Struggling to cut through the online noise and make your brand stand out? You’re not alone. In this data-driven era, customer feedback is your golden ticket to building trust, loyalty, and an online presence that shines brighter than you could even imagine. We will review first-hand experience in how you can transform customer feedback into an online brand-boosting machine.
This post will guide you on using customer feedback to strengthen your online reputation. We explore strategies like directing satisfied customers to leave Google Reviews, a practice known as ‘review gating’, and weigh its advantages, drawbacks, and risks.
Additionally, we show how to repurpose free-form customer feedback into compelling testimonials for websites and social media. The post also covers creating a ‘request for case study’ program, targeting customers who have provided positive feedback.
Harnessing the Untapped Potential of Customer Feedback
Many companies overlook the goldmine that customer feedback surveys can bring. We’re not just talking about the first-level effects that come along with the actual feedback insights but rather how to leverage the data to transform your company’s online presence.
The key is to use this customer feedback proactively in not only improving service but also within marketing, content creation, and reputation management strategies. Let’s review some ways we can build a bridge from customer feedback received to boosting online presence.
The Concept of Review Gating: A Controversial Practice
Before Diving Into Review Gating it’s important to understand the broader context. Review gating is a tactic where businesses screen customer feedback and prompt only those with positive experiences to post reviews online.
For instance, a business presents a quick 5 scale emoji survey after a purchase. Customers who rate their experience positively are then asked to leave a review on Google, Yelp, etc, while those with negative feedback are not. This practice, while beneficial to the company, actually goes against Google’s Terms of Service and can lead to tens of thousands of dollars in penalties.
While it may be tempting to do a little review gating, it may cause more harm than good. Emphasizing honesty and transparency in customer reviews is more beneficial for long-term brand trust and credibility.
Transforming Feedback into Testimonials
You might not even realize but you’re already receiving testimonials within your open-ended survey responses. Have you seen survey results that look something like “This was the best experience we have ever had, the staff was amazing and made us feel very special” or “The team members went above and beyond, we’ll be back for sure.”?
Imagine now being able to showcase these testimonials directly on your website or through social media. Hearing directly from current customers has a significant impact on decision-making.
Let’s explore some best practices for transforming a positive survey comment into a compelling testimonial that you can proudly share with the world.
1. Identify Specific, Relatable Feedback:
Identify detailed feedback that highlights specific product or service aspects. Be on the lookout for detailed open-ended comments, we found those that who put more effort into detailed comments are more likely to be open to sharing their testimonial.
2. Seek Permission and Personalize:
Always obtain consent to use their customer feedback as a testimonial. Personalize testimonials to match your brand’s tone and include their name and company if possible.
3. Use Diverse Formats:
There are many online tools, like Canva, that can be used to transform a quote into a stunning image that can be posted online. Consider video testimonials, while it may feel a bit uncomfortable to ask, video content is trending up in popularity and it would extend your reach to several other platforms like YouTube. Recognize the power of visuals for different learning styles.
4. Making Testimonials Stand Out:
Once the testimonial is created and approved by the customer you can utilize these testimonials across various platforms – your website, social media, and marketing materials all of which will help build trust and authenticity.
Tip: SurveyStance found a genius hack. They included a simple checkbox into their surveys, asking if folks were cool with their heartfelt feedback becoming a testimonial. This resulted in a pool of testimonials companies could grab from anytime.
Building a Follow-Up Process for Case Studies
According to HubSpot’s State of Marketing Report case studies are among the top 5 most popular types of content. They have been reported to increase landing page conversions by more than double and are only growing in popularity.
If you find the idea of creating a case study overwhelming, you’re not alone. Let’s explore some practical starting points and strategies to establish an ongoing process that can help make this seemingly daunting task more manageable.
The first step is finding open customers to participate in developing a case study with you. Engaging satisfied customers for case studies involves a thoughtful and personalized approach and leveraging your customer survey responses is a great place to start!
Enhanced Steps for a Successful Follow-Up:
Segment Your Customers:
Identify not just the happy customers, but also those who share a unique or particularly impactful experience with your product or service.
Look out for customers who put a lot of effort in their open-ended responses, those who are detailed tend to be great case study participants.
Craft a Personalized Outreach:
Tailor your communication to acknowledge their specific experience with your brand.
Thank them for their time sharing such helpful feedback and invite them to take part in your upcoming case study.
Offer Value:
Highlight the mutual benefits of the case study, like increased visibility for their business.
Follow-Up:
Don’t expect a response the first time you reach out. Try being politely persistent, reaching out 3-4 times before moving on.
We suggest you repeat the steps above at least quarterly. You can view some case study tips to get a jump start on writing your first one. Templates can also be a great way to start but don’t feel you have to stick to the exact format. There is a wide range of case study types and while some general guidelines there are no hard rules you must follow.
Leveraging Customer Feedback to Build Your Brand
You are working hard to collect customer feedback so be sure you are maximizing the results to drive your business. By thoughtfully transforming feedback into testimonials and case studies, and understanding the nuances of practices like review gating, you can not only improve your online presence but also build lasting trust and loyalty with your customers. Every piece of feedback is a window into your customer’s world and don’t be afraid to use it.
