In a growing digital world, online reputation means everything. Due to restrictions on social interactions and physical purchases, shopping online has become essential for many people. Thus, maintaining and improving your online reputation can help you stand out from the intense competition your business is faced with today.
Every company, especially e-commerce businesses, can’t survive in the digital landscape if they don’t put time and effort into maintaining their online presence. Here at Psydro, we are convinced that Social Proof and specifically User-Generated Content are the essential tools that can help any business that is struggling to improve online reputation.
User-Generated Content
What is User-Generated Content?
User-Generated Content is any content created voluntarily by users such as text, image, video, reviews and audio. This is usually posted online such as on social media, websites and other online platforms. Brands are increasingly using User-Generated Content and posting them on their social channels for marketing purposes.
Benefits of User-Generated Content
Credibility
Consumers trust User-Generated Content more than professional advertising created by brands. This is because reading (or viewing) content created by fellow consumers will give them a real idea of the possible purchasing experience with a specific business.
Using User-Generated Content to your advantage can improve your credibility as a business. When consumers read positive messages created by your customers, they are more likely to trust you and engage with you. Thus, credibility is crucial for the success of your business as it will make customers respect you, vouch for you and continue purchasing from your company.
Also, new potential customers may be more inclined to visit your site and purchase from you if they’ve heard good things about your business.
Loyalty
Fostering long term relationships with your customers can build loyalty. One of the best ways to do so is by engaging with them and replying to their content.
Take reviews for instance. If you reply to a positive review, this will show how much you appreciate their feedback and know that you have a satisfied customer. On the other hand, if you receive a negative review, that may affect your reputation. However, if you do reply to the review, it will show that you are taking in their constructive criticisms and acting on them. This action can make them change their mind about you and despite their negative review, may purchase from you again.
Increase Sales
What are others saying about your brand? Are they satisfied with your products/services?
UGC can massively influence a consumer’s purchasing decision; in fact, 93% of consumers say online reviews impact their buying decisions. The more content there is about you, and the more satisfied your customers are, the easier new leads will turn into shoppers, and shoppers into customers. This is why showcasing UGC on your website, third-party platforms and social media can become your greatest marketing asset and increase conversion rates.
SEO Growth
The more content you have on your brand, the more visible you’ll become in Search Engine Results Pages (SERP). Also, Google Quality Rater finds content to be one of the most important ranking considerations, so UGC will improve your organic SEO position in the long-term. The more content, the better.
Consumer Insights
The best way to understand your customer’s thoughts on your products or services is through User-Generated Content. Are you doing a good job? Are you keeping your customers happy? How can you improve?
Customers will post their unbiased opinions on the internet. If used wisely, this feedback can help you grow and improve your brand and exceed your customer’s expectations.
Social Proof
What is Social Proof?
Social Proof is a social phenomenon where people copy the actions of others to feel accepted and validated within society. This term was invented by Robert Cialdini in his book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.
Here’s an example: When you see a celebrity or influencer you admire recommending a product online, you will feel more inclined to purchase that product. Whether it’s because you trust them, admire them or want to feel validated, you’ll think that you need that specific product in your life. Persuasion may be considered one of the best marketing strategies to generate conversions.
Also, any positive comments about your brand can be considered as Social Proof.
Benefits of Social Proof
As UGC, Social Proof can create customer trust and loyalty, generate new leads, improve your SEO ranking and gain insight into your customer’s thoughts and opinions. As a matter of fact, UGC is one type of Social Proof, so all the benefits stated above can also be enjoyed when gaining Social Proof too.
Big Commerce explains which are the other types of Social Proof. These include:
- Celebrity approval
- Expert proof
- Badges
- Subscriber counts
- Social shares
The Solution
Reviews are considered the best type of Social Proof. Why? Because this content is solely based on presenting feedback to fellow consumers about a brand or product/service. With reviews, potential customers can gain insight into your reputation, customer satisfaction and reliability. Indeed, online reviews on a product can increase its conversion rate by 270% as 88% of consumers trust reviews as much as personal recommendations.
How We Can Help Improve Your Online Reputation
Customer reviews can become your greatest marketing asset and the solution to improve your reputation and expand your online presence.
Unlike most other review platforms, we offer customers the chance to create multimedia reviews.
Sometimes text is not enough as it doesn’t give a detailed picture of your customer’s opinions. However, with multimedia reviews, consisting of video, image, text and audio, customers can incorporate all of these into a single review. This gives you the chance to show your business to the world in an immersive manner, leaving a more profound impact on all customers.
Want to learn more about the importance of customer reviews, we’ve written an article on the subject.
Psydro Features to Improve Online Reputation
With our Review Marketing Suite feature, you will be able to amplify your customer’s voice by posting your best reviews on your social media platforms. We offer the option to add a customer review on a high-quality image of your choice that reflects your brand.
By becoming a Psydro Verified Business, you’ll also be able to send Feedback Requests once a customer has purchased one of your products or services. This will help you gain social proof and improve online reputation.
Reviews with spelling mistakes can decrease your credibility as a business, even if it’s not your fault. This is why we have added a Quality Control tool that will check the spelling and grammar of a customer review. This is also supported by a manual checking process before we publish it. However, as we value honest feedback, we will never change the content or the intent of the review.
If you upgrade from our free Launch plan, you can even customize your Psydro merchant page, so you can retain your own branding which makes it look like an extension of your website. Through this page, new potential customers will see your reviews, company information and link to your website. So, customizing this page can help you distinguish yourself from the competition and make a memorable impression, maintaining your valuable reputation.
Your Online Reputation Matters
Your online reputation can make or break your business. As we’ve seen, creating a digital marketing strategy based on User-Generated Content and Social Proof can help you improve your credibility and generate conversions.
At Psydro, we offer the right tools to assist you in every way possible. What’s more, our unique features will save you precious time and money, leaving you to focus on other vital aspects of your business.
We are very experienced in this field, and we know what it takes to improve a business’s online reputation.
Interested in knowing how to gain new customers in 2021? Check this out.
