Blue chalk dark bg

Honest Marketing report - Banner image

### Brand integrity: the new frontier for marketing

[Get the report here](/guides-reports/build-trusted-brand/brand-integrity-the-new-frontier-for-marketing?cta=banner)

Get more out of your customer reviews with our case studies, webinars and videos. Find the latest trends to promote your company in search and manage your online reputation.

Learn From Your Customers - Trustpilot Blog

Reviews - Learn From Your Customers

Turning-Reviews-into-Revenue-with-insights

Trustpilot shares the best ways to use online reviews to improve customer service and positively impact revenue, and covers how their Zendesk integration makes the whole process easier.

And with the power of the internet available in the backpocket of most consumers, online reviews and referrals have become more important than ever before. 

That’s why it’s no shock that user-generated ratings have revolutionised the shopping experience for eCommerce operations as well as brick and mortar stores — no matter the industry.

Ratings and reviews are an easy way to build brand trust and loyalty between you and your customers. More so, according to a [study by Harvard Business School](https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/12-016_a7e4a5a2-03f9-490d-b093-8f951238dba2.pdf), consumer reviews have a direct impact on revenues. 

Simply put — the better (and more) reviews you have, the higher your chances are at having a better business reputation that leads to brand trust and loyalty - which inevitably leads to more sales.

In this article, we’ll share the best ways to use online reviews to improve customer service and positively impact your revenue, and discuss how our Zendesk integration makes the whole process easier.

## 1. Collecting customer reviews

Online reviews play a crucial role in determining the success of your business because they aren’t just an ancillary aspect of a purchasing decision. 

This year, we observed an [11% decline in trust globally](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/build-trusted-brand/4-things-every-business-owner-should-know-about-the-state-of-reviews), with only 71% of people admitting they trust consumer brands. Nowadays, buyers want more. They want to hear about their peers’ experiences with a brand, not just what the company has to say about it. 

In fact, [the same study](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/guides-reports/build-trusted-brand/the-critical-role-of-reviews-in-internet-trust) found that 89% of global consumers check online reviews as part of their online buying journey, and 49% of global consumers consider positive reviews one of their top 3 purchase influences.

And according to Psychological Science, in a situation with two competing products with similar ratings, consumers are more likely to buy the product with more reviews. By harnessing the wisdom of crowds, positive reviews can be a game changer when it comes to a customer’s decision to choose your brand.

So how can you make sure your customers leave reviews after their purchase? Simply [ask your customers](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/learn-from-customers/how-to-get-the-most-out-of-asking-for-customer-feedback). By proactively presenting your users with the ability to easily leave a review, you can maintain transparency and solicit reviews.

Now that you’re asking for feedback and receiving it, here’s how you can leverage it to highlight important consumer data.


## 2. Identifying trends

Did you know that collecting and tagging your Trustpilot reviews could give you valuable insights into your current customer experience and how to better your business in the long run?

Our sentiment analysis tool, [Review Insights](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/learn-from-customers/introducing-trustpilots-new-machine-learning-tool-review-insights), can go through every review for you, and discover major topics that you can analyse. The goal is to help you [improve customer experience](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/learn-from-customers/how-to-improve-customer-experience-on-your-website).

Indeed, the better the customer experience and service, the more likely it is that your customers will have a good relationship with your brand. This will inevitably lead to better reviews.

Trustpilot also lets you use tags to filter review content by relevant topics related to your product or service. This means you can easily get an overview of your feedback and identify specific trends. 

Review tagging can be an extremely valuable tool when it comes to better understanding your company's strengths and weaknesses, based on customer feedback. These insights have the power to improve your service and experience, boost your sales and revenue, and help you retain your customers.

## 3. Improving customer service with our Zendesk integration

A Trustpilot and Canvas 8 study found that 82% of UK consumers have a positive view towards companies that respond to reviews, and 64% of global consumers would prefer to buy from a responsive company over one that appears perfect. 

There’s no doubt responding to reviews is important, but it can be tricky to identify the reviews that need responses. That’s where our [Zendesk integration](https://support.trustpilot.com/hc/en-us/articles/227199548-Zendesk-Trustpilot-Integration) comes in. The integration helps you streamline your customer service by highlighting reviews that need your attention.

Indeed, Zendesk automatically checks your business’s Trustpilot profile every few minutes, so if you get a new review at or below a star threshold rating that you have determined, Zendesk will create a new ticket for you. 

You can then read and reply to the review from within Zendesk. Your reply will automatically appear on your business profile, and if the customer responds to, or updates, their review based on your answer, their Trustpilot review will automatically be updated.

Responding to your feedback and showing your commitment to doing better as a business is what will differentiate you from other brands. Negative reviews can, when well-handled, provide balance, help build trust and transparency (assuming you addressed the issue efficiently), and turn a hesitating visitor into a long-term customer.

By approaching consumer insights as an opportunity rather than a threat, you’ll soon see your customer service and customer experience improve, and your sales and revenue increase. 

We hope you found these tips helpful. If you’d like to learn more about the importance of consumers insights, and how to handle negative feedback well, read our ‘Bad Reviews’ report by clicking the link below:


Bad reviews: why people write them, and what they expect

Turning reviews into real revenue with consumer insights

customer service trustpilot and hubspot research

Today, overlooking customer service simply isn’t an option anymore. In the current competitive landscape, companies have to work harder than ever before to stand out from the competition. While discounts and low prices can help you acquire new customers, they certainly won’t help you retain them. 

As customers become more and more empowered, the need for customer-centric companies who care about customer experience is rapidly growing. 
 
Trustpilot review data shows that one-star and 5-star reviews most commonly mention ‘customer service’. Yet, whilst most companies like to say they are “customer-first”, too many of them either don’t listen to customers or don’t have ways to make it actionable. 

According to a [2019 HubSpot research study](https://offers.hubspot.com/state-of-customer-service), 88% of people agree that customers have higher expectations than in the past, and 89% agree that customers are more likely than ever to share positive or negative experiences. 

It’s time to take action. 

In this article, we will show you how to up your customer service game, and why you should consider doing it with reviews.

## Why reviews will boost your customer service standards

### 1. Let your customers do the talking

Today, buyers are on the hunt for [social proof](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/build-trusted-brand/what-is-social-proof-and-why-is-it-important-for-marketing). According to HubSpot, reviews, ratings and testimonials rank second highest of everything people search for when doing online research.  
69.5% of companies also admit that review sites, social media and word-of-mouth directly drive leads for their business. 

If you’re not asking your customers to share their opinion, you might be missing out!
"Today’s buyers trust customers, not companies. When marketers harness this social proof, it can drive leads and generate revenue, but very few are doing so. There is still an advantage for marketers who can build the voice of the customer into their marketing efforts, but they need to act quickly," said Michael Redbord, GM Service Hub, HubSpot.

We all know it’s getting easier for consumers to compare companies online. This only makes it harder for businesses to stand out from the competition, and retain customers over time. In 2019, 95% of consumers do online research as part of their buying journey, which often involves looking for social proof.

Delivering a great experience and even better customer service helps boost confidence and improves loyalty in the long run. That’s why companies providing excellent service often put customers at the heart of everything they do. 

Did you know that, according to HubSpot Research, almost half of businesses who say they are “customer-centric” don’t actually do anything about it? Today, 42% of companies don’t survey or collect customer feedback, and only 19% of brands have a customer advocacy program.
Collecting reviews, and showcasing feedback throughout all channels provides extra information about your company, your products, and your customer service. This significantly boosts customer confidence.

Social proof on-site reviews

third-party validation online reviews

Believe it or not, leveraging reviews is a great way to improve your user experience, and answer some of your customers’ questions. 
________

Trustpilot tip: Reading customer reviews can help you identify recurring questions. Why not use this to update your FAQ page and boost your customer service standards? 
________

Customers are always going to conduct their own research — by giving them the information up front, they won’t have a reason to leave your site.

### 2. Use online reviews to identify trends

Marketing Manager at Mannys

Earlier, we asked how excellent customer service is defined. Providing great customer service means understanding your customers and your audience, their needs, and their wants. 

Great customer service also means meeting and exceeding expectations, every single time. No, that doesn’t mean getting it right every day — after all, we’re only human. However, you should be trying your best, and putting the customer at the heart of everything you do. Doing so will result in great communication and resolution skills, and therefore, a better brand reputation.

[According to HubSpot](https://offers.hubspot.com/state-of-customer-service), 74% of companies say they are measured on customer satisfaction, yet only 58% of companies survey customers. 

How is customer satisfaction being measured without feedback from customers? How is great customer service being achieved without insights from customer feedback?

Reviews helps you collect fresh consumer insights which highlight the areas of development, and the opportunities to improve your service and grow your business. 

Today, only 54% of customer service teams report to a customer success department. [Trustpilot’s new Review Insights tool](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/learn-from-customers/introducing-trustpilots-new-machine-learning-tool-review-insights) is powered by Artificial Intelligence technology. It allows you to detect trends, identify customer sentiment, and work towards a better customer experience and customer service. If you haven’t got a customer success department yet, it might be time to consider creating one!

trustpilot review insights customer sentiment

Asking for reviews shows how much you care about customer satisfaction, and how hard you are working towards improving your customer experience and your customer service.

### 3. Start acting on consumer insights

You’ve started collecting reviews, and you’re slowly receiving more and more consumer insights. 

What next?

Embrace the feedback, good and bad, and start taking action. According to HubSpot, only 12% of consumers believe a company when they say they ‘solve for the customer’. 

Prove those consumers wrong. Collecting consumer insights is great, but it doesn’t stop there. 
Customer service professionals who report into a Marketing department agree that reviews and social proof drive leads at the highest rate. Once you have the data, start thinking about which departments, processes and initiatives might be involved. Then, put of a plan of action together.

When you have an overview of where you’re doing well, and areas that need more attention, you’ll spend your time [solving customer issues](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/how-ai-can-help-you-get-a-better-trustscore) rather than finding them. Soon enough, your customer service standards will increase, and your customers’ expectations will be met and exceeded, every single time. 

In a recent Trustpilot survey, over 5,900 consumers expressed a unique trust value in Trustpilot ratings (called TrustScore). 92% of customers said they would not consider buying from 1 or 2-star rated brand. Another reason to start working on your brand reputation by improving your customer service with online reviews!


star rating trustpilot research

If you're interested in [consumer insights](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/learn-from-customers/what-are-consumer-insights-and-how-do-i-use-them) and Trustpilot’s new Review Insights tool, you can [read more about it here](https://business.trustpilot.com/features/review-insights?cta=read-more_blog_CTA-1).

Alternatively, if you’d like to find out more about the power of customer feedback, click the link below to read Trustpilot's brand new Complete Guide To Reviews.


Read Trustpilot's Complete Guide To Reviews

*Thank you to HubSpot for letting us use data from their '[State of Customer Service in 2019](https://offers.hubspot.com/state-of-customer-service)' report in this article.*

3 Ways reviews can help you deliver excellent customer service

A middle-aged woman with glasses looking at the camera

the role of customer experience trustpilot

the role of customer experience

This year, we observed an [11% decline in trust globally](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/build-trusted-brand/4-things-every-business-owner-should-know-about-the-state-of-reviews), with only 71% of people admitting they trust consumer brands. Trust has changed, and customers no longer want to be told what to buy. They want to get to know the company behind the product and behind the service, which can only be achieved through a transparent and trustworthy customer journey.

[According to Econsultancy](http://www.netimperative.com/2020/02/27/brands-focused-on-customer-experience-3-times-more-likely-to-exceed-business-goals/), optimising the customer experience is one of the most exciting opportunities for businesses in 2020, with 24% of companies ranking it at their top priority this year. 

Did you know that [50%](https://www.getfeedback.com/blog/40-stats-churn-customer-satisfaction/) of consumers are more likely to do business with you again in the future after a positive customer experience? Creating a seamless experience ensures that visitors are enjoying interacting with your business at every touchpoint of the journey. By focusing on creating amazing customer experiences, you’re showing the desire for your company to go above and beyond to please every single customer.

There’s no doubt it is getting harder and harder to differentiate yourself from other businesses when consumer trust is going down and every brand is sharing great content online. But a competitive advantage is huge, and customer experience is the perfect tool to help you stand out from the competition. 

In this article, we’ll discuss ways you can improve your user journey to deliver better customer experience and power your business forward.

## Providing a smooth voice search experience

Google has suggested multiple times that it intends to grow from a search engine to an answer engine. And with the rise of Google Home, traditional SEO has already radically transformed, and will continue to do so in years to come.

Rather than providing different search results and leaving the user a choice, an answer engine provides the user with one answer only. This makes finding facts much easier for the user, but makes it much harder for companies to stand out and feature as a definite answer. 

Small companies have an advantage - by testing and identifying profitable queries, they can focus on getting ahead of larger businesses. That’s why it’s important to focus on smaller benefit-oriented searches by rethinking the website interface and optimising it with long-tail keywords. 

This makes it more likely for smaller companies to reach and maintain position 0. Position 0 is the first result, often displayed in the answer box above the other organic results. Although Google is still experimenting with position 0 results - whether they’re answer boxes, knowledge graphs or Voice Assistant results - search engines’ constant investment in voice search suggests this shift is here to stay.

Businesses that start implementing voice search into their customer experience strategy are the brands that will dominate online tomorrow.

If you’d like to learn more about voice search, SEO and answer engines, check out our webinar recording:

What companies should do in the face of voice search

## Re-imagining the customer experience with artificial intelligence

Every time Amazon recommends a purchase to a consumer, that’s artificial intelligence at work. In the world of customer experience and customer service, we’re experiencing the rise of digital assistants, chatbots, and robots answering basic queries.

Welcome to the future.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence demonstrated by machines. It has the ability to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings.

Did you know that [AI can increase business productivity by 40%](https://techjury.net/blog/ai-statistics/#gref)? These days, most businesses use AI for data analysis, on-site personalisation, content, and email marketing.

Companies are also turning to AI to automate repetitive tasks and personalise user journeys to build better relationships with their customers and offer seamless experiences.

KLM uses AI on Messenger. After booking a flight on their website, KLM lets the customer choose whether to receive their booking confirmation, check-in notification, boarding pass and flight status updates via Messenger. This makes travel information easy to find in a single place.

Bonus? Their AI system also lets the user ask any question they may have on Messenger, 24/7. All messages are personalised and friendly, making it look like the customer is chatting to another human being.

screen-mobile-2

KLM chatbot 

## Delivering personalised content

In order to trust a company and their products or services, shoppers can go through a considerable amount of research before deciding to buy online. Shoppers can make up to [9.5 visits](http://www.digitalstrategyconsulting.com/intelligence/2014/11/savvy_shoppers_make_9_visits_to_a_retailers_site_before_deciding_to_buy.php) on a retailer’s site before making a purchase, and that doesn’t take into account other sites they may go to as part of their customer journey.

This year, most industry peers have been personalising their customer experience with insightful and relevant content like offers, podcasts, blogs, videos, or even events. 

Personalising the customer experience to offer relevant pieces of information creates better brand awareness and loyalty, encourages customer relationships, and can elevate your business into a thought leader.

So how will you deliver the most relevant content and authentic experiences to your audience in the moment? 

How will you build the personal connections that inspire customers to invest in your business? Where do you start?

Delivering the right content to the right person isn’t easy, but it’s certainly necessary. And it all starts by getting to know your customers. Divide your audience into groups using your existing data, and build profile types. 

Develop personalisation strategies using automation and classify your content. [What content is relevant](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/blog/creating-relevant-content-throughout-the-customer-journey?rq=content)? At what point? 

Once your audience and content are both classified, delivering personalised content through the whole journey is easier.

When you personalise the customer experience with smart relevant content, you’re creating value for your audience and delivering better experiences.


## Building trust earlier in the journey

Online reviews are still one of the best ways to build trust and transparency at any point of the customer journey. Indeed, [89% of global consumers check reviews as part of their online buying journey](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/build-trusted-brand/4-things-every-business-owner-should-know-about-the-state-of-reviews), and 49% of global consumers consider positive reviews one of their top 3 purchase influences.

Today, consumers are relying more on online reviews than they have in the past 2 years, making feedback a powerful tool to convert visitors into customers and to reduce customer hesitation. 

Indeed, including customer feedback as part of customer experience is a way to help do their research directly on-site and make smarter choices. 

How? Online reviews tend to boost customer confidence and often eliminate doubt because they answer most questions consumers have as they move through the purchase journey, and provide third-party validation.


reviews on site

Fabletics reviews

In a world where word of mouth travels fast, your customers are almost certainly already talking about your business. To deliver great experiences, you must identify and understand your customers’ needs and wants, which is why it’s essential to listen to the voice of the customer.

By agreeing to manage your online reputation, you’re likely to collect consumer insights, identify areas of development, and improve your visitors’ experience in the long run.

Head of Marketing at Travel Money Group

There’s no doubt customer experience is an important aspect of the user journey. There are many ways a business can work on its customer experience, but starting with consumer insights can help you better understand which aspect of the journey you need to work on to increase overall customer satisfaction. 

To find out more about consumer insights and how they can help you improve your customer experience, click the link below.

What are consumer insights and how do I use them? An Introduction

The role of customer experience in outperforming industry peers

Consumer Behavior in the Age of Coronavirus: Global Review Trends by Industry -smaller

Consumer Behavior in the Age of Coronavirus: Global Review Trends by Industry

The rise of coronavirus has stopped the entire world in its tracks, causing consumers across the globe to change their purchasing behaviors — and leaving businesses trying to predict the future. Here's a breakdown of consumer behavior trends on Trustpilot.

An in-depth investigation from [Nielsen](https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/article/2020/key-consumer-behavior-thresholds-identified-as-the-coronavirus-outbreak-evolves/) has uncovered a consumer behavior pattern that could help guide businesses through these unprecedented times, identifying six purchasing phases that stem from concerns about the COVID-19 outbreak (and naturally, the resulting newscycle): *Proactive health-minded buying, reactive health management, pantry preparation, quarantined living preparation, restricted living, and living a new normal*.

Though it’s clear that the situation is still evolving, the spending patterns tied to these phases hold up across markets the world over. But exactly how consumers are deciding who to buy from remains to be seen.

Here at Trustpilot, we believe we’re uniquely qualified to shed light on the role of reviews in purchasing behavior in this uncertain climate, so we took a deep dive into global consumer activity on Trustpilot’s review platform in the wake of the recent COVID-19 outbreak. 

__The data shared below was last refreshed on May 20th — we’ll be updating this data at least once per month, so go ahead and bookmark this page before we dive in.__

## What kinds of businesses are consumers researching right now? 

While the types of businesses consumers were most interested in reading reviews about varied by region over the last 30 days, one thing holds true around the world: consumers are very interested in the [experiences of their peers](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/build-trusted-brand/why-social-proof-marketing-essential-business-growth) right now. 

__According to a survey of more than 1700 respondents conducted on the Trustpilot consumer website at the end of March 2020:
__
- 33.6% of consumers report checking reviews of businesses and services more frequently than they did before lockdown
- 73% of consumers want to see how companies are handling the virus
- 23% of consumers report decreased trust in companies since the outbreak
- 55% of consumers are more worried about online scams than they were prior to the pandemic

There are plenty of reasons that credible reviews are important to consumers in uncertain times — from a stronger urge to see what fellow consumers are buying in an unprecedented situation, to more skepticism towards unfamiliar businesses, who consumers could perceive as unscrupulous amid economic uncertainty. Perhaps they simply want to confirm that products or services work as advertised, whether it’s a matter of life or death or just adapting to a new lifestyle.

Without further adieu, here’s a breakdown of the trends we saw in global traffic to Trustpilot profile pages by industry from the end of February until now. 

### United Kingdom: 30-Day traffic to business profiles on Trustpilot (April 20, 2020 - May 20, 2020)

UK Consumer Behavior in light of Coronavirus: Profile visits to Trustpilot

UK-Profile-Views-April-6

UK Profile Visits 4/20 - 5/20

In the UK, traffic to Trustpilot profile pages remained relatively steady from February 23rd to March 24th, with __insurance agencies__ and __furniture stores__ receiving more consumer interest than other business categories. It’s possible that consumers felt an increased need to prepare for the unexpected — be it a medical emergency, or being asked to work from home for the foreseeable future, creating more demand for home office furniture.

Though it’s early to say how consumer spending on fashion will evolve in these uncertain times, interest in reviews for __women’s clothing stores__ declined over this time period — at least in the UK.

And despite the obvious embargo on nonessential travel plans in the age of coronavirus, visits to the Trustpilot profile pages of __travel agencies__ saw an upswing towards the end of March. It’s likely that consumers are hoping to adjust their immediate and far off travel plans, or have even heard speculation from [industry leaders](https://skift.com/coronavirus-and-travel/) that life might be back to normal by the summer, and are sussing out whether anyone else is booking new travel plans.

Our data refresh on April 6th revealed that visits to __insurance agency__ profile pages have been on the decline as we moved into the month of April, while visits to the profile pages of __furniture stores__, __pharmacies__, and __fitness and nutrition services__ started to pick up speed as consumers settled into “quarantined living”.

__As of our two most recent data refresh on April 23rd and May 20th__, visits to the Trustpilot profile pages of __furniture stores__ and __garden centers__ are on the rise — most likely reflecting consumers' desire to better equip their homes and gardens for even more time spent at home. 

### United States: 30-Day traffic to business profiles on Trustpilot (April 20, 2020 - May 20, 2020)

Consumer behavior in the US in light of coronavirus: visits to Trustpilot in the last 30 days

April-6-US-Pageviews

US Page Views 4/20 - 5/20

In the US on the other hand, consumer interest on the Trustpilot platform spiked in early March for __toiletries stores__, aligning almost perfectly to an event that moved most consumers from “reactive health management” to “pantry preparation”: Trump’s February 26th press conference on COVID-19.

While a lot of the traffic to __toiletries stores__ can be attributed to [The Honey Pot’s](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/03/the-latest-online-racist-pileup-is-about-vaginal-care-products-at-target.html) profile at the beginning of March, it’s also possible that the surging interest in toiletry stores was brought on by the unprecedented demand for essential bathroom items and perhaps even looking for [alternative sources of hand sanitizer](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/03/coronavirus-hand-sanitizer-sales-surge-leading-to-price-hikes.html) and hand soap.

And by mid-March, traffic to Trustpilot profile pages for __financial consultants__ spiked, likely resulting from increased concern about an economic collapse brought on by the coronavirus.  

Our data download from April 6th shows that profile visits to __banks__ spiked in tandem with __financial consultants__ in mid-March, likely as consumers turned to Trustpilot to research their options as the economy struggled. Moving further into the month of April, visits to the profile pages of __clothing stores__, __pharmacies__, and __toiletries stores__ remained steady.

Our 30-day data pulled from April 23rd shows that visits to the Trustpilot profile pages of __clothing stores, financial consultants__ and __pharmacies__ are on the rise. Perhaps US consumers are looking to clothing purchases as a way to boost morale, financial consultants to help prepare for economic uncertainty, and pharmacies to ensure their readiness for any changes in their health. 

Interestingly, visits to the profile pages of __online marketplaces__ saw an uptick around mid April, coinciding with many consumers' pay day and perhaps indicating consumer interest in supporting independent sellers over major brands during this uncertain time. 

__As of our latest data refresh on May 20th__, __clothing stores__ are continuing to receive the bulk of traffic, at least in the US. 

### Central Europe: 30-Day traffic to business profiles on Trustpilot (April 20, 2020 - May 20, 2020)

Consumer behavior in the age of coronavirus in Central Europe

April-6-CEU-Pageviews

CEU Pageviews 4/20 - 5/20

Unlike the United Kingdom, traffic to the Trustpilot profile pages of __travel agencies__ from central Europe saw an understandable decline kicking off around the beginning of March, right after the number of [confirmed cases of coronavirus in Europe](https://www.nytimes.com/article/coronavirus-timeline.html) spiked on February 28th.

And while it’s not necessarily surprising to see an upswing in consumer interest around __gaming service providers__ with most of Europe quarantined at home since early March, it’s interesting that traffic to __jewelry stores__ on the Trustpilot platform is on an incline. Perhaps novelty purchases like jewelry will remain an important part of “living a new normal” as far as consumer behavior goes.

Our refreshed data from April 6th showed that profile visits to __gaming service providers__ spiked towards the end of March in Central Europe, with visits to __cell phone store__ profiles picking up speed as we moved into April.

__Our data pulled on April 23rd__ showed that visits to the Trustpilot profile pages of __gaming service providers__ and __cell phone stores__ remained steady. Similar to the United States, visits to the profile pages of __online marketplaces__ saw an uptick around mid April in Central Europe, perhaps indicating consumer interest in supporting independent sellers over major brands during this uncertain time. 

__As of our latest download on March 20th__, the Trustpilot profile pages of __cell phone stores__ and __online marketplaces__ continue to go strong — with the addition of __shoe stores__. As Europe transitions into life after lockdown, it stands to reason that consumers might want to equip themselves with new shoes for some much-needed summer adventures.

### Australia and New Zealand: 30-Day traffic to business profiles on Trustpilot (April 20, 2020 - May 20, 2020)


Consumer behavior in the age of coronavirus: Australia and New Zealand

April-6-ANZ-Pageviews

ANZ Pageviews 4/20 - 5/20

Despite placing [restrictions on international travel](https://www.ft.com/content/65b88a38-6339-11ea-b3f3-fe4680ea68b5) back in February, and advising against non-essential domestic travel in late March, visits to the Trustpilot profile pages of __travel agencies__ were consistently high from February 23rd to March 24th in Australia and New Zealand.

It’s likely that consumers anticipated changing their travel plans in light of these restrictions, and were eager to see how __travel agencies__ had dealt with fellow travellers in the same situation.

Visits to the profile pages of __travel agencies__ reached a peak in late March within Australia and New Zealand, and is starting to decline as we move into April. 

Visits to __hobby store__ and __furniture store__ profile pages, however, saw an uptick at the beginning of April as consumers down under began to adjust to “quarantined living”.

__As of our most recent data refresh on April 23rd__, visits to the Trustpilot profile pages of __clothing stores, furniture stores__ and __hobby stores__ are on an incline in Australia and New Zealand. It's possible that consumers are looking to clothing purchases as a way to boost morale, and are investing more time and attention in equipping their homes with comfortable furnishings and leisure activities to do.

Similar to the United States and Central Europe, visits to the profile pages of __online marketplaces__ saw an uptick around mid April in Australia and New Zealand, perhaps indicating consumer interest in supporting independent sellers over major brands during this uncertain time.

__Our two most recent data downloads from April 23rd and May 20th__ showed that visits to the Trustpilot profile pages of __clothing stores__, __furniture stores__ and __hobby stores__ were on an incline in Australia and New Zealand. It's possible that consumers were looking to clothing purchases as a way to boost morale, and are investing more time and attention in equipping their homes with comfortable furnishings and leisure activities to do.

## What kinds of businesses are customers leaving reviews for right now?

In the best of times, consumers tend to [leave reviews for a few key reasons](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/learn-from-customers/why-do-people-write-reviews-what-our-research-revealed): in hopes of offering guidance to others like them, alerting businesses to issues with their products or services, or delivering constructive feedback about what they need from a business.

On top of the above reasons, now more than ever customers are likely to leave reviews to foster a sense of community in the midst of isolation, or to exercise the power of the consumer voice, whether that’s thanking a business for performing under immense strain or calling out those who might exploit the situation to the detriment of others.

Here’s a breakdown of the most reviewed business categories on Trustpilot in the wake of coronavirus.

### United Kingdom: 30-Day consumer review activity on Trustpilot (April 20, 2020 - May 20, 2020)

Consumer behavior in the age of coronavirus: review activity in the UK

apr6-UK-organic-reviews

UK Review Activity 4/20 - 5/20

In the UK, __courier services__, __energy suppliers__, __utilities companies__, __furniture stores__, and __insurance companies__ received the most reviews from February 23rd to March 24th. 

__Travel agencies__ saw a spike in customer reviews towards the end of March, likely as customers wrote in to share their customer service experiences around COVID-19-related travel plan adjustments.

As of early April, __courier services__ and __gas companies__ were seeing the biggest spike in review activity in the UK. Meanwhile, review activity for __energy suppliers__, __electric utility companies__, __insurance agencies__, and __furniture stores__ remained steady.

__As of our two most recent data refresh on April 23rd and May 20th__, __courier services__ continue to receive the bulk of reviews left in the UK, with __garden centers__ seeing an uptick in review activity towards the end of the month. Interestingly, __pet stores__ saw a spike in review activity in the very first week of April.

### United States: 30-Day consumer review activity on Trustpilot (April 20, 2020 - May 20, 2020)


consumer behavior in the age of coronavirus: review activity in the US

apr6-US-organic-reviews

US Review Activity 4/20 - 5/20

In the US, __clothing stores__, __hobby stores__, and __travel agencies__ received the lion’s share of customer reviews amid coronavirus uncertainty from February 23rd to March 24th.

Moving into April, __clothing stores__ and __travel agencies__ saw declining review activity in the US, while reviews left for __hobby stores__, __financial consultants__, and __furniture stores__ remained steady.

__Our 30-day data refresh on April 23rd__ showed that visits to the Trustpilot profile pages of __hobby stores__ received the bulk of review activity in the US, while __clothing stores, financial consultants,__ and __furniture stores__ saw an uptick in reviews towards the end of April. 

__As of May 20th__, __clothing stores__ and hobby __stores__ continue to see the most review activity in the US with a noticeable spike in the first week of May — likely after consumers received some of the fashion and hobby items they purchased to help them make the most of their new lifestyle. 

### Central Europe: 30-Day consumer review activity on Trustpilot (April 20, 2020 - May 20, 2020)

consumer behavior in the age of coronavirus: review activity in central Europe

apr6-CEU-organic-reviews

CEU Review Activity 4/20 - 5/20

And in central Europe, __courier services__, __cell phone stores__, __travel agencies__, and __gaming service providers__ received the bulk of the customer reviews left on Trustpilot from February 23rd to March 24th. 

Interestingly, European consumers are more interested in writing reviews about __courier services__ than they are in reading reviews about them in a time of crisis — at least for now.

From the beginning of April, __courier services__, __cell phone stores__, __travel agencies__, and __gaming service providers__ received the bulk of reviews left on Trustpilot in central Europe.

__As of our latest data pull on May 20th__, __courier services__, __cell phone stores__, __gaming service providers__, and __garden centers__ are seeing the most review activity in Central Europe.

### Australia and New Zealand: 30-Day consumer review activity on Trustpilot (April 20, 2020 - May 20, 2020)


Consumer behavior in the age of coronavirus: review activity in Australia and New Zealand

apr6-ANZ-organic-reviews

ANZ Review Activity 4/20 - 5/20

Australia and New Zealand saw similar trends to the UK, with reviews left for __travel agencies__ increasing in tandem with traffic to their profile pages, as customers wrote in to share their experiences with travel agencies in the wake of the initial COVID-19 outbreak.

__Hobby stores__ received the second greatest number of customer reviews from February 23rd to March 24th, followed by __clothing stores__ — reviews for which seem to be trending upwards, perhaps as consumers settle into their “new normal” and find themselves with more time to leave feedback.

By the beginning of April, reviews left for __travel agencies__ were starting to decline in Australia and New Zealand, while reviews left for __hobby stores__ and __car accessories stores__ picked up speed in the region.

__As of May 20th__, __hobby stores__, __travel agencies__, and __clothing stores__ are receiving the most review activity in Australia and New Zealand, as travel restrictions begin to ease up and consumers transition out of life under strict lockdown.

## The value of reviews in uncertain times

From our perspective, the value of reviews is significant [in times good or bad](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/build-trusted-brand/the-importance-of-trust-in-uncertain-times) — and consumer activity on Trustpilot’s platform in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak echoes that sentiment. As it turns out, reviews can help businesses and consumers in equal measure in times of crisis and uncertainty.

For consumers, reviews provide reassuring transparency as a way to read about the real experiences of peers when it’s hard to know who to believe, and harder than usual to rely on a personal network. They also give consumers a voice, allowing them to thank businesses performing well under difficult times, or cry foul about a business exploiting the situation. [Open review platforms](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/inside-trustpilot/creating-a-culture-of-transparency-and-trustworthiness-with-trustpilots-new) are particularly valuable at times like these, because at their best, they can help foster a sense of community in a time of social isolation.

For businesses, reviews are a way for the customer experience heroes to shine. — through the voice of consumers, businesses that rise to the occasion can have their actions amplified to many other prospective customers. Reviews can also aid businesses in real-time understanding of customer needs. This can be especially valuable during rapid and unpredictable change, and can even help companies smoothly adapt to new channels and audiences.

In the worst of times, consumers want to engage with businesses who care, so now is the time to get closer to your customers and start showcasing your reputation.

THUMBNAIL: Consumer Behavior in the Age of Coronavirus: Global Review Trends by Industry

Consumer behavior in the age of Coronavirus: Global review trends by industry

Consumer insights and review tagging with trustpilot

Collecting and tagging reviews with Trustpilot allows you to collect valuable insights which can help you identify key areas of development within the business.

By using tags to filter review content by relevant topics related to your product or service, you can easily get an overview of your reviews and identify specific issues that you would like to investigate further. Review tagging can be an extremely valuable tool when it comes to getting a better understanding of your company's strengths and weaknesses, based on customer feedback. These inishgts have the power to improve your customer experience, increase loyalty, and help you retain new visitors.

## What is review tagging and how does it work?

Tagging simply means labeling your customer reviews with different topics, and using it as a tool to filter your reviews for further analysis.

Trustpilot offers two different ways of tagging. The first one is __automatic pre-tagging__ based on information you already know about your customers prior to their reviews, such as bought product, type of customer, sales rep, and more.

The other type of tagging is __manual tagging__ based on review content, for example customer service, delivery time or other subjects that your customers would usually write about in a review.

You can learn more about __how to tag in practice__ in the article [Tagging and pre-tagging service reviews](https://support.trustpilot.com/hc/en-us/articles/203840856-Tagging-and-pre-tagging-service-reviews), where we focus on the manual tagging based on the actual review content.

 
## Getting started: How to collect valuable insights to boost customer loyalty 

We have listed a few important steps below for you to follow in order to get most out of review tagging.

 
### 1. Find a purpose and set realistic targets

To decide which tagging categories you should have, it is important to figure out the exact purpose of organising review data by tags, and which goals or targets you need to reach to fulfill that purpose.

For example, an overall purpose could be __creating value by increasing customer loyalty__. Based on that long-term goal, you would set a 15% increase in customer satisfaction target, which would be measured by an increase in the TrustScore on your Trustpilot profile.

The purpose should serve as an overall guideline for how you set up your tagging categories. For instance, you could use the tags to investigate the top 3 reasons for customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction (e.g. for all 1-2 starred and 4-5 starred Trustpilot reviews), to better understand what needs to change in order to increase customer satisfaction.

It's important to be realistic when setting targets. Trustpilot reviews are a great source of information and will help you get a better understanding of how your customer experience and customer service work, and how your products are performing. 

### 2. Choose tagging categories

So you've found a purpose/goal and have set realistic targets. You know what insights you'd like to gain, and how these would help you better your business. It’s now time to define your tagging categories.

The first step towards success is to ensure that your categories aren't too broad or too narrow. It's important to get the right balance in order to get the correct amount of information when tagging reviews, and enough data related to each tag. 

A good way to work around this is to go through the latest 50-100 customer reviews and find the 5-10 most important topics (that are aligned with your purpose as well). This way, your tags will be based on real reviews topics, rather than your assumptions of what the reviews are about.

Your review tagging can be managed in the Trustpilot Business Portal as explained in this [Support article](https://support.trustpilot.com/hc/en-us/articles/203840856-Tagging-and-pre-tagging-service-reviews).

__Example: optimising online support __

Over the last few months, you've experienced customer complaints about your response time and the quality of your online support service, but you don’t know how big the problem is, and whether or not it is worth spending resources on optimising it. 

By creating specific online support tags such as ‘Response time’ and ‘Support quality’, and tagging all customer reviews with these, you can measure exactly how many customers raise these issues, and further investigate and analyse them. This allows you to work on fixing these issues with the help of valuable consumer insights.

### 3. Analyse review data and take action

Your tags and review data can be exported from the Business Portal as a .csv file. When doing so, you can choose the date range of the reviews you want to export.

Once your data is exported, you can start looking into the reviews related to your tagging categories, and investigate which parts of your business need to improve. For example, you can drill down all reviews with 1 or 2 stars and filter the top 3 most used tags for these reviews, or look deeper into the content of reviews with a specific tag. You can also see where you are doing well and showcase positive reviews internally.

The insights you've collected from review tagging can then be used by your support and customer service teams to focus on improving these areas of development.

### 4. Share your insights across the organisation

Sharing your review insights with other departments or with specific colleagues is an important part of creating a better understanding of your customers’ needs and experience with the rest of the organisation. 

Getting a better understanding of how the customer experience works can be valuable for many teams in your business, from front end customer service and sales functions to backend website developers. It's an important step towards becoming a truly customer-centric organisation.

So, in order to get all relevant stakeholders on board, we recommend taking time to advise how they can use your customer feedback insights, and discuss how the takeaways should be presented to them in order to improve the way teams work together across the business.

If your teams work well together, chances are you will be delivering better customer experiences and better customer service too.

Head of Marketing, Media and Sponsorships at Youi

We hope these tips helped you. If you'd like to learn more about the importance of consumer insights in today's environment, read our short guide by clicking the link below.

using review tagging to collect insights

Identifying areas of development with consumer insights

How to improve customer experience

Today, a successful customer experience strategy should be enjoyable from the customer’s point of view while also leading to sales. Building great customer experiences means investing in your own customers and making sure their journey is seamless, from the top of the funnel to checkout. 

In this article, we’ll cover seven effective ways you can improve your own customer experience to improve conversions and encourage customer loyalty.

## 7 Steps to better on-site customer experience

### 1) Have a top-notch search bar

A good search bar will considerably improve your customer experience. Indeed, an eConsultancy study found that [30%](https://econsultancy.com/four-reasons-why-site-search-is-vital-for-online-retailers/) of visitors use the search bar to find products on eCommerce sites.

Why? Simply because not every visitor starts at the top of the funnel. Some may have done some research on social channels, some may have seen you on other media, some may have heard of you through word of mouth. The point is, a search bar allows these people to skip past the customer journey to directly arrive on your product page, and eventually, your checkout page.

When customers are able to find what they need faster, their level of satisfaction tends to increase, automatically boosting your chances of converting that customer. 


### 2) Consider a live chat

What is more frustrating than not being able to get in touch with a company when you need assistance or have a question?
We’ve all been there, and I think it’s safe to say live chats have revolutionised customer service, and therefore customer experience. According to [this infographic from Websitebuilder](https://websitebuilder.org/live-chat-infographic), live chat grew by about 400% from 2015 to 2018.

Today, a higher percentage of website visitors simply choose to chat with agents for help rather than email or call. Why? It’s fast, easy, and doesn’t cost the user anything. Most importantly, your website visitor will likely get an answer instantly. 

And did you know live chats have the highest customer satisfaction rate ([92%](https://99firms.com/blog/live-chat-statistics/))? For this reason, live chats are an effective way to engage with new or existing customers and solve their problem faster, potentially leading to increased or repeat sales. Generally speaking, they also tend to decrease the chances of a visitor leaving your site and increase the chances of converting instead.  In fact, customers who chat before purchasing online have a [40%](https://neilpatel.com/blog/live-chat/) higher conversion rate.


Norwegian Airlines offers a live chat option to help their customers out

live chats improve customer experience

### 3) Don’t forget customer reviews

Today, [89%](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/build-trusted-brand/4-things-every-business-owner-should-know-about-the-state-of-reviews) of global consumers check online reviews as part of their online buying journey, and 49% of global consumers consider positive reviews one of their top 3 purchase influences. Collecting and implementing customer feedback throughout your website can help guide first-time visitors and existing customers. 

How? By making sure consumers choose you over your competitors.

We all know it, it’s getting easier for consumers to compare businesses online. This only makes it more difficult for brands to stand out from the competition, and retain customers over time. 

That’s why showcasing customer reviews on-site and at different touchpoints of the user journey is likely to reduce your bounce rate and increase your conversions by providing visitors with more information about your company, your products, and your customer service. 

Customers are always going to conduct their own research - by giving them the information up front, they won’t have a reason to leave your site.

product page customer reviews

Get in touch to discuss how reviews can improve customer experience

### 4) Keep an eye on your website's speed

Did you know that [53%](https://www.hobo-web.co.uk/your-website-design-should-load-in-4-seconds/) of visits are abandoned if a site takes longer than three seconds to load?

Ridiculous? Maybe, but with the internet getting better and faster by the minute, consumers’ expectations have changed. A slow load time will also hurt you on google, as loading speed has recently become a search ranking factor.

With this in mind, it’s so easy to see how your website’s speed can have a direct impact on your customer’s experience, your visibility, and therefore, your sales. 

Run a website speed test with a tool like Pingdom, and find out how you can improve your page load time today.

This will drastically improve your customer experience, and the better the experience, the more likely consumers are to stay on-site and shop!

### __5) Personalise your content__

Did you know that [75%](https://www.campaignmonitor.com/blog/email-marketing/2019/07/personalization-isnt-just-hi-your-name-anymore/) of consumers are more likely to buy from a retailer that recognises them by name and recommends options based on their past purchases?

Rings a bell?

Amazon recommends products based on past purchases 

personal recommendations improve customer experience

Personalisation will make the user feel special and understood. Helping customers find what they need, faster, is likely to improve your overall customer experience.

Gartner says smart personalisation could also enable digital businesses to increase their profits by up to 15% in 2020, so maybe it’s time to start improving your personalised content?

### 6) Make sure your checkout is fast and easy

[22%](https://www.barilliance.com/10-reasons-shopping-cart-abandonment/) of consumers abandon their cart when having to create a new user account at checkout. 

That’s why fast and guest checkouts are *the future* of eCommerce retail.

Letting consumers checkout without creating an account is likely to keep them engaged until the end of their journey. 

This might not seem like such a big deal to you, but going through the additional step of account creating can push the visitor away.

Amazon masters the art of checkout, so why not consider creating a single-step checkout too? You can always send a post-purchase email and ask your customers to create a password then.

### 7) Offer multiple payment options

You might think your audience is all the same, but the truth is, it’s not. 

Your customers might have a similar lifestyle and like the same kind of products, but that doesn’t mean they’re the same. And in fact, the more traffic your website gets, the more likely it is your visitors are *very different* types of people.

Paypal found that [24%](https://www.paypalobjects.com/webstatic/mktg/pdf/PayPal_Checkout_Best_Practices.pdf) of consumers abandoned their transactions at checkout because the retailer didn't offer their preferred payment choices. Offering multiple payment options (credit and debit cards, mobile payment, third-party payment sites…) at checkout has become a necessity. This ensures most of consumers from your audience are covered and will be able to buy from you. 


ASOS accepts all kind of payments - different types of cards, Apple Pay, Paypal,  And even Klarna (pay later).

payment methods can improve customer experience

The more payment options you accept, the more convenient and easy it to buy from your website. And that only means one thing for your visitors: *a better customer experience*.

These 7 tips will help you improve customer experience for both new and existing customers by making their journey as seamless and efficient as possible. 

We hope you found this article insightful, and we’d love to know what else helped your business improve its customer experience? 

Tell us what worked for you! Tweet us at @Trustpilot using #onTheBlog, or download our Complete Guide to Reviews below, and learn how Trustpilot can help you improve your website's customer experience.



7 Ways to improve customer experience on your website

why do people write reviews?

The top three reasons customers write reviews are to help others make a better buying decision, to share an experience, or to reward a company for good performance. This ranking holds true for both men and women internationally.

As we learned in part 1 of this article series, consumers read reviews because reviews:

* Offer valuable guidance from people who’ve used the service or product
* Make it easier for shoppers to decide
* Attest to a company’s reliability
* Indicate what’s the best and worse that could happen
* Give consumers insight about product quality
* Essentially, consumers read reviews because they trust reviews and they believe that reviews will help them make the right decisions when making a purchase or choosing a company.

But there’s another side to this formula. It’s easy to understand why people read reviews but what’s the motivation behind people that write reviews? That question will give us insight into the reviewer/review-reading dynamic to help us understand the changing environment of consumers - and how creation and consumption of reviews fit within that environment.

### Why do people write reviews?

Although [many people need a nudge to write a review](https://www.vendasta.com/blog/50-stats-you-need-to-know-about-online-reviews), there are lots of reasons why people write reviews of their own accord, too. 

According to another recent consumer report from Trustpilot, the __top three reasons customers write reviews are to help others make a better buying decision, to share an experience, or to reward a company for good performance.__ This ranking held true for both men and women internationally.

When we looked at this question by geography, a different story emerged. For U.S. customers, the primary motivation for 67% of consumers is simply sharing an experience, while in Europe, 65% of consumers are hoping to positively impact others' buying decisions.

Let's take a look at some of the highlights from our interviewees. 


### Emotional Appeal

> “Reviews are kind of like an on-demand emotional type of thing” - a surveyed shopper

Ever heard the saying, ‘If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all’? While the sentiment behind this adage may be well intentioned, it doesn’t inform the psychology behind reviews.

Our research shows that consumers are more inclined to write reviews when the experience they’ve had strikes an emotional chord, whether positive or negative. If a consumer has had a very poor experience, they’ll write a review in order to vent frustration and anger, especially if they feel personally mistreated or wronged.

In the same manner, if a consumer has had an exceptionally good experience, they’re likely to applaud the company with a good review to help the company succeed. This is more frequently the case when the company is small and locally run.



### Expression and empowerment

Not only are reviews reflective of a certain emotional tenor, they’re also, in their purest form, a means for consumers to express themselves. In the words of one reviewer: reviews are “a great way to voice your opinion and let people know about your experiences when dealing with companies and businesses around the country - fabulous!”

Essentially, reviews offer consumers a public outlet to voice their opinion. Reviews provide consumers a chance to tell their side of the story and have it heard by their peers and the businesses being reviewed.

Consumers feel empowered as their opinions put bad companies to shame, highlight companies that stand out amongst the crowd, and more broadly contribute to improving businesses everywhere.

### I review therefore I am

Reviews can also serve to feed the ego, by giving reviewers the opportunity to be recognized and acknowledged by their peers.

By writing reviews, consumers can dispense their knowledge, show connoisseurship or expertise and thereby improve their standing in the eyes of their fellow shoppers. There’s a sense of satisfaction that comes from knowing what you’ve written has benefitted others. It’s a powerful feeling.

### Sense of Community + Altruism

> “...it's good that people have read my review. It helps influence their decision if they want to buy with the company or not."   - a surveyed shopper

By extension, review writing can foster a communal ethos, a sense of common stewardship. For many, reviews are a consumer’s chance to contribute to a good cause, so reviewers feel like they belong to a community of like minded people.

Taking part gives people a sense of kinship and integration.It’s nice to know that your opinion has the power to help others, and that together, you’re potentially making the world just a little bit better in your own way.  

### In Conclusion

When it comes down to it, we’ve found several motivations for writing reviews:

* Venting frustrations if the experience was negative
* Praising and helping the company if the experience was positive
* Having a need to express oneself and feel empowered in doing so
* Wanting to be recognized or acknowledged for having certain knowledge/taste
* Feeling part of a community and wanting to give back

This coincides with the reasons we found as to why people read reviews. If consumers write reviews with honesty, passion, and a sense of community behind them, then consumers reading reviews also understand that reviews come from a place of honesty and trustworthiness.

Consumers trust reviews because they knew if they left a review, it would be honest and created to better inform future consumers. It’s a self-serving community in the best of ways and it can benefit businesses as well.

We know that reviews have many tangible benefits - they help businesses attain GSRs, have helped clients improve their conversion rates and bottom lines, but the biggest benefit is that reviews help both consumers and businesses. Reviews ensure that the best businesses are rewarded by new and repeat consumers and businesses are encouraged to present themselves and their products in the best way possible.

Businesses should be taking a customer feedback or review management strategy into consideration but they should also adopt a customer-first business strategy. If businesses aren’t serving their customers well, their customers will find alternative options. By focusing on how to best serve customers, businesses will be rewarded with good reviews, and as a result, more business. Now that we understand the why and what of reviews, we can better serve our clients and the consumers relying on our reviews.

Find out why people write bad reviews, and how your business can learn from them to grow, improve, and innovate – read our Bad Reviews report. 

Why do people write reviews?

Why do people write reviews? What our research revealed

Why do people read reviews?

Our UX team interviewed Trustpilot users to understand why consumers write and read reviews as part of ongoing research to improve our efforts and products. In this two-part article, our UX analyst goes over the results that our research revealed.

[Reviews open up a world of possibilities](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/features). They help consumers make smarter choices and are instrumental to improving companies. And that is music to our ears.

After all, as UXer’s, it’s our job to provide a better review experience for everyone. How? By improving our products and services through thoughtful design.

Like the Marco Polos or John Cabots of the world, we, the Trustpilot’s UX team, like to think of ourselves as curious minded people, keen to explore. While you might think the review space lacks much of interest (the grandeur of subcontinents, the perils of circumnavigation or the beauty of hidden treasures, to name just a few), to us, it’s fascinating territory in its own right.

To achieve our goals, the UX team spends a lot of time talking to users, doing one-on-one interviews, running surveys, testing concepts, prototyping and digging into stats and trends.

Ultimately, these efforts have placed our focus on two pivotal questions:

* What motivates people to read reviews?
* What motivates people to write reviews?

From our research, we’ve come across some fruitful insights. In this article, part 1, we’ll be discussing what the research revealed regarding why people read reviews.

## So, why do people read reviews?

### In a world filled with decisions, reviews offer simple, relevant guidance ### 

Which series should I watch on Netflix next? Which insurance provider is best for me and my family? What hip, new restaurant should I take my Tinder date to? These quandaries may sound familiar - in this day and age, it’s common to feel bombarded by choices.

Decisions, even minor ones, can be difficult and tiresome, particularly when we’re presented with so many options. Humans can only process so much information at once.

Enter reviews.

Consumer reviews, and popular opinion in general, sum up the wisdom of the general population and serve it as a means of collective intelligence, giving shape and structure to the wealth of information out there.

People read reviews to guide them in their decision making process:

As one of our surveyed consumers said:

"I like the way consumers share their own views and what they have experienced regarding what they have purchased. It helps enormously to make a quick decision."

### When experiences reign supreme

An increasing number of consumers are spending more of their income on experiences, like  travel and entertainment. Experiences can’t be exchanged - so experiential reviews hold a lot of weight.

After all, not every business fulfills their promise, and consumers don’t want to end up disappointed and sans cash or worse. So before purchasing, consumers look to reviews to tell them a story about a company -  is the business likely to dazzle or to deceive?

According to one consumer:

"Reading individual anecdotal reviews is often very revealing....  Shops & services talk a good game online, but sometimes it's all just waffle & fluff - you get to know what these companies are REALLY like and whether their employees cut the mustard."

### Chasing the perfect product

Consumers are also more likely to consult reviews if they’re purchasing a product from an unknown brand, or to assess quality if the product is new to market. Reviews also matter more if a consumer feels the purchase is expensive. For example, reviews are sought after for high ticket items such as electronics or home appliances.

Similarly, consumers are very interested in reviews of personal health and fitness products and services. While consumers are keen to try new things, there’s also often a degree of skepticism. As one surveyed shopper put it: “Everyone reads reviews when they want to try something new"

Of course, [when consumers trust the information they find](https://us.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/build-trusted-brand/7-copywriting-secrets-to-be-more-trustworthy-and-convincing), it’s easier for them to weigh their options and make a smart decision.

### Trustworthy reviews take the cake

When it comes down to it, reviews are only meaningful if they can be trusted. Verified reviews allow consumers to get a trustworthy sense of how companies treat their customers. Reputable reviews make it much easier to figure out which businesses to avoid, saving consumers time and hard earned money, two very precious resources.

As one consumer put it: reviews help you “gather a true idea about companies before parting with your money.”  

To sum up - people read reviews because they:

* Offer valuable guidance from people who’ve used the service or product
* Make it easier for shoppers to decide
* Attest to a company’s reliability
* Indicate what’s the best and worse that could happen
* Give consumers insight about product quality

You can see why over [88% of consumers trust online reviews](http://searchengineland.com/88-consumers-trust-online-reviews-much-personal-recommendations-195803) to make informed purchases.

Our research is yet another example of the change in consumer behavior. [Traditional advertising doesn’t have the weight it used to](https://www.nielsen.com/uk/en/press-room/2015/consumer-trust-in-traditional-advertising-declines-in-uk-while-a-recommendation-from-friends-remains-most-credible.html). Consumers are smarter, they have more information at hand, and they like to feel like they’ve made the right decision when it comes to making a purchase. An advertisement doesn’t help a consumer make a purchase, it merely gives them another options. Reviews, recommendations, and personal experiences carry a much higher value for consumers who take the time to be more deliberate with a purchase.

Businesses should be taking advantage of this and utilize reviews in their marketing, sales, advertising, and even customer success. Make customers happy and they’re likely to spread the word on your behalf. Better still, we’ve learned that customers are actively looking for reviews, so why not give them what they want?

Sparked your interest? 

[Read part 2 of our research](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/learn-from-customers/why-do-people-write-reviews-what-our-research-revealed), and watch our latest video to find out a little bit more about Trustpilot and request a demo by clicking the link below.

Find out why reviews are key to any company's success

Why do people read reviews? What our research revealed

customer service you can implement today covid-19

Helping customers is such an essential part of your customer experience strategy but did you know it’s also essential to your marketing strategy? Here are 6 types of online content you can create to support customers throughout the journey. 

In uncertain times, it's important for businesses like yours to always think about how you can deliver value to shoppers and customers. After all, your customers are your company’s most precious asset. If a business doesnt treat its customers well, its reputation might spread, shrinking the customer base, making it harder to acquire new customers when things get back to normal.

Customer service is something every busienss has thought about before, yet it often gets pushed down the list when more important things are coming up, especially in times of crisis.

What if we told you that your customer service strategy could be immensely __valuable to your marketing department in difficult times?__

In the current climate, the right customer service strategy will help your business keep customers happy, and will bring your customer service team more insights on what you could improve right now. This also allows your marketing team to use happy customers to amplify marketing efforts.

In this article, we’ll run you through different types of customer service, and how you can create useful, unique and relevant content for each of them in order to deliver seamless experiences, even in times of uncertainty.

## Online customer services you can implement right now

### 1. FAQs

When your customer service team is repeatedly answering the same questions, it’s time to consider creating a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section on your website. It’s a useful and easy way to add unique, relevant content and assist confused customers in the middle of their purchase journey.

An FAQ page lets you address common pain points to reduce the number of calls. We highly recommend organising your FAQ page by categories, to help your customers find the answer to their question faster, and understand your product or service better. It’s also recommended to make your FAQ pages accessible from any of your channels, such as a website, blog, social accounts. This will save both you and your customers a lot of time.

When first developing a FAQ, start by polling your customer service department and directly reaching out to customers to find the most common and important questions prospects may have.

Trustpilot’s tips:
* Make the FAQ page easy to navigate by creating different categories of questions and showing related questions on individual pages.
* Consider answering some of the questions in a tutorial, a short video, or by leveraging images to clarify your answers.
* Add a search bar that anticipates your customers’ questions as they type.

M&S COVID-19 FAQ

### 2. Demos and webinars

If you’ve recently spent some time on social channels, you’ve probably noticed that video has taken over the internet. Video is a great way to share information quickly, clearly and efficiently, especially whilst we're all on lockdown. It’s also extremely useful for visual learners.

To keep your viewers engaged, aim for 1-minute long videos when it comes to demos, tutorials, or help videos, and half-an-hour for webinars, which can be dedicated to teaching customers how to make the most of your service or product.

__Trustpilot’s tips:__
* Create short explainer videos to help your customers find what they’re looking for.
* Keep the videos short to keep your customers fully engaged.
* Share your most popular and useful videos on social channels.

### 3. Social support

Your social media accounts might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of customer service. However, when looking for answers, customers will be checking all of your brand’s channels. If they’re using Google to look for you, your social channels might be one of the first ones to show up, so it’s important to make sure you’re meeting expectations.

Social media has become an essential tool to reach out to customers and to help them too. Your social media manager or community manager should be trained to answer any question your customers can have or to guide them to the right place to get an answer to their question. By being responsive and helpful, you’re publicly showing potential customers how committed you are to your audience.

__Trustpilot’s tips:__
* Make sure that someone is constantly monitoring your social accounts and responding to customers as quickly as possible.
* Recycle your FAQ’s content and explainer videos on your social channels.
* In doubt, always share your customer service team’s contact details.

### 4. On-site help

On-site live chats are another great customer service tool to engage with your existing and potential customers. They offer real-time convenience to customers and help your customer service team build stronger relationships with online shoppers.

Helping your customers out in real time also means your business is more likely to resolve their issues faster, keeping them engaged and interested, and increasing their confidence directly on your product page. This will also help your customer service team move through requests and complaints faster than usual.

Did you know that 44% of online consumers say that having questions answered by a live person while in the middle of an online purchase is one of the most important features a Web site can offer? It's also [advised to implement live chat](https://blog.kissmetrics.com/how-live-chat-can-maximize-conversions/) on pages that are converting at a 2% rate or less right now.

__Trustpilot’s tips:__
* Don’t make the access to the chat over-complicated. Ask for your customers' email addresses and order numbers, that should be enough to get the conversation started.
* Make the chat a pop-up widget on the right-hand side. You don’t want your customers to be looking for assistance, you want them to know it’s always here for them if they need it.

screenshot-from-nasty-gal-chat

Nasty Gal's chatbot

### 5. Email

Is email too impersonal to deliver great customer service?

We don’t think so. Email is a great way for customers to know they will be getting an answer to their question, especially when faced with closed live chats and closed phone lines outside of working hours.

Ever needed to chat to a customer service team after 6pm? Yes, we’ve all been through this, and it’s a struggle. Especially in difficult times.

This is why the safest way to contact a customer service team is still email.

The key to a great customer service via email is to come across as a friendly brand who really cares, no matter the circumstances. Things are easily misinterpreted by email, so it's important to be extremely careful. You should also ensure that the first reply comes as soon as possible. Even if the message is merely to let the customer know you've received their request, it shows that your customer’s question or issue is being addressed.

__Trustpilot’s tips:__
* Use your customer’s first name, and whatever the issue is, always, always apologise.
* Offer one or more (ideally, more) solutions to your customer’s problem.
* If the customer replies to your email, make sure the same customer service assistant picks up the conversation. There’s nothing worse than having to explain your problem all over again. 
* We're all a little tense right now, so most of all, be kind and understanding.

### 6. Customer reviews

Word of mouth is one of the most powerful tools a company can use today. The truth is, [84% of consumers](https://www.clickz.com/84-percent-of-millennials-dont-trust-traditional-advertising/27030/) do not trust advertisements anymore. Indeed, this year, we observed an 11% decline in trust globally, with only [71%](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/build-trusted-brand/4-things-every-business-owner-should-know-about-the-state-of-reviews) of people admitting they trust consumer brands.

Today, 89% of global consumers check online reviews as part of their online buying journey, and 49% of global consumers consider positive reviews one of their top 3 purchase influences.

Collecting reviews is an easy way to create fresh, up to date, and helpful content every day, as well as build a strong customer service using your own customers’ voice.  

Some common questions are often answered in your customers’ reviews such as product quality, delivery, or a company’s return policy. Utilising reviews as a customer service tool allows you to answer some of your visitors’ questions via user-generated content. By encouraging your customers to leave reviews, and by showcasing your customers' feedback, you’re [helping other customers](https://us.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/how-to-turn-reviews-into-referrals-and-ultimately-more-sales) who might be looking for additional information. 

Online reviews are also another great tool to assist customers having issues with their order, or to thank loyal customers. Indeed, third-party review platforms allow you to interact with customers leaving online reviews, answer their questions, and help solve their issues.

__Trustpilot’s tips:__
* Encourage your customers to leave feedback by sending them review invitations.
* Use your customers’ feedback as insights to identify what your customer service team could improve
* Use [user-generated content](https://us.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/how-to-use-user-generated-content-marketing-to-reach-and-convert-millennials) to answer some of your new visitors’ common questions.
* Don't forget to showcase your online reviews across different channels and touchpoints of the journey to [improve engagement and conversion rates](https://us.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/how-to-channel-customer-feedback-to-drive-conversion).

customer reviews

Providing different types of customer service in difficult times can help keep your customers engaged, convert more, reduce churn and turn existing customers into loyal brand advocates.

We understand it's a difficult time for every business out there, but delivering great customer service is more important now than ever before.

With Trustpilot's Zendesk extension, you can manage Trustpilot reviews from within Zendesk's customer engagement platform, and make sure you deliver the best service possible to all of your customers.

Sounds interesting?

Learn more about our Zendesk integration today!

6 Types of online customer service you can implement today

customer experience in difficult times

good customer experience is essential

Customer experience is a hot topic today. Customer standards are higher than ever for every interaction they have with your business. Learn why offering a stellar customer experience is important to your business and how it may help drive more sales.

In today’s uncertain climate, customer experience and customer service are becoming two very hot topics. As countries start going into lockdown, closing all shops and businesses, people are forced to stay at home and are doing all of their shopping online. 

As much as consumers understand that times of crisis mean it’s not business as usual, communities coming together and word of mouth travelling much faster are likely to keep consumers’ expectations at a high level.

In 2020, purchasers are empowered like never before, and delivering great customer experiences now can help businesses drive loyalty and revenue in the long run. Downplaying the importance of customer experience and customer service in difficult times is no longer an option for businesses out there, as the voice of the customer continues to get louder every day.

Investing time and effort into customer experience is usually the main focus of [68%](http://blogs.aspect.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/ExecPriorities-1.22.14-Fixed.pdf) of marketers. As much as we understand it might not feel like the biggest priority right now, it is - here are five reasons why looking after your customers’ happiness is still essential right now.

### 1. Customer satisfaction is more important now than ever before

__Companies across the world have an [average customer satisfaction](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/2012/04/19/customer-satisfaction-by-the-numbers-an-industry-breakdown/#34345a7a580f) rate of 86%.__

Customer experience is key to exceeding your customers’ expectations. Brands have to be accurate, dependable, and provide the service they guaranteed. The opportunity lies in the ability to deliver what you promised and surprise your customer with extra care and support.

__A totally satisfied customer [contributes 2.6 times as much revenue](http://infoquestcrm.co.uk/about/case-studies-2/) as a somewhat satisfied customer, and 14 times as much revenue as a somewhat dissatisfied customer.__

The main goal is to create a consistent customer experience across all touchpoints to exceed your and your customers’ standards. By keeping an eye on the entire customer journey, you’re making sure that the promise of a positive experience is kept and that you’re offering a superior service.

### 2. New shoppers are more likely to turn into loyal customers

Creating an experience really impresses purchasers and ensures that they will keep doing business with you in the future. A superior experience becomes a valued and unique asset for any type of business.

__Acquiring a new customer [costs 7 times more](http://marketeer.kapost.com/customer-acquisition-versus-customer-retention/) than maintaining an existing one.__ Investing in your existing customers will pay off and it’s only a matter of time until you see positive results.

What if your customer is unhappy?

There are a few things that impact a brand’s reputation more than the way it responds to complaints. Customer service is an important part of developing brand loyalty, and the way you respond to unhappy consumers will determine what they say about you afterwards.

Ideally, every business would rather have exclusively positive feedback, but unfortunately, that’s a pretty unrealistic goal.

The key to handling negative feedback is to respond politely and assure them that you’re trying your best to find a solution to their issue. Make your customer feel heard and cared for and you’ll find it will pay off in the long run.

In fact, did you know that __[95% of people who had a bad experience](https://www.questionpro.com/blog/mechanics-of-detractor-recovery/) are willing to give the brand another go__ if they know their issue has been dealt with correctly?

### 3. A community of customer advocates is such a powerful tool

Word of mouth is one of the most powerful tools a company can wish for today. The truth is, __[84% of consumers do not trust adverts](https://www.clickz.com/84-percent-of-millennials-dont-trust-traditional-advertising/27030/) anymore.__ People are now seeking third-party validation when making an online purchase.

And that’s why customer advocacy is so important.

By focusing on creating amazing customer experiences and embodying the desire for your business to go above and beyond, you’re creating an advocate out of every consumer.

lululemon instagram thesweatlife

Lululemon's social proof

[Lululemon](https://fanfuel.wordpress.com/2015/04/11/lululemon-and-their-army-of-ambassadors/) makes good with their Instagram account by asking customers to share photos of themselves in their outfits. This campaign is a huge success because it’s built from the active brand lifestyle, showing potential customers that the sportswear brand is great for both exercise and casual use, and that existing customers support the brand.

Using advocates and user-generated content is an amazing way to engage customers, reinforce brand loyalty and recommend the brand to other consumers.

Lululemon customer advocacy

Here's how Trustpilot can help you out with brand advocacy

### 4. Standing out is no longer an issue

It is getting harder and harder to differentiate yourself from other businesses when everyone is sharing the same thing online: great content.

But a competitive advantage is huge, and customer experience is the perfect tool to help you stand out from your competitors.

As Jerry Gregoire, [CIO at Dell](https://www.fastcompany.com/56447/customer-experience), says, “The customer experience is the next competitive battleground.”

This way, your consumer will no longer compare only products and prices, but also service and [user experience](https://us.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/learn-from-customers/how-to-improve-customer-experience-on-your-website).

Customer feedback has become an invaluable tool. If customers couldn’t openly access other people’s experiences with a brand, they would need to look elsewhere quickly to build confidence. __[88% of consumers read reviews](https://searchengineland.com/88-consumers-trust-online-reviews-much-personal-recommendations-195803) to determine the quality of a business’s customer experience.__

Embrace a customer-centric strategy, and stand out from your competitors by making sure today’s customers become tomorrow’s brand advocates.

### 5. Trusted relationships are so important in uncertain times

In a world where we are being touched by hundreds of brands and adverts every day, how can you build a strong relationship with your consumers?

[Personalised content and experiences are key](https://us.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/why-a-personalized-consumer-experience-matters-in-the-ecommerce-world). Making each one of your customers feel special and unique will send a positive message: they are cared for and important to your business.

By doing so, you have a better chance at building trust with them, and therefore at creating a strong, long-lasting relationship.

There's no doubt customer experience is key to any company's success, and great customer experience starts with great customer service. With Trustpilot's Zendesk extension, you can manage Trustpilot reviews from within Zendesk's customer engagement platform, and make sure you deliver the best experience possible to all of your customers.

Sounds interesting?

good customer experience is essential in difficult times

5 Reasons why customer experience is the pulse of every business right now

Are you listening to your customers? We’ve rounded up the top 7 benefits to listening to customer feedback so that your business can start winning today.

7 ways to win by listening to your customers 

## 1. Listening and responding to customer feedback leads to better retention rates.

Customer retention is often directly tied to how happy your customers are with you. The first step towards [satisfying your customers](https://neilpatel.com/blog/how-to-improve-customer-retention/) is listening to them and really understanding their pain points. A great way to do this is to resolve issues for your unhappy customers.

If you receive a negative review and respond to them, don’t just make them feel heard. Do your best to offer some sort of [solution to their problem](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/build-trusted-brand/how-to-respond-to-negative-reviews). In many cases this can mean keeping their future business, because you showed that you care and are committed to making them happy.

Show the world you care, respond to all reviews 

Fastest Ways to Lose Customers from Neil Patel

## 2. Listening to your customers encourages them to build a community around your brand.

Giving your customers a forum to engage with your brand can help build a community for your customers. This can even empower some of your customers to become [customer advocates](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/build-trusted-brand/4-reasons-why-every-business-needs-online-reputation-management) for your brand, who in turn help you promote your business and earn you new customers.

It also allows them the opportunity to read the experiences of other customers, helping foster that brand community. Chances are you already have plenty of customers who love doing business with you. Why not help enable them to share that with the rest of the online world?

## 3. Listening to your customers builds true customer loyalty.

Once you’ve built a community around your brand, you can focus on true customer loyalty. At first glance this may seem the same as customer retention, but it’s actually different. Customer retention is when your customers continue to purchase from you, but customer loyalty is [when your customers love your brand](https://blog.treasuredata.com/blog/2019/07/10/whats-the-difference-between-customer-loyalty-and-retention/) so much that they only buy from you — and tell others about it. The more you engage with your customers and make them feel that their opinion matters to your brand, the more brand loyalty you’ll see from them.

Social media is a great place to cultivate this. Are you monitoring what people say about your brand on social? Are you replying as often as you can? These are some proven ways to [grow your brand affinity](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/browsers-to-buyers/how-to-use-brand-affinity-to-unlock-organic-search-opportunities) and build customer loyalty.

## 4. Understanding your customers' needs gives you more chances to upsell.

Hearing about your customers’ problems is a great time to get more detail into their needs from your business and how you can help. Maybe they aren’t using the product the way it’s intended to be used, or there is a complementary product you sell that is meant to be used in tandem with theirs. 

If you’re on a troubleshooting call, for example, and they share a problem they’re having, you [may be able to upsell them](https://blog.hubspot.com/service/listening-to-customers) on a different feature that will help them get more from your product. If you don’t listen to your customers, you may be [missing out on these growth opportunities](https://www.getfeedback.com/resources/voice-of-the-customer/customer-voice-is-more-important-than-ever-heres-why/).

## 5. Listening to your customers improves your product and your business.

At the end of the day, you’re designing your business around what your customers need. If you’re not already listening to their experiences with you, this might be the perfect opportunity for you to [improve your customer journey](https://www.proprofs.com/c/customer-support/7-compelling-reasons-why-you-should-listen-to-your-customers/).

Trustpilot customer [LoveBook](https://business.trustpilot.com/customer-stories/ecommerce/lovebook-reveals-how-review-insights-bring-them-closer-to-their-customers) is a great example of this. Whenever they release new product features they track the sentiment of each review around it, so that they can gage whether the feature is likely to be a success or not. This helps them tailor their product around what customers actually want and need from them.

As scary as it may seem, listening to your customers can be particularly helpful for your business when you’re getting negative reviews. If you’re listening to what your customers are saying, they’ll lead you right to the pain points of your business. Changes here could mean huge wins for you.

Learn how Trustpilot can help you discover valuable insights and improve your business performance

LoveBook carefully monitors review sentiment around each product release, to make sure it goes smoothly and is well received by their customers

Companies can use Trustpilot reviews to carefully monitor customer sentiments around each product release, to make sure it goes smoothly and is well received by their customers.



## 6. Listening to your customers helps you get ahead of bad PR.

Listening to your customers can also help you get ahead of scandals or bad press for your brand. Constantly monitoring how your customers are feeling helps you always keep a pulse on how your business is doing. If there is a problem with your business, you don’t want to be the last to know. 

If you’re active about [engaging with your customer reviews](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/build-trusted-brand/improving-your-online-reputation-in-3-easy-steps), it’s also a great way to respond to upset consumers directly, lowering the chance that they’ll take their complaints to more damaging forums.

 Listening to your customers ensures that issues can be handled before they turn to social media.

Customer reviews can help you get ahead of bad PR.

## 7. Listening to your customers helps you immediately see improvement in multiple areas.

To start seeing these benefits, there are some really easy-to-implement ways to start listening to your customers today. Are you actively collecting reviews from your customers? That’s typically a good place to start. 

It will also balance out any negative reviews your customers have left you online, as typically satisfied customers do not leave reviews unless they are prompted to. Why not [automate your review collection](https://business.trustpilot.com/features/get-reviews) with Trustpilot today?

7 Ways to win by listening to your customers 

travel report uberall and trustpilot

Today’s travellers want to be seen, heard,  thrilled and reassured — both online and offline. So one-way conversations and knockout marketing content alone won’t cut it anymore.

So when it comes to making a purchasing decision, consumers will increasingly turn to the advice of their peers and to brands that have earned their trust based on their experience interacting with the brand.  

Reviews provide easily accessible “proof” from your customers who are sharing their stories — which may influence other consumers’ buying decisions. There’s a story behind every review, and travellers can’t get enough. 

## Your Relationships With Your Customers Are Your Currency
 
Trustpilot found that 68% of people believe [holidays are an important personal investment](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/guides-reports/build-trusted-brand/5-unique-review-strategies-to-grow-your-travel-business)  — making it more important than ever for travel, tourism and leisure brands to differentiate themselves from the competition and build trustworthy relationships with their customers and prospects. 

And reviews may very well be the channel to shine amongst your competitors. Here’s why:

- Online reviews are today’s word of mouth recommendations.
- Consumers will form an opinion about you before ever walking through your doors — by consulting customer reviews on Trustpilot, Google and TripAdvisor first.
- Honest, authentic reviews are critical for establishing trust and helping consumers make their purchasing decisions.
- Consumers are not only reading reviews, but they’re also giving them, too.
- Social signals such as reviews and interactions with customers are especially valuable for a higher Google ranking.  

## Why Reviews Matter 

How influential are reviews on actual sales? According to a study published in Inc. magazine, 84% of people trust online reviews as much as they trust a recommendation from a friend. 

__Consumer reliance on online reviews for the travel and hospitality sector has steadily increased:__

- Trustpilot found that 77% of travellers say that positive online reviews are very important or important when deciding who to book with .
- 88% of travel consumers said reviews played an important role in influencing their purchase.
- Online customer reviews for hotels are more influential than a company’s own website — approximately five times as many [people trust hotel customer reviews](https://uberall.com/en-gb/company/press-releases/over-three-quarters-of-uk-consumers-check-online-reviews-with-tripadvisor-2-5-times-more-influential-than-google) over a website.
- 81% of travel consumers [will not buy a travel experience](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/guides-reports/build-trusted-brand/5-unique-review-strategies-to-grow-your-travel-business) from a company known to have poor customer service.

Reading and responding to reviews can help businesses discover more about their target market and see the business through the customer’s eyes. 

Even more importantly, best practice review management — encouraging, tracking and responding to online feedback — can sway customer purchasing decisions, particularly as reviews and other user generated content influence where a brand ranks in search results. 

Ready to get started?



## 3 Ways to Build Better Relationships with Today’s Traveller Now	
						
### 1. Develop relationships early in the journey with search

The journey of today’s traveller starts with a single search on mobile. But the path to purchase is not linear — it’s full of twists, turns and plenty of pit stops along the way. 

Mobile use continues to change the way people travel. Our travel agent and tour guides are now located inside of our pocket, guiding us where to go and showing us how and where to get what we need — right here and now. 

So when mobile users are ready to act, they act quickly. This means that the window of time between searching for a tour, attraction and experience and booking is getting smaller.  
Travellers want to know what your customers are saying about you.  
From booking a family vacation in California to searching for the “best city tours in London near me”, consumers don’t want any surprises along their information gathering and buying journey.
 								
They’re turning to their mobiles phones and relying on search queries, such as “best hop-on, hop-off bus tour near me” and recent reviews from happy customers to build excitement as they countdown to their experience. They also want to map out their experience beforehand: from confirming opening and closing hours to wait times.
 								
However, if consumers find hundreds of rave reviews on their preferred platforms, and your teams on the ground offer memorable interactions there’s a great chance you’ll see them again soon.

### 2. Build Excitement Along the Way 

Your guests also want your help along their buying journey by keeping up momentum as they countdown to their trip. 

Brands in the travel and tourism space have a unique opportunity to “spark excitement” with consumers in the days, weeks and months leading up to their reservation, hotel or spa stay, activity and travel adventure. 
 
Start by getting your local teams to be more proactive with your existing customers and	leads. This can be as simple as posting relevant images across social channels or encouraging your customers to review your business and then reacting to reviews immediately, showing them that you appreciate their feedback. 

### 3. Focus on Human Interactions Not Transactions 

The tour leader who keeps your kids interested in the sights and sounds on your city tour, or the front desk, or the guide who shows you Colorado by bike off the beaten path. In today’s hyper-digital world, memorable human interactions are your competitive advantage. 

Why? When you make your customers feel like they matter, they talk to friends, use social media and share their experiences about their interactions with you online. 

Over the past two decades, many brands have focused, and spent millions, on delivering the digital transformation for their companies. However, we should not forget, technology is just a means to help build a set of consistent, human-like interactions across digital touchpoints, as opposed to an end in itself. 
 
Many well-known activewear and beauty brand retailers, for example, have perfected the online to offline ‘Near Me’ Brand Experience. That is, they make it easy for consumers to find them and like them online, by piquing interest and encouraging brand loyalty. 

Then, when they step into your location, their in-person moments not only match their search and discovery, and engagement experience but also give them a memorable encounter with your brand — full of hands-on experiences, such as product testing or an interactive experience. It’s these human to human moments that push your customers to come back and recommend you online.

## Tools to Help You Now 

Customer reviews are one of the most important channels marketers for travel brands can use to optimise their online reputation and reach more nearby consumers.

By tapping into the power of word-of-mouth reviews, your customers act as brand ambassadors that help you stay ahead of your competitors.

But reputation management can be a tricky business, because it also includes more than just managing your reviews.

It also involves:

- Engaging with your customers where they are searching
- Having accurate online information about your offline products/services
- Making sure your in-store products/services line up with your online information/promise
- Understanding the trends in negative customer reviews and making changes to makeyour service better
- Replying to both good and bad reviews

To better understand how travel companies like yours can stand out in a crowded market with a  completed reputation management approach to improve reviews, Uberall created [The Ultimate Guide to Customer Reviews for Travel, Tourism and Leisure Brands](https://uberall.com/en-gb/resources/ebooks-reports/the-ultimate-guide-to-customer-reviews-for-travel-tourism-and-leisure-brands-how-to-win-over-more-customers-and-optimise-your-online-reputation): How to win over customers on review sites and social media. 

Get your free copy today, and learn easy ways to build consumer trust and deliver better online and offline experiences with the four-step reputation management guide.

Intrigued?


Learn From Your Customers