How Online Reviews are Changing the Course of Advertising

 

Print and other forms of traditional media have lost momentum a long time ago. Digital media has replaced traditional media with the triumph of social media, blogs, messaging apps, and online news outlets. The two-fold interactive media has revolutionized the idea of advertising. Now people rely heavily on online reviews and comments.

Today online reviews are not only limited to restaurants and consumer products. Indeed, online reviews are affecting almost all types of businesses and professional services. The biggest advantage of online reviews is that it allows users to find numerous sources to verify a provider’s reputation. So, in a way, what people are telling online can change the course of your business for good. Online reviews can effectively make or break it for you.

According to a survey conducted by Podium, 93% users have admitted that online reviews influence their buying decisions for any products or services. More interestingly, the survey also indicates that 68% consumers are willing to pay 15% more if they can be convinced that they are going to have a good experience. [1]

Thus, traditional and online marketers can no more afford to overlook the benefits of reviews and comments on their products or services online. If you are still not aware of this factor, you are missing it big time. All your advertisement spending will be in vain if you are not making any progress in the areas like reviews and comments.

As a natural tendency, consumers are more likely to go over reviews before anything else. Besides, they are easy to access and more likely to get noticed. Without a valid online review management system it might be harder for you to keep trace of everything online and make improvements on that.

A survey conducted on US adults by Pew Research Center showed that 87% adults use the internet, and 58% of them own smartphones. So, it is far easier for them to look into online reviews and comments made by genuine users. In addition to that, on average a consumer reads 6 reviews before making a final decision. [2] [3]

For any business, the impact of negative reviews is devastating. 80% of consumers are not likely to buy products or services with bad reviews. Moreover, it takes at least 10-12 positive reviews to offset the impact of a negative review. This once again proves that there is no alternative to online review management. [4]

A report published by Convergys Corp. shows that one negative review or comment cost a business on average 30 customers. Moreover in the US solely, the cost of unhappy customers stands at no less than $537 billion annually. [5]

By now you have had a profound understanding of the impact of online reviews. Besides review scores, customer reviews on your business often appear in search results even before the website itself.