During the last couple of years, and mostly thanks to the arrival of the digital era, the importance of how companies are perceived on the internet has grown substantially. Regardless of this aspect, numerous firms are unaware of the influence that their online persona can have on their profitability, number of customers and overall popularity.
To put things better into perspective, recent reports have shown that 61% of people tend to rely more on information present in user reviews, rather than the pieces of information presented by a company, prior to buying a product or services. This may also be because 75% of people believe companies do not tell the truth in advertisements, which is completely understandable. Information compiled in a recent report created by the folks behind WebsiteBuilder.org reveals some interesting stats about the influence of online reviews.
Based on this aspect, it looks like for every star that a business managed to get, a revenue increase of 5% to 9% can be noted. Additionally, a business with good online reviews can convince consumers to spend about 31% more, whereas 72% of customers say that reading positive reviews can help them trust a business more, and encourage an eventual purchase.
PREMIUM CONTENT: Internal Staff and Temporary Worker Satisfaction Surveys
On the other end of the spectrum, having a bad online persona can be detrimental to your profitability, percentage of conversions and popularity. With this in mind, 22% of customers will refuse to buy products/services after reading just one negative review, whereas 59% will give up on the purchase after three negative reviews. Additionally, it has been estimated that a single negative review can cost a business approximately 30 customers; negative reviews present in the direct Google search results can drive away about 70% of the business’ potential customers, which is simply terrible for any firm.
In case your company’s image on the internet isn’t good enough, there are luckily numerous things that can be done to improve. For starters, get back to customers who’ve left negative reviews and try to make up for your flaws — this will likely lead them to remove the negative rating and even return as customers in the future. Apart from this aspect, it is important for all businesses to maintain an active social media presence, emphasize their website’s appearance and design, and maintain a positive corporate culture fueled by thought leadership.
Based on everything that has been outlined so far, it is essential for businesses throughout the world to maintain a positive image online, or at least try to improve, as in the long run this can help tremendously.
