How to build social proof for your products
In case you haven’t heard, reviews are all the rage!
There is power in customer reviews, for both consumers and businesses. For consumers reviews provide valuable insight from previous buyers that help make informed purchasing decisions. For businesses, authentic customer reviews provide valuable feedback that can help identify strengths, highlight opportunities for improvement and build trust with future shoppers.
Proof customers read reviews
About 95% of customers read reviews before making a purchase. (Spiegel)
72% of customers won’t take any buying actions until they’ve read reviews. (Testimonial Engine)
Impact of online reviews on sales
4. 92% of B2B buyers are more likely to purchase after reading a trusted review (G2 and Heinz Marketing)
6. When a product gets five reviews, the likelihood of it being purchased increases by 270%. (Spiegel)
7. When higher-priced items display reviews, the conversion rate increases by 380%. (Spiegel)
9. Purchase likelihood increases by 15% when buyers read verified reviews over anonymous reviews. (Spiegel)
10. Given two products with similar ratings, consumers are more likely to buy the product with more reviews. (Psychological Science)
12. Reviews make customers 71% more comfortable purchasing a product. (3D Cart)
Customer review engagement
14. 91% of customers from the ages of 18 to 34 trust online reviews just as much as personal recommendations. (BrightLocal)
18. About 85% of consumers consider any review older than three months to be irrelevant. (BrightLocal)
How to capture reviews
One of the biggest challenges with any review strategy is building a consistent stream of verified, authentic reviews. It’s not only important to have quality reviews, but also a broad range of genuine shopper experiences that remain current over time. For most FMCG brands, achieving this at scale can be difficult.
This is where Shping comes in. Shping connects brands with shoppers while they are actively engaging with their products, creating an opportunity to collect verified reviews from genuine purchasers. Additionally, Shping users can include photos and video content with their reviews, helping future shoppers make more informed decisions. We have helped our partner brands capture over 140,000 verified reviews in the last 12 months.
How to best leverage your product reviews
Shping provides a Reviews API that enables brands to display verified shopper reviews collected through the Shping app across multiple touchpoints throughout the buyer journey. By making authentic customer experiences more accessible, brands can help shoppers make informed purchasing decisions wherever they research products.
Website
First impressions are important — that’s why leading FMCG brands are now displaying their consumers’ reviews both on product pages as well as the front page of their website. This ensures that a fellow shopper’s stamp of approval is the first thing a prospective customer sees when they arrive on the homepage.
Retailer Ecommerce
Not only can you create a great first impression on your own website, but you can also provide the reviews collected through Shping for display across retailer ecommerce sites, helping shoppers access authentic product experiences wherever they shop.
Social media
As social media becomes more shoppable, this is an integral place to display your authentic customers’ reviews and testimonials. Whether it is an advertisement, Instagram story, or organic post (all of which are seen below), customer testimonials are a simple way to promote your products in an authentic way.
Email campaigns
Displaying testimonials from consumers alongside product photos helps your consumers do additional product research with minimal work on their end. Reviews from fellow shoppers will help your click-through and conversion rates that you’re working to bolster through these types of campaigns.
In-Store advertising
Including testimonials in store displays and signage, shoppers can see the opinions of other consumers, in addition to being able to test out or try products themselves in store. Neutrogena, Rexona, and Suave does just this at a retailer’s store.
Authentic, verified customer reviews help shoppers make more informed purchasing decisions while providing brands with valuable product insights. Building trust through genuine customer experiences benefits consumers and brands alike. A strong collection of authentic reviews helps create confidence throughout the buyer journey while giving brands meaningful feedback to continuously improve their products.
If you want to explore how Shping can support your review strategy you can set up a webinar demo.