Social review sites and social media sites where people can leave reviews (two different entities, though they certainly do sound similar) are huge players in the marketing and sales arena as of late. Sites like Urbanspoon, Yelp, and TripAdvisor offer users the opportunity to review everything from restaurants to hotels to doctors and more. Then there’s Facebook and Twitter, where people can review businesses right on their own page. Then yet again, nearly every ecommerce site has a place for product reviews for everything under the sun.
Like it or not, these reviews can make or break a business, new or old. A bad review or a series of bad reviews can lead to a business actually having to close its doors. Reviews lead companies to change products all the time. Positive reviews are the new word of mouth marketing. Just about anyone you ask will likely tell you that they gravitate toward places with high rankings or better reviews online.
There are some pitfalls when it comes to social review sites however, one of the primary issues being fake reviews. Fake reviews are unfortunately rampant. It’s tough because while most fake reviews tend to be positive in order to push businesses up in the rankings, some can be negative.
If you have a business or are interested in business, here are a few tips about what to look for and what to disregard on social review sites:
- Vague reviews. Any reviews that tout how great a business is without any specifics is definitely suspect. It’s definitely shady for businesses to pay people for positive reviews, but it absolutely does happen. Any reviews that don’t mention specifics about the business can be taken with a grain of salt.
- Overly critical reviews. I always try to beware of any reviews that seem over the top critical. Everyone has different standards when it comes to their business dealings. Something that another patron finds awful, you might be able to live with or even enjoy.
- If you read reviews, leave reviews! I know I’m guilty of reading others’ reviews but hardly ever leaving my own. If you appreciate the input of other customers, pay it forward by offering advice to them as well. And don’t just leave a review if you had a great (or awful) experience. If a particular place is just so-so, people deserve to know that too.
Do you use social reviews often? Do you put a lot of stock into what others have to say when you are looking for a business?
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