I recently read results of an Internet Retailer survey that asked whether respondents used customer product reviews in their email campaigns. I was shocked to see that 81% did not.
Consumers consistently rate user reviews as the most reliable source of product information, yet few companies take advantage of this fact. Here are a few ways to do so:
Home Page Feature. Include a “Top-Rated Products” section on your home page. Feature a few products there, and link to more.
Top-Rated Products Emails. Devote occasional emails specifically to your top-rated products. Most companies find that sales from such mailings average about 10% higher than other emails. Top-rated product postcard mailings offer another option to increase sales.
Add Ratings to Your Catalog. If you publish a print catalog, there are several ways you can use product reviews. You can show numerical ratings next to all rated products, and encourage people to look online for more details. Another option is to use callouts to highlight your top-rated products. What’s more, customer reviews can be a rich source of testimonials you can use in your catalog.
Rework Paid Search Ads. Companies that incorporate product reviews and rankings into their paid search ads can reap a big reward. One company split-test ads featuring product reviews against those that did not, with the following results:
- Click-throughs increased 78.5%
- Conversions increased 23.8%
- Revenue increased 196.6%
- New buyers increased 183.3%
Clearly, customer reviews are a powerful resource that can be leveraged in other advertising. If you’re looking for ways to make more money with resources at hand, make sure you’re leveraging your product reviews as much as you can.
