers and interview them for a success story to be featured on your page. For example, if one of your gym clients wrote a review raving about how your facility and personal trainers helped them lose 50 pounds, display that story proudly for future members to see!

Online reviews can make or break a small business, so make sure you’re paying attention to them. To learn more about how WellnessLiving can make monitoring reviews easier than ever, schedule your free demo today!