Positive reviews and good word of mouth are what some businesses count on for growth, they’re some of the most effective marketing channels if you can utilize them well! Nearly everyone checks out reviews before they’ll go try a new place, surely you’ve done the same in the past. Reviews are fantastic and all, until you get a bad one (deserved or not) and it just sits right there at the top of the pile for your reviews, that alone could be a turn off to some potential customers. Just about the only thing you can do to get rid of a bad review is to bury it under lots of positive reviews, and there are many ways to encourage customers to leave reviews for you. One thing to keep in mind is that people respond to incentive, give them a reason to review your business and they will. 

Encourage Customer Reviews

Right off the bat you need to make sure you have access to sites where you may be getting your reviews, Google, Bing, Facebook, and you may even post select reviews to your website! You want to make it as easy as possible for them to leave you a review. Below we’re going to go through a list of ideas that will build on one another and give you a better view of the full-picture with reviews. 

• Make it simple: Not too many people are going to be wanting or willing to really go well out of their way just to leave you a review, you need to make it as simple as you can. Think as if you’re the customer.
• Reward them: A lot of sites will reward you with points that count as online in-store credit if you leave them reviews, and that’s a fantastic incentive. The thing about people is, they tend to not act without incentive of some sort. Notice I’m not saying to pay for a review. You want reviews to be authentic and from people who really purchased and used the product from your store. Consider offering points in your customer loyalty program or entries in a quarterly drawing.  
• Send Follow-up Emails: This may be your strongest tool when it comes to getting good reviews. One email to anyone who buys anything kindly asking them to leave a review should get you a pretty great return, some online retailers report getting up to 25% of people that they email post-sale to leave reviews. 
• Don’t Ask TOO Quickly: Imagine you’re leaving the checkout at a store and someone is yelling at you to leave a review. Not very fun. Well that’s just how post-checkout popups that ask for reviews are, if anything they’ll just make people want to leave your site sooner. We recommend just sending an email same-day so it’s recent but not so abrasive. 
• Point reviewers in the right direction: If you’re looking more for actual reviews than just stars to be left, you need to let people know. Direct them by saying something like “Please review your purchase and tell other shoppers why you bought the product and if you’ll be returning.” Or something along those general lines. 
• Optimize for Mobile: Half or more of all searches these days are coming from mobile devices, meaning you need to be optimized for mobile. Your text and surveys all need to be optimized to fit well on mobile, that alone can make all the difference when it comes to getting responses.
• Habitually Thank Reviewers: These people are doing you a tremendous favor in leaving you reviews, you need to be commenting and thanking all good reviewers and responding to any negative ones with respect and patience. This is your chance to turn around a potentially bad first impression or leave a happy customer with a smile on their face because they know that you DO appreciate their effort. 

Good Reviews Build Trust

The more reviews a business has, the more likely someone is to trust them. That gives potential customers the confidence to use your business and can increase sales! The easiest thing to do to drive reviews is just ask people nicely and quickly to leave them for you. If you plan carefully, put yourself in the shoes of the customer often, and are just kind to people you can expect to see fantastic results with your reviews! 

If you want to learn more about reviews and Med Spa SEO, you need to check out our free SEO E-book here. It’s full of fantastic tips that can truly make a difference in your business. 

 

22 Proven Marketing Ideas to Grow Your Medical Spa

We work with medical spas across the country and these are the latest marketing and social media trends that are proven to grow new medical spa customers. Here are 22 ideas that will take your med spa business from average to exciting. DOWNLOAD NOW

Kim Adamof

Kim works with brands since 2011 to develop and manage their digital and social media strategies; meet company objectives, such as increasing leads, engagement, and website traffic, utilizing best practices, the latest tools and strategies; and develop quality content. She is a problem-solver who loves a challenge when it comes to increasing sales.