Any publicity is good publicity, right? At least that’s what we have always been told. But how could a bad review be a good thing? Well, that’s pretty simple, but first why do online reviews even matter?

Reviews Influence Customers

According to Power Reviews over 99.9% of consumers read reviews when shopping online. It’s safe to say that nearly everyone looks at reviews at least sometimes when shopping online.

What’s even more shocking is 96% of consumers look specifically for negative reviews. But why is that?

A negative review can feel like the end of the world, especially to a small business. But it doesn’t have to be. So how can we take a negative review, and turn it into something positive?

 Customers Trust Reviews

We have said it time and time again – an online review is like a recommendation from a loved one. At the end of the day there is no better marketing that a recommendation from someone you trust.

According to Search Engine Journal 46% of people trust online reviews as much as recommendations from friends. That’s nearly 1 in every 2 people.

So, we still haven’t told you how a bad review could be a good thing for you. Here’s what we tell our clients.

Opportunity for Engagement

A bad review is an opportunity for engagement with your clients. Yes, that’s clients plural. Not only are you interacting with the reviewer, you are also interacting with every single person who reads that review.

One in five customers who leave a review expect to hear back from you. They have taken the time to let you know how they feel about your product or service; this is your opportunity to show that you care about your customers.

Turning a Negative into a Positive

Customers want to see that you care. When you engage with negative reviews you are showing them that.

Use that opportunity to rectify the situation. Whether you believe you are in the wrong or not, your customer is not happy. But that doesn’t mean they have to stay that way.

Your goal should be to always provide a positive experience for all of your customers. When engaging with a negative review it should be your goal to improve that experience. When you do, it’s OK to ask the customer to update their review.

It’s even not unheard of for negative reviewers to improve their review based on the fact you took the time to communicate with them!

Life Isn’t Always That Simple

Sometimes there is just nothing you can do to improve a customer’s experience. This typically comes in the form of malicious reviews. Rather than a real customer leaving a review it’s a former disgruntled employee or competitor trying to hurt your rankings.

When that’s the case you can take satisfaction in knowing that you have tried your best to make the situation right. You can also be confident that everyone else reading the reviews will see the effort you made.

When Life Gives You Lemons

Google pays close attention to your company’s reviews on their platform. The saying goes good reviews are good, a lot of reviews are better, a lot of good reviews with positive engagement are great…or something like that.

Your reviews and how you interact with them can directly effect your company’s rank on Google. When Google accounts for over 85% of all internet search traffic you want to make sure you do all you can to have the best rankings.  

In Conclusion

Managing your only reputation should be a top priority. It directly influences current customers, potential customers, and your search ranking.

How you manage that can be difficult at times and feel very personal. For more information on managing your reputation contact us.