Reviews management for gyms: winning new members with social proof long before you ever hear from a new prospect

According to the latest research, more than 72 percent of clients don’t take action with regard to reviews management. That means whether you‘re a startup, or own an enterprise-level company with multiple locations, online reviews about your business have a direct impact on both revenue and reputation.

Do you want to impact the purchasing decisions of your consumers? 

Keep reading to find out how critical it is to have a reviews management protocol for your gym marketing strategy.

What is online reviews management?

Reviews management refers to the process of monitoring and managing the reviews people give about your business on different websites. It typically ensures that your business executes an effective review response strategy. 

This process also helps your business to remove fake reviews before they become a problem, and most importantly, to solve customer issues.

A reviews management strategy aims to support the marketing plan of the company to improve its overall performance. 

Reviews matter big time - stats on reviews and purchasing decisions

Did you know that approximately 94 percent of customers avoid buying a product from a business that has negative reviews online? 

That statistic alone is enough to understand that reviews matter big time regardless of the size of your business. As more than 82 percent of people rely on online reviews when buying from local businesses, having a reviews management strategy is essential. Yet only 36 percent of businesses invest in reviews marketing and management. The remainder become nearly invisible in the online world, losing to the competition for a spot on the prized first page of a search on Google.

It is through reviews that businesses can understand what consumers think, or say about the services and products online, and reviews management is one way to step in, take action, and rectify the experiences of consumers if required. Another survey found that 9 out of 10 consumers read online reviews to make an informed purchasing decision.

More than 80 percent of consumers change their minds or decisions about recommended products after reading bad online reviews. This means that neglecting important portals and platforms where consumers talk about your brand negatively impacts your customer acquisition. 

As fake reviews are also an important aspect to consider, businesses need to ensure that their consumers see or read genuine reviews to make the decisions. 

What star level is most desirable? 

5 Stars may not be - It may be perceived as fake!

You might have heard “the higher the star ratings of a business, the better the conversion rate it will have”. 

It is worth mentioning that many businesses fall for the misconception that not having an ideal five-star rating can dampen the reputation of the company. While having a good majority of positive reviews is best, not having a five-star rating is not business-shattering. 

In reality, when a business has a five-star rating, it makes consumers wary of the ratings and reviews. Five-star reviews on all services may lead potential customers to three conclusions:

• The business doesn’t have authentic reviews
• The business has paid for ratings or reviews
• The business’s employees have left rave reviews to get a five-star rating.

So, what star level is most desirable?

Ideally, a star rating up to a minimum of 3.3 out of 5 stars for a business appears authentic to the consumers. This rating level is convincing enough to engage consumers and help them consider buying.

Yelp, Google, others? What review platforms should I be monitoring?

Nearly 80 to 85 percent of people use major sites such as Facebook, Bing, and Yelp to search for items or read reviews. Though you should not overlook industry-specific sites, the best approach is to monitor and get reviews on the sites that most consumers use.

You can optimize the online presence of your business to get a higher ranking on key sites. It is a great way to enhance your chances of being discovered in the search when your customers need you. Hence, reviews management for businesses is a must.

Here are some options to start with.

• Google: One of the most visited search engines that works with reviews for any business. You must OWN the Google reviews of your business as it is the king of sie traffic. As Google makes the user experience easier, getting reviews on it is less time-consuming.
• Yelp: This site is popular for online reviews and has more than 170 million reviews on its listings. Having a listing on Yelp can give you important insights into consumers’ perceptions of your business.
• Facebook: Facebook is not only a social networking site. It is also a favorite forum of businesses and brands. It is the largest global provider of reviews, making it important to monitor.

How should I handle negative reviews?

Businesses receive a variety of reviews from their users. However, smart businesses employ effective tactics to handle bad reviews and satisfy consumers. 

Some of the best ways to handle negative reviews include:

• Answer quickly
• Respond thoughtfully
• Answer honestly
• Give a custom response
• Keep the response appropriate
• Take the review offline
• Never get personal with the commenter 
• Be appreciative or thankful and promise to cater to the concern.

How can I leverage positive reviews in marketing?

Using online positive reviews for marketing your brand is the best way to build trust with existing and prospective customers. Here are two ways you can leverage positive feedback in marketing.

Turn several into a slideshow Mp4

Video has a lasting impact on the minds of people. One way to integrate positive reviews into marketing is to create a slideshow and turn the images into a seamless presentation.

Put them in your newsletter to reactivate old members

Use the best reviews in printed ads or newsletters to gain the trust of new prospects and reactivate old buyers.

How can I get more reviews from customers? How should my CMS be making this easy for me? 

The best way to get more reviews from customers is to use review generation tools such as those found in Content Management Systems (CMS). This software helps users manage and modify content on the site. It also plays an important role in optimizing the digital experience of customers. You can solicit reviews from people after an ad campaign, webinar, or class on the product you sell through CMS.

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Reviews management is critical to improving and protecting the reputation of your brand. It can improve search engine performance by boosting brand trust.