Consumers are officially in charge of how businesses interact with and sell to them. Shoppers trust other shoppers. This makes user-generated content (UGC), like reviews, images and video, some of the most effective content retailers and brands can use to get shoppers to the register.
We recently partnered with Bazaarvoice on a webinar to give the inside scoop on how product reviews build trust and influence omnichannel sales. This session was full of insights and here are the four biggest takeaways:
1. Be intentional about your review capture strategy
We see many companies that are in reactive mode when it comes to generating reviews. They have some reviews coming in through their ecommerce site, but often miss the opportunity to strategically gather UGC for key products that drive business revenue or elevate new innovations. This was Primal Kitchen’s experience where they could only passively generate 10-15 reviews for new products. By implementing an intentional review capture strategy, Primal Kitchen scaled to 2100 reviews in three months.
We recommend implementing a UGC collection strategy that starts with a free or discounted product trial. This allows customers to experience your product so they can leave an authentic review. Ensure that you set up a scalable process to seamlessly collect UGC.
2. Authenticity is your brand’s most valuable asset
Having real authentic reviews is critical and the use of content moderation protects not only your brand but your customers. This can be the difference between making your brand (authentic, sharable customer photos) or breaking your brand (prohibited UGC that becomes a PR nightmare).
This can also help to find brand ambassadors or better serve customers. In the course of moderating content, you could find really good UGC that can be repurposed on other channels. This might include customers you want to give extra attention to because they’re a great advocate. For better service, you can address customers that had a negative experience and give them white-glove treatment.
3. You’ve generated the reviews, now spread the word at retail
Generating UGC on your brand website is great, but you might be missing the opportunity to get in front of customers that buy your product at retail. Syndicating your content to all the retailers you sell at bridges this gap. Through our partnership with Bazaarvoice, we have built a seamless integration that makes syndicating reviews to over 1,750 global retailers in the Bazaarvoice network easy.
Syndicating your reviews to retailers also helps improve your SEO on certain retailers’ websites. For Bakery On Main, they found having a high volume of excellent product reviews helped to increase their ranking on certain retailers’ search algorithms.
Reviews also contribute to a brand’s online Content Health as determined by Retailer Scorecards. Having more reviews can help you score well and maintain good relationships with your retailers.
4. Mine your reviews for insights that can be applied across your business
The UGC you generate is direct customer feedback you can use to better understand your customers needs, desires, and interests. With the right review capture strategy, you can get a stream of constant feedback!
Here are some common insights you can gather from your product reviews:
- Product improvements cooking instructions, taste, price, naming, and more
- Discover new innovations, such as Haven’s Kitchen discovering customers wanting a larger format
- Identify cross-sell opportunities between your own product lines or through other brand partnerships
- Uncover any store level issues, such as customers having a hard time finding your product or out of stocks
- Content ideas for your brand’s blog, newsletter, or recipes
Get more insights and success stories on how to drive omnichannel impact in this on-demand webinar.
Questions on how to create a UGC strategy that fits your business? You can talk to us at Social Nature or Bazaarvoice!
