Have you ever chosen a restaurant by googling, “restaurants near me,” and reading the reviews? Who hasn’t read Amazon product reviews to select a product? Today, virtually everyone relies on some sort of peer review before making a purchase decision.
Customer reviews are just as—if not more—powerful for businesses as they are for customers. Based on top review management literature, online customer reviews are so powerful they influence purchasing decisions, play a huge role in customer retention, and dramatically impact sales.
Let’s take a closer look at the top reputation management statistics to give you a better idea of the benefits of responding to reviews.
1. Customers read reviews.
If you’re wondering, as a business owner, whether or not to devote more time and energy to gathering current online customer reviews, you’ll be pleased to know the research shows an overwhelming majority of consumers read reviews.
- Nearly 95% of customers read reviews before buying. (Spiegel)
- 93% of customers will read reviews of local businesses to determine the business’s quality. (BrightLocal)
- 73% of consumers only pay attention to reviews written within the last month, and around 85% of consumers think any review older than three months to be irrelevant. (BrightLocal)
- 72% of customers won’t make any purchases until they’ve read reviews. (Testimonial Engine)
- The industries in which consumers are most likely to have read reviews are as follows: restaurants, hotels, medical, automotive, and clothing stores. (BrightLocal)
- 89% of consumers read review responses. (BrightLocal)
2. Peer reviews and recommendations are trusted by your customers.
Not only do customers read online reviews, but statistics show customers trust what the reviews say.
- 92% of customers trust peer recommendations. (Search Engine Watch)
- 91% of customers aged 18 to 34 trust online reviews just as much as personal recommendations. (BrightLocal)
- Customers require a business to have at least 40 online reviews before they believe its average star rating. (BrightLocal)
- 78% of customers who read reviews were satisfied with their purchase. (Broadly)
- 73% of customers place more value on the written review as opposed to the star rating. (Fan and Fuel)
- 67% of B2B buyers want to see positive and negative reviews when checking out a business. (G2 and Heinz Marketing)
- About 50% of consumers need to see at least a 4-star rating to consider a business. (Blumenthals)
- 53% of customers expect a business to reply to their online review within seven days. (ReviewTrackers)
3. User-generated content is king.
One of the best ways to prove your brand’s authenticity is through user-generated content. The more you can do to encourage your customers to leave reviews, the better people will perceive your brand.
These user-generated content stats paint a clear picture of how important it is to get more reviews from your customers.
- Approximately 90% of consumers say user-generated content (UGC) has more influence over their buying decisions than search results and promotional emails. (TurnTo)
- 83% of consumers think a business with a user-generated review on their landing page is trustworthy. (BrightLocal)
- 79% of people say UGC highly impacts their purchasing decisions. (Stackla)
- 76% of consumers are more likely to trust content shared by their peers rather than content shared by brands. (AdWeek)
- 56% of internet users say they find out about products from friends or acquaintances while 32% rely on customer reviews. (Statista)
- Consumers find UGC 9.8x more impactful than influencer content. (Stackla)
- Reviews are one of the most common types of user-generated content along with photos, videos, social media content, and content created with branded AR filters. (IAB)
- Reputation makes up over 25% of a brand’s market value. (Deloitte)
- 68% of consumers have left a review for a local business after being asked to do so. (BrightLocal)
4. Online reviews play a key role in customer acquisition.
Online reviews help capture the attention of consumers that are browsing, researching, and looking for new brands.
The following stats show that the more reviews you have, the higher your chances are of landing new customers.
- 54% of consumers visit a local business’ website after reading a positive review. (BrightLocal)
- When a product gets five reviews, the likelihood of it being purchased increases by 270%. (Spiegel)
- 92% of B2B buyers are more likely to purchase after reading a trusted review (G2 and Heinz Marketing)
- Purchase likelihood increases by 15% when buyers read verified reviews over anonymous reviews. (Spiegel)
- Reviews make customers 71% more comfortable purchasing a product. (3D Cart)
- Customers spend 31% more when a business has positive reviews. (Broadly)
- Given two products with similar ratings, consumers are more likely to buy the product with more reviews. (Psychological Science)
5. Responding to online reviews begets customer retention and loyalty.
People write reviews because they care about your business. When you make efforts to respond to reviews, the reward is customer loyalty.
- 75% of businesses don’t reply to their reviews. (Womply)
- Not responding to reviews puts companies at risk of increasing churn by 15%. (Chatmeter)
- Businesses that respond to only one customer review earn 4% more revenue on average. (Womply)
- 41% of customers say that when brands respond to their online reviews, it makes them feel the company cares about its customers. (Bazaarvoice)
- When a business replies to at least 25% of their online customer reviews, they earn 35% more revenue, on average. (Womply)
- You need to respond to at least 30% of your reviews to out-do competitors. (Uberall)
- Seven out of 10 consumers changed their opinion about a brand after the company replied to a review. (Marketing Charts)
6. Responding to reviews pays off—literally.
The quality of your online reviews and speedy responses to reviews directly translates to boosts in company revenues.
Check out the following mind-blowing online review stats and how reviews relate to sales.
- People spend about 49% more money with businesses that respond to customer reviews. (Womply)
- For every one-star increase that a business gets on Yelp, a business will see a 5-9% increase in revenue. (Harvard Business Review)
- If a business has more than nine current reviews, they earn 52% more revenue than the average. If a business has more than 25 current reviews, that increases to 108%. (Womply)
- When higher-priced items display reviews, the conversion rate increases by 380%. (Spiegel)
- Businesses that claim their free listings on at least four review sites earn an average of 46% more revenue. (Womply)
- Businesses whose total number of reviews are 15-20% negative actually average 13% more revenue than businesses whose total number of reviews are 5-10% negative. (Womply)
7. The contrary impact of negative online reviews.
The reputation management stats listed above paint a clear picture of how powerful robust and positive online reviews are to your business. But what about negative reviews?
Surprisingly, a few negative reviews can lend credibility to your business, but too many unanswered negative reviews can damage your online reputation.
- 4 out of 5 consumers have changed their minds about a recommended purchase after reading negative online reviews. (Cone)
- Negative reviews can stop 40% of buyers from wanting to buy from a business, on average. (BrightLocal)
- 19% of reviews a business receives are negative, on average. (Womply)
- 82% of customers actively look for negative reviews. (PowerofReviews)
- 40% of B2B buyers say negative reviews help build credibility for a product. (G2 and Heinz Marketing)
- 72% of B2B buyers say negative reviews give insight into a product. (G2 and Heinz Marketing)
- The likelihood of purchase peaks at a star rating of 4.0 to 4.7, then decreases as the rating gets closer to 5.0. (Spiegel)
- 95% of customers get suspicious of a rating if there are no negative reviews. (Reevoo)
- When customers interact with negative reviews, they spend five times as long on a business’ website. (Reevoo)
That’s a lot of information to digest on your own! We’re here to help!
Hire Let Us Respond to manage your reviews today!
Reviews contribute to your online reputation, customer perception of your company, and impact the bottom line of your organization. To make sure to hire a professional to manage your reviews, hire the team at Let Us Respond today.