REVIEWS ADD DEPTH TO YOUR DIGITAL PRESENCE

Working on making your business more accessible to online users? B2B reviews can add content and depth to your current digital presence.

When searching for a new business partner, 78% of B2B buyers start with a Google search. That means that your online presence is essential in your effort to keep up a steady flow of leads.

This is where digital marketing comes in. In the B2B space, firms often struggle with effectively leveraging digital platforms to market their services. Many social media platforms, like Instagram and Facebook, are most effective in B2C marketing because many users on those platforms are consumers. 

Similarly, B2C companies see more success using influencer marketing to attract consumer attention.

According to a mediakix study, 89% of B2C companies believe that influencer marketing is comparable or better than other forms of marketing. 

While influencer marketing may not translate to the B2B space as naturally, people often prefer user-generated content (UGC) across both B2B and B2C marketplaces. 

Reviews serve as a formal, transparent, and dependable way to integrate UGC into a B2B business. They’ll offer case studies of your projects that shed light on your processes and how you help your clients succeed.

Populating your website and social media channels with third-party review content is a quick and easy way to strengthen your credibility while making your business more accessible online.

B2B REVIEWS INEXPENSIVELY JUMPSTART YOUR SALES FUNNEL 

Businesses that properly implement reviews into their digital marketing efforts are accelerating their sales funnel without overspending.
Generally, B2B companies spend between 6%–7% of their total annual revenue on marketing. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, firms around the world are reevaluating their budgets and aiming to cut unnecessary costs. 

You can obtain B2B reviews at no cost to your company simply by asking satisfied clients to write them. Because of the trustworthy quality of online reviews, client comments are sure to outperform other, more expensive marketing assets. 

Reviews are often inexpensive to feature and drive readers toward the bottom of the sales funnel. As they leave the awareness and interest phases of the sales funnel, they’ll begin to read reviews to come to a decision and take action with a purchasing decision. 

Reviews seamlessly guide buyers from top to bottom-funnel by providing tangible, specific case studies involving your services. As customers envision a potential partnership and learn about your unique offerings, they’ll become more comfortable with deciding to work with you. 

Collecting reviews is inexpensive and important to nurturing leads through a critical part of the sales funnel.

RESPONDING TO REVIEWS OPENS A DIALOGUE BETWEEN YOUR TEAM AND PAST CLIENTS

There are many net benefits to responding to both positive and negative reviews for businesses and their customers.

According to a Clutch survey on reputation management, about half (51%) of small businesses publicly reply to negative reviews. The other half of companies either choose not to reply or seek to resolve the issue in private.

While it may be intuitive to handle conflict resolution with stakeholders in a private setting, prospective clients and past clients alike will benefit from viewing your response in an open forum.

Responding to negative feedback publicly will give readers an idea of what working with your team is truly like. The act of empathetically replying to concerns also demonstrates your care for your customers and eagerness to provide the best possible services. This way, you can use negative reviews to your advantage and draw in new clients with your honesty and compassion.

Your company’s responses to reviews are important for obtaining positive feedback as well. Engaging with customers in this way feels great and can result in high praise from a valued client, and your professional responses will demonstrate a genuine care for your clients. 

While it's important to respond to both positive and negative sentiments, your team should take a different approach depending on the client’s feedback.

Positive feedback is a call for celebration. When responding, thank the customer for their review and kind words. From there, you have the opportunity to offer further recommendations regarding your services. Because of their positive experience in the past, they’ll be more inclined to continue working with you.

Your team should take a different approach to negative feedback. To start, craft an empathetic response, apologizing for the negative experience. At that point, you can aim to improve their relationship with them by suggesting a solution to their problem. Then, invite them to reach out to you personally to further discuss the issue. Doing so will make them feel heard and valued, despite their negative experience.

Your team will benefit from the open dialogue you can create through your responses to positive and negative from clients.

B2B REVIEWS IMPROVE ONLINE LEAD GENERATION

Generating leads is essential to running a successful business. By providing objective recommendations for your products and services, reviews are able to help your lead generation efforts in a multitude of ways. 

Reviews capture the trust of customers, helping them make purchasing decisions with more confidence and ease.

Collecting reviews adds depth to your digital presence and provides readers with new information about your products or services. 

Your team can cut costs by leveraging reviews as marketing material at little to no cost to your company. 

Lastly, reviews prompt your organization to transparently interact with past clients and drive more business from them.

Editor's Note: This post was contributed by Clutch, your data-driven field guide to B2B buying and hiring decisions. Clutch interviews real clients, collects data, and compares competitors. Join Clutch here.