How to detect and manage fake reviews
Did you know that there is a way to promote your business only with the opinion of your customers? We introduce you to what reviews are!
An online solution to attract new customers
Characteristics, types, different uses... The Internet offers its users the possibility to search for all the information they consider necessary before buying a product. But it also allows to know the experience of other customers in order to make their final decision.
Reviews are comments or evaluations made by users after buying a product in a business. Their objective is to make their opinion known and share with the rest of the users how their experience has been.
Online reviews have become a useful way to promote your products and your business. In fact, according to the study 'Online reviews, the sales lever in postcovid retail', 70% of consumers are willing to spend more if they see positive reviews. A fact that demonstrates the importance of providing good service to consumers in order to win new customers.
Unbiased information from other people, transparency and variety in customer feedback or comparison with other services are some of the most important aspects that consumers take into account when checking reviews from other users and making their final decision.
Therefore, it is essential to take care of even the smallest detail.
Fake reviews: the danger of a reputational crisis
Just as a positive review can be a boost to your SME, a negative review can trigger a crisis that affects your business.
Many times, they are constructive and respectful criticisms that you can learn from to improve your customer service. Others are less respectful, but you also need to know how to deal with them to minimize their impact.
Sometimes, however, users share fake reviews with the sole purpose of damaging your business and causing an online reputation crisis with consequences for your SME.
If you want to know how to detect a fake review. Follow the steps below:
- Check if the information is real: if a user shares a comment about a defect in one of your products, check if it could be true. To do this, you can contact other customers and ask them if they have had this problem. Remember that the more people you ask, the better information you can get.
- Investigate the user's profile: access the account of the person who has issued the review to first check if you know them and then if they make normal comments or just post fake reviews. If you notice that an account has strange practices, such as being active for a short time, that all their comments are of the same style and that they write with grammatical errors and incomplete information, you can increase your suspicions.
- Search other businesses: check the forums of other companies to see if they receive the same comments as you. If you see that there are identical or very similar messages, but with other usernames, you may indeed be suffering a fake review attack.
- Report the profile: once you have detected the fake profile, notify the platform where you found the review of the existence of a user who is deliberately sharing negative opinions. You can share a screenshot with the message so that, in case the user deletes it, you still have the proof.
How to get the most out of reviews?
Now that you have been introduced to the world of reviews, it's time for you to learn some tips to help you boost your business and get new customers:
- Monitor your customers' comments: create a document that collects all the opinions shared by consumers and classify them, for example, into positive or negative. This will help you record them to check if any opinion is repeated by several users.
- Learn from reviews: take note of your customers' opinions and take action to offer a better service according to the preferences and needs of the people who come to your business. It will help you satisfy your customers and offer new ways to serve them.
- Respond to reviews: show closeness and empathy with consumers who have invested their time in showing their opinion, reply by thanking them for their comment and, if necessary, offer them a solution. You will be able to improve your image and show yourself as a person who cares about your customers.
- Promote positive reviews: highlight good customer reviews on your profile or share them on your website. It gives you the possibility to generate credibility and increase your prestige.
- Encourage customer interaction: Encourage customers to share their experience with your business to get more reviews. For example, you can encourage them to participate in contests or special discounts.
- Research the competition: check what reviews other businesses receive to compare your opinions with theirs. In addition, this allows you to detect possible mistakes that you can avoid making in your business.
In short, reviews can help you interact with your users and show your business in a credible way. But remember that it is essential to manage them and anticipate possible crises that may arise. It's as simple as that!