In-store shopping offers a sensory experience: testing throw pillows for comfort or trying on a pair of shoes to see their size. Reviews from fellow online shoppers are the closest thing to a “real-life” shopping experience. 

Shoppers simply trust content from other shoppers—more than they trust a brand’s marketing message.  

Bazaarvoice surveyed 2,400 Influenster community members who also identified as rewards program members of a large American retailer whose top-selling items include beauty products, clothing, and household essentials. Overwhelmingly, 87% of these shoppers agree that the trust for user-generated content (such as reviews, photos, and videos) surpasses branded content (such as product descriptions and imagery) on PDPs. 

Highlighting UGC builds trust and credibility, driving more confident purchases. Authentic reviews can be powerful, but which ones drive the most conversions? 

The power of photos and text 

A stunning product image taken in a sterile studio won’t convince a consumer to hit “Add to cart.” They’re looking for something more human. 

The perfect PDP prioritizes UGC. At this large American retailer, 47% of shoppers say “photos with text reviews” influence their purchasing decisions, followed by “star ratings” at 25%. 

Photos shared by real shoppers offer context for the product, providing a realistic depiction beyond the brand’s polished presentation. 75% of shoppers want to see the product in a real-life context. Think of a couch in someone’s living room rather than a heavily curated photoshoot.

Photos also serve a vetting purpose. 54% of shoppers say user-generated photos reassure them that the reviewer is real. Additionally, half of shoppers agree that photo reviews prove people are actually buying the product, adding legitimacy to their purchasing decision.

Quantity counts  

There is power in numbers. Shoppers depend on reviews for guidance, and the more evidence of past experiences, the greater influence on their purchase decisions.

Have you ever second-guessed buying a product online because it had no reviews? Many consumers (25%) won’t consider a product credible until it has 10-25 reviews, while only 11% will trust it with 1-10 reviews.

It matters how many of those reviews actually contain a photo. Ideally, most shoppers want to see 5 (19%) or 10 (19%) user-generated images before considering a product credible. 

Most shoppers prefer reviews that are 3-4 sentences (61%) or at least one sentence (24%), rather than a lengthy paragraph or one-word opinions. Similarly, user-generated videos are best when they are relatively short and to the point, ideally lasting 15-30 seconds (55%). 

Shoppers value frequency 

You may have a tried and true product that has stood the test of time. It has a proven reputation for quality and popularity among customers. Even if nothing about that product has changed, shoppers trust recent reviews more than old reviews. 

Up-to-date reviews are perceived to be more relevant. Imagine discovering a new restaurant in your neighborhood. You find it on Yelp, but it only has 3 reviews from 5 years ago. You might wonder if the food has changed or if the restaurant is still open.

Similarly, online shoppers seek reassurance from recent feedback. 73% of consumers agree that recent reviews are more reliable than old ones. 

They are less confident in reviews they perceive as outdated. 44% of customers say the sweet spot for review recency is 1-3 months, followed by 3-6 months (30%) to feel most confident in a review. 

Top ways to earn reviews    

How can your PDPs snag these coveted reviews? Let the shoppers guide you! Here’s how to get them talking: 

• Offer incentives or discounts (81% find this effective)
• Prompt users in your brand/retailer app (42% find this effective)
• Send review request emails (37% find this effective) 
• Follow up with a reminder text (29% find this effective)

Try these actions: 

• Ask customers to feature photos of products in action 
• Suggest reviews of 1-4 sentences 
• Encourage reviews for products lacking feedback 
• Encourage reviews for products with aging feedback 

Reviews wield immense influence, even surpassing advice from family and friends. 89% of shoppers consult reviews before buying, compared to 63% who seek advice from relatives.

Empower your customers to share their experiences and guide like-minded shoppers. Prioritize solid reviews on your PDPs to build trust, enhance credibility, and boost sales.

Interested in optimizing your strategy from initial consumer contact to loyalty? Watch an episode of Growth Gurus, with Christine Lee, VP of Global Retail and Bazaarvoice and Robelle Mancilla, Director of Site Merchandising and Operations at Sam’s Club.

By integrating user-generated content into your marketing strategy you’ll build brand authenticity, drive sales, and seamlessly integrate your brand into the ever-growing creator economy. All absolute necessities to succeed in today’s turbulent market.

Chapters:

1. What is UGC (user-generated content)?
2. The benefits of user-generated content
3. How to increase engagement with user-generated content
4. UGC best practices guide
5. Curate your brand identity with user-generated content

What is UGC (user-generated content)?

User-generated content, or UGC, is a form of content that’s created by real people to promote your brand. This includes written ratings and reviews, photos, videos, and even audio that your brand’s customers, followers, ambassadors, or even employees create and share across social and other digital platforms.

Recently, user-generated content has evolved to include professional-quality images, engaging videos, and thoughtfully written content that seamlessly support your brand identity. The days of grainy selfies and lacklustre videos are long gone, but UGC has retained its essential component of authenticity.

UGC doesn’t feel like an ad, and just like a word-of-mouth recommendation, it’s often more influential than one.

UGC is far more powerful than traditional brand marketing. Essentially user-generated content is the modern-day equivalent of a product recommendation, and the numbers back it up. 84% of consumers are more likely to trust a brand’s marketing campaign if it features user-generated content, and 77% are more likely to buy a product they found through UGC. 

Who provides UGC?

User-generated content is usually found through your customers, brand loyalists, and employees. An easy way to turn customers into UGC creators is to make it easy for them to leave reviews and add their own product photos. Brand loyalists are repeat customers who love your product so much that they’re willing to advocate for you without incentives.

Love them or hate them, the infamous Crocs knows how to rally its brand loyalists, with its hashtag #croctok gaining traction on TikTok and spreading its message to over 300 million viewers.

Finally, employee-created content, like video content discussing the company’s values, acts as a source of UGC that demonstrates diversity, support, and authenticity.

The benefits of user-generated content

Not only is user-generated content more influential than traditional advertising, but it’s also free, authentic, and engaging. There’s several benefits to UGC that have a big payoff for brands.

Builds authenticity and trust

User-generated content showcases how actual people use products in real-world settings. This creates authenticity for brands and allows them to promote products without being overly salesy.

Authenticity means a lot to consumers. 84% of millennials say user-generated content influences their purchasing decisions. And nearly half of Gen Z cites social media as their chief source of inspiration — even above family and friends.

Plus, people trust peer recommendations over branded advertising. A whopping 85% of consumers say they turn to visual UGC, rather than branded content, when making purchasing decisions.

Boosts search engine optimization ratings

Search engines place a premium on fresh and relevant content. UGC often contains keywords and phrases that can enhance the visibility of your brand in search results, indicating that the content is higher quality and more relevant to the reader, which leads to more organic traffic visiting your site.

And as we know, more traffic means more MQLs.

Increases engagement

User-generated content is all about connecting with consumers, building an online community, and creating a conversation between customers and a brand. So it’s no surprise that your content receives 28% higher engagement when UGC is integrated alongside your typical posts.

This is evident in all types of marketing content, including digital ads. When direct-to-consumer bedding and bath brand Parachute incorporated UGC into its retargeting ads, the ads generated a 35% higher click-through rate and a 60% lower cost per click.

What’s behind this higher engagement? It comes down to the fact that people want to get in touch with their favorite brands through social media channels. 60% of millennials alone say brand loyalty influences their purchasing decisions, according to joint research by Future Workplace and Elite Daily.

Plus, the most followed brands on social media are those that share their followers’ content. And engagement breeds further engagement, which inspires the creation of more UGC.

Drives sales

Using data from our Bazaarvoice Network of over 12,500 brands and retailers, we found there’s a 144% lift in conversion rate when shoppers engage with UGC and a 162% lift in revenue per visitor. Further research shows that visual UGC is more likely to convert compared with brand-created content.

78% of shoppers gain more confidence in a purchase when they see UGC, and 35% indicate they’re depending more on UGC during the cost of living crisis, according to our SEI. UGC provides social proof that assures consumers they’re making the right purchase, which translates to more sales.

However, some brands have experienced much greater growth in conversions, thanks to UGC. Take apparel brand Tuckernuck, for example. When Tuckernuck implemented a gallery of user-generated content on its website, as well as displayed UGC and influencer photos on its product pages, conversions skyrocketed by 190%.

“Having social content on our PDPs really helps with conversion,” says Kayla Robinson, a Tuckernuck customer experience and marketing associate. “When a customer sees other customers and influencers wearing the product, it inspires her or him to purchase it as well.”

User-generated content can be particularly beneficial to certain industries. The table above compares the click rate of posts both with and without UGC among various industries.

Provides audience insights

Consistently engaging with customers and analyzing the content they post about your brand allows you to better understand your audience. This enables you to not only improve how you interact with customers but also make adjustments to products and services based on customer feedback.

For example, branded hashtags often offer a ton of insight into what consumers want. If you own a cosmetics company, try searching for product names on social media to see what your target audience is saying. Do they want a more diverse shade range or sustainable ingredients? If a lot of people are voicing similar concerns, it’s time to take action and adjust your product offering. 

Ratings and reviews also contain a wealth of insights. If you’re constantly seeing customer reviews containing similar feedback, you know how to improve your products going forward. European retailer Vertbaudet noticed multiple customers had left reviews saying a maternity line dress was too small.

So in response to this feedback, the brand reassessed the dress and fixed the sizing of the cut which led to the average customer rating increase significantly.

Synchronizes with social commerce

Advertising on social media isn’t a novel concept, but social commerce is quickly becoming the new generation of shopping. 69% of shoppers say social media has inspired them to purchase products, and 52% have already shopped through social media. Consumers name convenience and product photos as the top reasons for embracing social commerce. 

User-generated content seamlessly aligns with social commerce because UGC takes the place of a branded ad and becomes an authentic, shopper-approved recommendation. Social media users see the UGC on a TikTok or Instagram post, click it, read the reviews, and purchase the product because it’s convenient and doesn’t require them to go to a different website to checkout. 

How to increase engagement with user-generated content

Let’s take a look at some of the most inspiring UGC campaigns in the world to emulate for your own UGC strategy.

Host contests or giveaways

Holding contests or giveaways is a classic way to have your customers get directly involved with your marketing campaigns and generate user-generated content

Offering a compelling prize is a crucial element to encourage more consumers to join in with your campaign. However, a good reward isn’t necessarily an expensive gift or a large amount of money. Starbucks, for example, came up with the #WhiteCupContest, encouraging customers to doodle their cups and upload a photo to social media with the #WhiteCupContest hashtag. The best part? The winning white cup drawings were featured as Starbucks’ limited edition reusable plastic cup.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Brita Lynn Thompson (@zenspiredesigns)

The contest generated great buzz on social media and within three weeks there were over 4000 doodled cups uploaded to Twitter and Instagram.

Incentivize your products/services

By giving customers good incentives to feature your products or services, you can quickly generate a huge number of organic content and tap into their follower communities at the same time. ‍

Hilton Grand Vacations encourages customers to upload their holiday pictures on social media with the hashtag #myHGV for a chance to be featured on their Instagram Feed.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hilton Grand Vacations (@hiltongrandvacations)

These beautiful images act as a source of authentic inspiration for potential customers to book their next vacation at the hotel.

Develop authentic and inclusive brand messaging

Building an emotional connection between your products and customers is one of the best ways to improve customer engagement and form long-lasting relationships with loyal shoppers.

Women’s clothing brand Aerie launched the #AerieREAL campaign to promote body positivity and inspire women to be comfortable in their skin. The brand encouraged users to post unedited photos of themselves in Aerie’s swimsuits and shared customers’ photos with authentic captions. As part of the company’s initiative to promote real women’s bodies, the campaign was a move to empower women who are fed up with the idealised body type promoted by fashion brands.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Aerie (@aerie)

Aerie leveraged UGC to create an inclusive community of brand advocates on social media. By spreading the message of body positivity through its customers, there was also a huge boost in terms of brand image.

Partner with influencers

Influencer marketing is a great way to generate buzz and awareness around your products. Collaborating with the right influencers allows brands to tap into an existing audience and drive purchasing decisions.

Before the release of the Samsung Galaxy A model, Samsung collaborated with Blackpink to launch the hashtag challenge #danceAwesome. The dance challenge includes a short dance on the campaign’s catchy music, “Awesome screen. Awesome camera. Long-lasting battery life,” which perfectly highlights the smartphone’s features.

The brand then partnered with influencers like TikTok influencer @hollyh — who has about 16 million followers — to drive awareness of the challenge.

@hollyh working with @samsung on my audition for blackpink #danceAwesome #galaxyA #ad ♬ Awesome Phone Song(BLACKPINK Ver.) – BLACKPINK

These user-generated content videos went viral across social media and resulted in a whopping 4.7 million user videos with a combined 16 billion views.

UGC best practices

Adding UGC to your marketing strategy is an easy decision, considering the value it delivers, but there’s a few rules you should keep in mind. Follow these best practices to ensure your UGC works for you and your customers.

Develop a UGC strategy

With so many different types of UGC available, and with the countless ways your brand can utilize it, it’s easy to become overwhelmed. However, developing a user-generated content marketing strategy will help you search, curate, and publish the most effective UGC for your specific brand.

Provide clear guidelines

Tell your target audience exactly what kind of content you’re looking for. Only 16% of brands provide clear guidelines about the kind of content they want fans to create and share, but 53% of consumers want specific instructions on what to do.

Let’s say you’re running a giveaway on Facebook for a new product. Make sure the instructions on how to enter are super clear, and the value prop is front and center. Consumers appreciate clear directions as well as general guidance.

Include calls to action on site, on social, in emails, and on receipts, product packaging, and in-store displays. If you’re really in need of UGC, cast a wide net. You can also use a social commerce tool that’s created to source and sort existing user-generated content.

Ask for permission (and give credit)

Just because a customer tags your brand in a post or uses your hashtag doesn’t necessarily mean you can reuse it. So before reposting a user’s creation, reach out to them — whether it’s through email, comment, or direct message — say something complimentary about the content, and request permission to use it.

Once you receive permission, keep a record of it. Take a screenshot of the conversation or save the email in case any issues or questions come up in the future.

Always credit the original source of the content, and tag them if possible. This is respectful of the creator, and it encourages them — and other users — to continue creating content and sharing it with your brand.

Moderate it

User-generated content is considered quality if it’s created by real, non-paid users and conforms to your brand and community guidelines, government regulations, and audience expectations. That’s the only UGC you want. Any low-quality UGC (blurry images, typos, etc) or prohibited UGC (nudity, hate speech, etc) needs to be filtered out, reported, and binned. 

Content moderation can make or break your brand. Wanting a high volume of UGC is understandable, but quality is better than quantity. You don’t want to become known for showcasing low-quality UGC because, “Lawsuits and marketing to rebuild a bad public image are expensive” warns Abi Schuman, Senior Director of Content Management Services at Bazaavoice.

Share diverse content

Diversity and inclusivity are essential in marketing. Not only does it help your brand reach more customers, but it also makes your brand more accessible.

Users want representation, plain and simple. To quote Ad Age: “Given the fact that social networks are accessible by people of all backgrounds, shapes, sizes, and families who experience different seasons, communities, and landscapes, the diverse visual content found in UGC feels more like native social media content than advertising.” Couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

Make sure your audience finds this diverse content by syndicating it to everywhere they are.

Track content

Keep an eye on all the UGC around your brand — even the content you don’t use. UGC is like a continuous feedback loop you can use to stay on top of what people are saying about your brand. Bazaarvoice’s Insights and Reports offer a user-friendly dashboard to track and analyze your brand’s different types of UGC content, from reviews to social media posts. 

Evaluate content performance

The UGC cycle doesn’t end with distribution, it ends with an evaluation. Consistently compiling product reviews on your product pages that no one sees is a waste of time and money. That’s why evaluating the performance of your UGC campaign and monitoring the data is essential. 

Start with our UGC audit webinar here to learn the six core factors that should be evaluated, and get a handy scorecard to see how your content measures up. 

Curate your brand identity with user-generated content

Your customers are already talking about your brand on social media.

They’re posting selfies and uploading stories that feature your products. They’re comparing items and making recommendations. So take advantage of this and curate your brand’s content from the multitude of user-generated content out there. And with 69% of people making purchases because they saw a product on social media, it’s also the very kind of content that will inspire your customers to convert.

After all, this is the authentic and relatable content that your followers want, the essential meaning of UGC.

When it comes to answering the question “what is UGC?” few are more qualified than Bazaarvoice. As the #1 user-generated content platform (not our words, the words of G2) we’re well positioned to provide you with a comprehensive UGC education.

Looking to get started with UGC? Contact us below to learn how Bazaarvoice, the leading UGC platform, can help you transform your brand and marketing strategy with user-generated content and drive a better ROI for your business.

LEARN MORE

Masterclass: How lean teams can drive e-commerce growth with UGC

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Product reviews and other forms of user-generated content (UGC) have become the cornerstone of trust and loyalty in the digital marketplace.

• 88% of shoppers use reviews to discover and evaluate products
• 47% say online reviews are an influential source of information, second only to recommendations from family and friends
• Companies that incorporate UGC into their social campaigns see a 50% increase in engagement 
• 84% of millennials say UGC affects their purchasing decisions, while almost half of Gen Z customers say social media is their top inspiration for buying a product 

But here’s the catch — not all reviews are created equal. What transforms a simple product review into a pivotal decision-making tool for shoppers? 

Several things, according to insights from industry professionals we recently surveyed. “A great review isn’t just about a star rating; it’s about validating the quality, setting accurate expectations, discussing performance and functionality, and offering additional tips,” one seasoned product owner told us. “Incorporating sentiment, visual evidence of the product in various contexts, detailed style and design commentary, assessments of comfort and wearability, and, importantly, photographs can turn a good review into a great one.”

We’ll dig into the details customers love to see in good product reviews and guide you through the ins and outs of collecting, compiling, and syndicating this UGC.

To bring these strategies to life, we’ll introduce you to “QualityCouches,” a hypothetical brand we completely made up — but based on real research. By stepping into the shoes of a consumer, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of how strategically curated product reviews can elevate the shopping experience, ensuring your offerings stand out in a crowded market. 

The anatomy of a good product review

When reading reviews, shoppers have conscious and unconscious questions that need to be answered. They want to make sure the item matches their expectations. They want to know what other customers think about the product in the short and long term. And they want to get a sense of what the item will be like in real life.

Here’s 13 examples of the specific information they’re looking for in your product reviews. 

1. Value and quality assessment

Shoppers are looking for value for money, and review content is where they find it. They want to see information that makes it easier to plunk down their hard-earned cash on a purchase. And value doesn’t just mean price — they want to know the product quality is worth the cost, too. 62% of shoppers are looking for information that validates the item is worth the money and 59% want to confirm it’s of high quality, according to our Shopper Experience Index.

For big purchases like a couch, a good product review example might include information about the quality of the fabric or its stability, and durability of the item. Users want to see that it’s comfortable enough for a long movie night or Netflix binge. 

2. Product details

When scanning reviews online, 44% of shoppers are looking for validation that what arrives in the mail will match what appears on your website. 

If someone is on the QualityCouches site looking for a new sofa that’s easy to clean and can withstand the wear and tear of a toddler, it’s not enough to see “kid-friendly” or “stain resistant” in a product description. 

Here’s a good example of a product review that could turn them into a QualityCouches customer:

“This couch easily stands up to my three kids. It’s really easy to clean. Yesterday, my oldest spilled cranberry juice on the cushions and it came out easily with some warm water. Highly recommend this couch for households with small kids!”

Even if you don’t have kids, you’ll feel more confident about how easy the couch is to clean after reading a product review like that!

3. Usage and user context

It’s not enough to know a product works. Shoppers want to know if a product will work specifically for them. Examples of good product reviews include context about the reviewer, the problems they were trying to solve, and where and how they used the products. 

• 71% of shoppers are looking for reviews from people who share their interests, needs, or concerns
• 62% of consumers said they are more likely to trust reviews that include information about the poster’s age, location, or other information as opposed to anonymous reviews

For example, this product review that might resonate with shoppers looking for a dog-friendly couch:

“We are empty nesters with two labs that we treat like our children. Our dogs love to cuddle with us on the couch. They shed a lot and we needed something that was easy to clean. This couch is perfect. The material is great. Their fur doesn’t stick to it. It’s also really easy to wipe off slobber and dirt.”

The more shoppers see themselves in the reviews, the more likely they are to buy the product. 

4. Comparisons to expectations

Probably everyone who shops online has been disappointed at one time or another by a product that failed to meet their expectations, leading to higher e-commerce return rates. And no-one wants that. Shoppers want to hear from other shoppers whether your products live up to their promises. 

If you’re shopping at QualityCouches, you want to see examples of product reviews that validate the claims made in the product descriptions. 

The more real shoppers say a sofa lives up to its promises of comfort and stability, the more confidence a consumer will have about adding the couch to their cart. 

5. Style and design commentary

No matter how much effort the QualityCouches team puts into crafting the perfect product description, shoppers will still dig through the reviews to make sure that your definition of “mid-century modern” or “farmhouse industrial” matches their own — 41% of shoppers search for information about what a product looks like in real life when reading reviews

Visual UGC like photos and videos can also appease these shoppers. More on that in a minute!

6. Comfort and wearability

All right, by now shoppers know QualityCouches sells items that look good, but do they feel good? Is the material scratchy? Will it bother their sensitive skin? Will the pillows leave awkward marks on their face if they fall asleep during a boring movie?

A good product review will answer these questions and assure shoppers that the couch is as cozy as it is stylish.

7. Ease of use

Sometimes it’s the big things that make you love (or hate!) a product. But often, it’s the little things. 

For anyone who’s ever had to put together furniture, you can empathize with the shoppers on QualityCouches who are looking for feedback on whether the products are easy to assemble. They might also want to know whether the couch is easy to clean, if the cushions are removable, and how easy it is to set up the pullout bed. 

8. Long-term impressions or performance and functionality

As every shopper knows, you may love an item when it first arrives. But after a few weeks and months? Not so much. 

Consumers are poring through your reviews looking for examples of how your products hold up in the long run. Was the couch still comfortable after six months of use? Did the material fade over time? 

Just because a few weeks (or even months) have passed since the shopper made their purchase, that doesn’t mean it’s too late to ask for a review. Hearing what people think about the product in the long term can help build consumer trust and confidence. 

9. Pros and cons

Negative reviews happen. But that’s not necessarily a problem. Actually it’s a good thing.

Consumers appreciate learning more about a product’s pros and cons from other shoppers. Negative reviews give shoppers more confidence in the authenticity of your UGC, which helps build trust and transparency. 

• 62% of consumers say negative reviews are as important as positive reviews in their decision-making process
• 75% of shoppers say it’s important to read a balance of positive and negative reviews when purchasing to set expectations correctly
• 93% of consumers say they would rather purchase a product with a lot of positive and negative reviews compared to a product with no reviews

Here’s a product review example for QualityCouches that could help a shopper make an informed decision.

“My in-laws spent two weeks sleeping on the pull-out sofa. By the end of the first week, they were pretty uncomfortable. The couch is fine if someone is just spending the night, but I wouldn’t use it for long-term guests. I wish I had bought the Superior Comfort model.”

10. Photographs

Visual UGC like photos and videos makes potential customers even more confident about clicking that “add to cart” button. According to one of the respondents to our product reviews survey, a digital product administrator, “a high-quality review always has photos.”

• 85% of consumers say they turn to visual UGC over branded content when making purchasing decisions
• Over a third of shoppers say reviews with photos are more credible than those without

When reading reviews, 41% of shoppers want to see what a product looks like in real life. Encouraging your customers to share photos and videos of your product in action helps build that trust and confidence. 

11. Recommendations and additional tips

Part of the beauty of reviews is that they can provide you and your customers with valuable feedback. Shoppers can learn how to use a product to its full potential, while brands and retailers can find ways to improve and transform the shopping experience — and drive growth. According to our research, the main ways brands and retailers use UGC are:

1. 80% improve the shopper experience
2. 78% increase conversions 
3. 76% improve marketing messaging
4. 74% improve product pages
5. 68% improve SEO
6. 67% reduce returns

Take this QualityCouches product review example:

“The couch is great but the armrests are really narrow. Make sure you have a side table nearby to put your drink, snacks, and remote on.”

This gives shoppers valuable feedback from other customers about where to place the couch in their home. It also gives the brand some interesting insight to bring back to its product team. 

12. Star ratings and summaries

As much as people love in-depth UGC, sometimes they don’t have time to read a bunch of reviews. Star ratings and review summaries help shoppers quickly understand how many people gave feedback about the product, what the overall star rating is, as well as a few pros and cons to consider.

Here’s an example of a product review summary. 

Note the immediate average star rating and percentage of recommendations highlighted in bold, the breakdown of product criteria, pros and cons, and a trust signal to confirm review authenticity. Displaying review highlights in a simple manner speeds up the reviewing process which leads to faster (and more) purchases.

13. Recency of reviews

Real talk: A ton of great reviews, photos, and star ratings from 2020 won’t appease today’s shoppers. They want to know what recent customers thought about their purchase. 

61% of consumers say recent reviews — those submitted in the past three months — are more reliable than older ones.

How to get more authentic and effective reviews

Ready to up your product review quality? Here are three tips to keep in mind. 

1. Make it easy for customers to leave reviews

Shoppers like sharing their opinions. Nearly 70% of shoppers are willing to provide feedback when asked. The secret to collecting more helpful product reviews is to make it easy for customers to submit feedback. Often, all you need to do is send a quick email or two.

Requesting feedback via email can increase product reviews by up to 9x. Sending a follow-up review request email can boost review volume by 50%. 

Struggling to get more reviews on your PDPs? See our guide to requesting reviews from your customers.

2. Ask questions that encourage specific feedback

Now that you know what shoppers are looking for in your product reviews, you know what questions to ask. For example, QualityCouches might ask questions like:

• How would you rate the item’s quality?
• Did our product meet your expectations?
• How would you describe the style?
• Tell us about yourself and how you use the product
• Do you have any photos or videos of the couch in your home?

3. Give shoppers product review examples

In addition to requesting specific information, you can also include examples of product reviews that answer the questions. 

This makes it easier for customers to provide the exact information you — and other shoppers — are looking for. 

Ready to make a bigger impact?

Customer reviews are more than just helpful — they’re game-changers. They can boost your conversion rates, keep shoppers on your site longer, and ramp up your engagement metrics. But let’s be real: Managing these reviews can be tricky, especially for small teams.

That’s where review management tools come in. They’re designed for efficiency, helping even the smallest teams compete and excel. Plus, they give you a clear view of your return on investment for your UGC efforts.

Now’s the time to boost your digital presence with honest, persuasive user reviews. Don’t let operational challenges hold you back. Our solutions can simplify your processes and lift your brand to new heights. Hairhouse Australia implemented our Ratings & Reviews tools to provide shoppers with authentic UGC that inspires purchases, and saw a 35% lift in conversion rate and a 15% increase in average order value on pages with Ratings & Reviews vs. pages without.

You can learn more about our Ratings & Reviews tools here. Or get in touch with our customer success team today to see what’s possible. Together, we can revolutionize your approach to UGC, building trust, loyalty, and impressive growth.

FEATURED RESOURCE

The authenticity movement: building consumer trust without fake reviews

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Customer ratings and reviews matter, with 89% of shoppers consulting them before purchasing anything. They do pay attention to how positive reviews are of course, but also consider other factors like the quantity and recency of reviews. Consumers also heavily rely on negative reviews to inform their purchases. 

Negative reviews make your brand seem more trustworthy and authentic. Shoppers expect to see some negative reviews — a string of all five-star ratings can come across as suspicious. Or even fake.

60% of shoppers think negative reviews are just as important as positive ones in deciding what to purchase, as they can learn just as much (if not more) about your products from negative reviews. 

So what should you do when you get a negative review? You need to reply. Whether it’s a Google review or a different review provider (like Bazaarvoice), here’s how to respond to negative reviews successfully. And why doing so is good for your business. 

Chapters:

1. Why negative reviews matter
2. Should you respond to negative reviews?
3. How do you respond to a negative product review?
4. 5 ways to respond to negative reviews
5. How to use negative reviews to your advantage

Why negative reviews matter 

When you respond to negative reviews, you position yourself as a company that cares. It shows that you’re listening to what your customers say and taking the time to solve their problems and improve. We’ve seen that products with at least a few negative reviews have higher conversion rates than those with 100% positive feedback.

These are the top reasons we’ve seen that negative reviews matter.

They make you more authentic

Shoppers value reviews and trust the recommendations of fellow shoppers every bit as much as friends and family, if not more. Consumers also realize that no one is perfect, so they expect to see a mix of feedback. Being transparent — featuring negative reviews and responding to them — makes you more authentic in the eyes of consumers. 

Retail giant Walmart particularly understands the value of negative reviews.

According to Alyssa Thomas, Director of Product, Content as Commerce, at Walmart.com, “One of the things that we are not willing to sacrifice is authenticity. So, one of the really important parts of customers reading ratings and reviews is that they trust that they’re authentic and relevant to the item. Otherwise, we potentially lose that trust that customers were looking for from reviews in the first place.”

They identify problems 

Negative reviews might uncover flaws or problems with products, which you might not otherwise find out about. We’ve found that about 4% of reviews note manufacturing issues, 2% identify product improvements or additions, and 1% point out discrepancies in product descriptions or website copy, according to our Shopper Experience Index. 

The same research also tells us that 66% of retailers and brands use reviews to improve products, and 50% to improve marketing tactics and messaging. Getting this feedback gives you a chance to talk to manufacturers and vendors to address problems head-on so your reputation stays intact. And, demonstrate to consumers that you care about quality. 

Clothing retailer Vertbaudet, for example, noticed consistent negative reviews around the sizing for a line of maternity dresses. The brand took this feedback on board and resized the line, leading to a 12% increase in sales.

They inform product innovation and market needs 

Listening to what customers say about your products can inspire innovation. You may come up with ways to improve existing products that drive higher sales or realize there’s a market need for an entirely new product. 

Here’s a good example. The Container Store uses reviews — negative and positive — to make their products better. When customers left negative reviews for a shoe storage box, saying they wished it was taller so they could store high heels, the brand worked with their manufacturer to make a taller box. It was a hit!

And, the company gave all the credit to customers, by posting the message, “You asked and we listened. We took everything you love about our Shoe Box, and made it in a size that perfectly fits high heels.” 

They help improve customer service

Over 70% of the brands we work with use negative reviews to improve customer service. Think: slow shipping times, unhelpful responses from customer support teams, or items damaged in transit. Shoppers won’t be shy about sharing these experiences with your brand. But, they’ll be expecting you to listen and remedy the problem. 

Most consumers are willing to do business with a company again after a bad experience, and many will delete negative comments once they receive a reply or a fix. So, it’s always a good idea to make things right to keep customers coming back. 

Should you respond to negative reviews?

Yes. You should always respond to negative reviews. Review management should be a major aspect of your content strategy. And, there’s countless reasons why. The biggest one being trust. 

When you respond to negative reviews, it gives your customers confidence. 54% of shoppers say that if they write a negative review, they expect a response from the company. And 87% of them expect brands to do something after receiving a negative review, whether that’s replying or offering a discount for future purchases. 

No matter how annoyed the customer is, your response leaves a positive impression and calms the situation. And, even if they swore to never buy from you again, replying and showing your interest in making things right will likely change their minds. 

Other shoppers are paying attention, too. 89% of consumers read responses to negative reviews. Responding to negative reviews makes your brand seem trustworthy and protects your reputation. 

Inspiring trust drives customer loyalty. When they know that you’re listening and responding to their concerns, they’ll come back time and again, and likely spend more money. 

How do you respond to a negative product review?

Webroot, an internet security software provider, has seen the benefits of responding to reviews first-hand. The company responded to 70% of its low-rated reviews. This improved the shopping experience for those who left negative reviews, but also humanized the brand and instilled confidence in shoppers by showing off its top-notch customer service. 

And then there’s pharmacy giant Boots, who turn unhappy customers into brand advocates by responding to negative product reviews. Through their strategy, the brand has seen a 186% increase in intent to purchase when responding with an explanation or guidance on how to use a product differently.

Seeing similar results when you respond to negative reviews depends on getting the messaging right. You want to keep your brand tone intact and be friendly, personal, and specific. Using a canned response for every review will turn customers off. 

Most important of all is to make sure your response is meaningful. Always ask yourself this question: “Is my response providing value to this customer and future customers reading my answer?” 

Not sure what to say? Here’s a few proven examples. 

• “Hi Kate! We’re so sorry to hear that you had issues with [add the specific product or service here].” 

• “We’re so sorry you had a bad experience with [add specifics of the issue].” 

• “We appreciate your feedback, Melissa. It looks like others are having this issue, too. We’re looking into this.” 

• “Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback with us, Mark. Feedback like yours helps us improve.” 

• “We’re sorry you had a bad experience with [add product or service]. We would love to help you further, but we need more details about your experience. Please contact our Customer Care team at [add phone number, email address, and hours of operation].” 

5 ways to respond to negative reviews

Most consumers will do business with a company again after a bad experience, if the situation is handled well. Use these tips and best practices to respond to negative reviews to protect your brand. 

1. Show empathy 

Everyone likes to feel heard. Acknowledge the issue and apologize, even if you think the review isn’t necessarily warranted. Show the reviewer (and anyone else reading your response!) that you understand their frustration and that their opinion is valid.

Focus your response on the problem and offer a solution. Never criticize the reviewer or get defensive. Internally, route the issue to product development, shipping, or another appropriate division in your company. 

2. Be personal 

With so much online brand noise, consumers really appreciate authenticity. Refer to the customer by their name in your response. Restate their specific problem to show that you truly understand the issue and state how you’re attempting to resolve it.

And avoid writing scripted responses that you copy and paste for every negative review. Not only is this unoriginal, but it’s also impersonal and will turn shoppers off. 

“Thank you, TJ. Your thoughts are important to us…”

“Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback with us, Albert…”

 “Sam, we’re so glad you raised this issue…”

Even if your core message is the same for multiple reviews, find alternate ways to mix it up, especially in your opening sentence.

3. Respond quickly

Respond to negative reviews as quickly as you can. Showing a sense of urgency will build trust among customers and tell future shoppers that you care. Be sure to respond to a negative review within 24 – 48 hours. While 84% of retailers claim to respond to positive and negative customer feedback (73% of whom respond within the same day) there’s still a disparity between customer expectation and brand response time, according to our research.

Generally it’s best practice to spend about an hour for every 50 reviews you encounter as you’ll be prioritizing 1-3 star approved reviews. This includes time for research, writing, and editing your responses. 

4. Stick to the point 

Short, simple messages work best. Say too much and you might deviate from your brand persona. Including too many details can be overwhelming for the customer and might make you seem defensive or desperate.

Don’t ask any any follow-up questions in the response, either. If you need additional information, ask the customer to contact your customer service team and include the contact information. And, be on the lookout for that one-on-one message to come through. 

5. Learn from negative feedback

Remember, negative reviews uncover insights that can improve your products and services going forward. Not only should you respond to negative reviews, but you should also take action when you’re receiving consistent feedback about improvements that could be made. And let the reviewer know this.

 “Feedback like yours helps us improve, thank you for submitting this review…”

“We value hearing from customers and need this constant feedback loop, whether it’s negative or positive, or we aren’t going to get better,” says Drew Frey, Community and Advocacy Manager, Webroot. “We monitor these comments daily, and if we see any concerning trends, we share that with the rest of the team internally.”

How to use negative reviews to your advantage

No one likes bad feedback, of course. But negative reviews aren’t all bad and even offer some advantages: 

• Customer interactions: You may not always get the chance to connect with your shoppers in such a direct way. Reviews (good and bad) let you find out exactly what they think about your brand and give you an opportunity to make up for a bad experience

• Areas for improvement: Negative reviews offer insights, which you should learn from. If several customers are pointing out the same shipping problem or product flaw, you can take action and improve your products and systems

• Transparency and credibility: Displaying negative reviews shows that you have nothing to hide, which lends an air of credibility to your brand. Consumers will realize that their feedback matters—and your desire to make things right will resonate

• A jump on the competition: When customers point out issues with products, they may give you ideas for new things. Or, help you see a market need for something else. Use this information to get ahead of your competitors

• Brand empathy: Some negative reviews are just unreasonable. But, taking the time to thoughtfully respond, even when you know it’s unfair, will win over customers. Consumers often feel empathy toward unnecessary and unwarranted reviews. They’ll want to support you, and this is great for your brand reputation

Managing reviews and responding to the negative ones can be a lot to handle. And that’s before you even taking responding to positive reviews into account. But, it’s crucial for you to be there in the moments that matter. Bazaarvoice has all the tools you need to easily manage and respond to reviews and questions at scale, both on retailer sites as well as all your own channels.

Learn more about Bazaarvoice Ratings & Reviews here or get in touch below to book a call.

From food and beverage and apparel to health and beauty and hardware to everything in between, ratings and reviews play a crucial role in the customer journey. 

But just how crucial, exactly? And how can businesses extract the most value from them? Let’s find out.

Chapters:

1. The business benefits of ratings and reviews
2. How to make customer ratings and reviews work harder for you
3. Don’t underestimate how important ratings and reviews are for your business

The business benefits of ratings and reviews

At Bazaarvoice, ratings and reviews are the center of our business. With a network of over 12,500 brand and retailer sites to support, we undertake a lot of research to understand the value of reviews for businesses and their customers. 

Here are some of our takeaways that prove the power of ratings and reviews, based on some of our latest research.

Ratings and reviews impact everything from sales to SEO

Shoppers are leaving more reviews now than ever. Across our network in 2021, the number of reviews submitted increased nearly 11% year-over-year. Our 2023 Shopper Experience Index found that when shoppers engaged with reviews, there was a 144% lift in conversion rate.

Not only are shoppers converting more readily on pages with reviews, but they’re also spending more money. The lift in revenue per visitor among shoppers engaging with reviews was 162% in 2023, and the average order value was 13% higher. 

Ratings and reviews creates a great avenue for us to get current content on our site and bring attention to our product. That helps us to rank higher in search results and get found better

UX analyst, CPG

Increasing your sales and profits isn’t the only thing that reviews can improve in your business. Brands and retailers we’ve talked to say that reviews have an impact far beyond the product page. According to those we surveyed for our Shopper Experience Index, over half (52%) said they help increase brand loyalty, 53% cited a positive impact on in-store sales, and 63% said that they improve search engine optimization (SEO).

Global brand Petco, for example, launched a sampling campaign to collect more reviews and improve SEO metrics. The campaign led to a 405% increase in review volume, which meant a:

• 67% increase in number of pages ranked organically
• 140% increase in impressions from organic search
• 80% increase in clicks from organic search
• 48% increase in revenue per visit for sampled products

Ratings and reviews help shoppers make confident purchases

According to our 2023 Shopper Experience Index, two-thirds of consumers (78%) claim that reviews impact their purchase decisions. Our 2022 report also revealed that ratings and reviews are the number one online feature shoppers rely on when making informed product decisions faster, more so than product page descriptions, chatbots, and the website’s search tool.

But consumers aren’t just using them online. According to research commissioned by Bazaarvoice from Deloitte and Touche LLP, a vast majority (82%) of shoppers research products online before going in-store, and over a third read a product’s reviews on their mobile phones while looking at the same product in-store.  

Our research found that shoppers often turn to ratings and reviews when they’re in the final stages of their decision making process to help them choose your product. 70% of shoppers often or always look at available reviews, and in the first 20 seconds of landing on a product page, high-quality reviews are the most likely type of user-generated content  to convince a consumer to buy a product (21%) — followed by average star ratings (19%) and the number of reviews a product has (13%).

We also found that half of shoppers have been influenced by reviews to buy a more expensive product than planned.

You may be surprised to learn that it isn’t just positive reviews that consumers find helpful. Over half (60%) say negative reviews are just as important in their decision to buy. The majority (62%) say it’s because they contain more pros and cons than positive reviews. Shoppers who usually don’t read reviews say they would like to see more reviews from people like them and more customer photos.

Having reviews displayed on your site is a great first step to winning over your customers, but don’t forget step two — responding to reviews. About a third of shoppers expect businesses to publicly respond to their reviews, regardless of whether their review is positive or negative. Almost half (48%) say brands responding to reviews improves their odds of buying the product. 

Reviews improve your brand’s authenticity

Brand trust is one of the most valuable assets a business can have in today’s retail landscape. According to our recent survey of 10,000 global shoppers, 97% of respondents say fake reviews make them lose trust in a brand. One way to build trust is by handing over the mic to their fellow peers to help advocate for your brand. Over three-quarters of shoppers trust reviews, even more than family and friend recommendations.

It’s not as simple as just displaying reviews, you have to ensure that they’re authentic. If shoppers suspect a product to have fake reviews:

• 56% wouldn’t buy the product 
• 25% wouldn’t buy from the website 
• 81% avoid using the brand again 
• 48% leave a negative review 
• 16% post [negatively] about the brand on social media

The number one factor that makes consumers suspicious that a product has fake reviews is seeing multiple reviews with similar wording (56%). That is followed by review content not matching the product (53%), bad grammar/misspellings (36%), and an overwhelming amount of positive/five-star reviews (36%).

As consumers have become more skeptical of marketing and advertising practices as a whole, they’re constantly evaluating product reviews to look for red flags.

Reviews contain insights about products, processes, and purchasers

Ratings and reviews are an invaluable source of customer feedback. Consumer reviews can help surface issues with products, shed light on new use cases, and inform product innovations. Shoppers want to see businesses use their reviews, both positive (25%) and negative (38%), to make product improvements.

We have countless stories from our clients about ways they have improved their products and processes based on the feedback they’ve received from customer reviews. In fact, 72% of our clients use UGC to improve customer service, 66% use UGC to improve products, and 50% use UGC to improve marketing tactics and messaging.

How to make customer ratings and reviews work harder for you 

While impressive, these results won’t manifest out of thin air. The real magic happens when you set in motion a process to collect, distribute, and manage reviews, designed to squeeze the most value out of these pieces of UGC.

Set up a review collection strategy

In order to reap the benefits, you need to plant the seeds — in other words, you need an ongoing strategy that makes it easy for and encourages customers to share feedback about your products. 

You can request ratings and reviews from your customers through a myriad of channels. If you have a physical store, you can go the face-to-face route and have attendants ask shoppers for feedback after they complete a purchase. The attendant can jot down the answers or direct the customer toward a QR code for an even smoother experience. 

Online options are also aplenty. Review request emails are a common practice (Jeanswest saw a 186% lift in review volume using this strategy, for example), but social media channels, push notifications, and SMS texts are also viable approaches.

When requesting reviews through any of these channels, timing is key. Reach out soon after customers interact with your products, when the experience is fresh on their minds, and they can provide more detailed and genuine feedback. And how you ask is just as important as when you ask — use clear and concise messaging, and avoid overwhelming customers with too many requests or specific instructions. 

Provide incentives in exchange for ratings and reviews

Customers might need a little extra push to share their feedback about your products. This is where incentivized reviews come in: you give customers a reward, like a coupon or entry into a giveaway, and in exchange, they write an honest review about a product they bought from your company. 

Incentives can be small, like discount codes, or slightly more elaborate, like product sampling campaigns (offering samples of your product in exchange for reviews.) McPherson’s Consumer Products, for example, found that 20% of new reviews on its brands’ products come from sampling efforts. According to Sharon Bottaro, the company’s Head of Digital, these reviews, “are providing confidence for people to complete their path to purchase.”

To uphold your integrity and safeguard consumer trust, be transparent about your incentive program. Clearly state that the incentive is for leaving a review, regardless of whether it’s positive or negative, and never pay customers to leave reviews.

Encourage customers to add visual UGC 

It’s a visual-driven world out there, especially in the e-commerce industry. Images and videos from customers give shoppers a better sense of what the products look like in action, and, most importantly, in the real world, without the influence of heavy editing. It adds another layer of confidence to purchasing decisions, which explains why 29% of shoppers look for customer reviews with photos or videos.

Fresh, a cosmetics company known for its natural ingredients-based products, tapped into the power of visual UGC in customer reviews. The brand implemented Bazaarvoice’s Photo-First Reviews Display to put customer images and videos front and center of product pages. Overall, Fresh saw a $1.48 million impact from user-generated content.

When requesting reviews from customers, whether through an email or a sampling campaign, make sure you ask for visuals — people might even prefer filming a short video over writing a lengthy review! Don’t make it a non-negotiable (a written review with no visuals is better than no review), but let customers know images and videos are appreciated options.

Reply to both positive and negative reviews

Customers expect brands to engage with them when they take the time to leave a review, especially if it’s negative. As Anna Kim, Senior Advocate Programs Manager at Webroot, explains, “It’s our responsibility (…) to be responsive to shoppers’ questions and reviews. Someone who is vetting us against another brand sees that we interact with our customers, and that’s a big competitive advantage.”

Webroot practices what it preaches — the cybersecurity software company replied to 70% of its 38,000 customer reviews on retail sites.

When responding to positive reviews, gratitude is the name of the game. Thank the customer for sharing their opinion, and express happiness that they enjoyed the product. Reference specific points mentioned in the review to make your response more personal and show that you value their input.

Negative reviews are a different beast, but they don’t have to be a scary one. As we explained before, having some negative reviews contributes to authenticity, and they can be a good way to unveil problems you weren’t aware of. What you shouldn’t do is ignore them; instead, act quickly, acknowledge the customer’s experience, and offer a solution to the issue raised in the review. If the problem is too complex, invite them to continue the conversation through a private channel like email or phone.  

Amplify ratings and reviews with syndication

If your brand works with retail partners to sell its products, syndicating reviews to their websites is a must. There’s no guarantee consumers will find and buy your products on your own website — syndication gets consumer eyes on your product reviews whether they’re browsing Walmart or Target.

This strategy also benefits your retail partners since they get quality, conversion-optimized content on their product pages without having to invest in technology to do so.

Bazaarvoice has a network of 1,750 global retailers, and regularly helps brands syndicate their hard-won customer reviews to as many partners as possible. For Andi-Co, 100% of reviews on retailers’ sites come from Bazaarvoice syndication efforts, leading to 690x more UGC on retailer sites.   

Make ratings and reviews a part of your marketing strategy

Displaying reviews on your website is a no-brainer, but why stop there? Incorporating reviews into your offline and digital marketing can significantly enhance its effectiveness — according to our 2022 Shopper Index, almost half (40%) of consumers say UGC makes them more likely to buy a product from an ad. Beyond product pages, here’s where you might consider displaying this rich UGC:

• Social media channels like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Social commerce continues to grow as social becomes the new search — over half (58%) of shoppers say they often discover a product or service through social media, and 42% say social media impacts their purchasing decisions. Adding reviews to your posts both amplifies positive content and gets the conversion machine that is user-generated content in front of an audience that’s primed to discover and buy new products

• In-store displays. If you have a brick-and-mortar presence, display reviews and ratings near relevant products to bridge the gap between online and offline experiences and nudge shoppers toward making a purchase
• Emails. Use positive reviews in your email marketing campaigns. For example, when promoting a product, include a customer testimonial that speaks to its benefits. Tailor your emails based on the products customers have purchased and include reviews from similar products to encourage repeat purchases, cross-sells, and up-sells

Don’t underestimate how important ratings and reviews are for your business

While some might think it’s difficult to quantify the importance of ratings and reviews, the above statistics prove their power.

There’s a variety of ways that they are useful, both for businesses and their customers. And not only are ratings and reviews absolutely necessary to today’s consumers during the purchasing process, companies are missing out on sales, profits, and priceless information without them, as our own research below shows.

Learn more about how important ratings and reviews are here. Or get in touch directly below to see how you can get started with Bazaarvoice Ratings & Reviews.

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Masterclass: The dos and don’ts of review responses

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After all, retailers and consumers know the importance of product reviews and ratings — 88% of shoppers read reviews before making a purchase. As the ultimate in user-generated content (UGC), ratings and reviews are an integral part of building your brand’s credibility.

But when it comes to review gating, we’re here to say: don’t do it.

Review gating isn’t worth the legal or reputational risk — and companies who gate reviews miss important opportunities for growth and revenue. 

What is review gating? 

Review gating is the practice of filtering out negative reviews or only publishing positive feedback from customers. Given the importance of customer reviews for e-commerce — especially for small and medium businesses — many brands feel pressured to use review gating to achieve or maintain a glowing online image.

Some companies even take it a step further by paying for fake positive reviews or attempting to silence potential negative reviews by burying non-disparagement clauses in their terms and conditions. This is thankfully now illegal per 2016’s Consumer Review Fairness Act. 

The importance of authentic reviews in the digital economy

So what’s better than a perfect slate of 5-star reviews? Authenticity.

It may seem counterintuitive. But sharing the good, bad, and ugly feedback from your customers is one of the most important things you can do for your brand. This is because negative reviews offer a fair counterbalance to positive reviews, which builds credibility with customers. 

Trust us. As a pioneer in the ratings and reviews space, we’ve seen thousands of negative reviews over the last decade — and we’ve witnessed how clients who embrace the feedback ultimately see more success than those who try to avoid it. 

Why do some businesses use review gating?

There’s no doubt about it — with a crowded marketplace and high consumer expectations, brands and retailers are under enormous pressure to maintain a perfect online image. For some companies, especially smaller companies, this pressure can make review gating tempting.  

Usually, this comes from a well-intended — but unnecessary — fear of negative reviews. In our experience, the companies that resist review gating and instead welcome authentic feedback see more sales and customer loyalty over time.

Instead of trying to suppress negative comments, brands and retailers should embrace them as an opportunity to learn and improve. 

The direct consequences of gated reviews

Review gating isn’t just bad form — it’s a real legal risk. Review gating clashes with the Federal Trade Commission’s stance against restricting negative reviews and soliciting biased ratings.

Additionally, companies that gate reviews are likely in direct violation of the terms of service for most review hosting sites. If caught, your business risks having content removed or the account suspended.

Beyond platform penalties, inauthentic reviews erode customer trust. Your prospective buyers expect to see positive and negative reviews. When they don’t, they’re skeptical. In fact, products with at least some negative reviews are known to have higher conversion rates than products with only glowing feedback.

The unexpected benefits of negative reviews

Consider the case of MeUndies. The underwear startup makes it a point to respond to every single one-to-three-star review customers leave. 

“We’ve noticed that plenty of customers would leave a negative review and then would not reach out for help, even though their problems could be pretty easily solved, for example, if they received the wrong size or style,” said Ross Houslander, Senior Retention Lead at MeUndies. 

So Houslander’s team monitors and responds to every review. When a customer sees these responses, it fosters trust and confidence when shopping with MeUndies. Shoppers know that if they ever encounter an issue, the brand will proactively resolve it. By effectively managing negative feedback, MeUndies:

• Boosted customer engagement with new review collection strategies
• Fostered long-term loyalty by establishing its reputation as a responsive and customer-centric brand 

How to handle a negative review 

Sooner or later, you’re likely to receive a negative review. When this occurs, stay calm. How you respond is the most important part. Think of negative reviews as direct instructions from the customer on how to earn their loyalty in the future.

When addressed properly, negative reviews can fuel growth. Respond professionally to customer complaints by apologizing for the letdown and outlining a plan to get things right next time. 

By embracing negative feedback and addressing concerns head-on, your customers will notice and reward you with long-term loyalty. 

Review gating isn’t worth the risks

Gating reviews doesn’t just stunt your growth —  it can directly harm your brand. If your ratings are exposed as biased or fake, expect a major backlash from customers. This can lead to long-term or even permanent damage to your brand reputation. 

The unique vulnerability of small businesses

For small e-commerce brands dependent on word-of-mouth marketing, authentic reviews are even more important. Compared to the robust resources of larger brands better suited to weather PR crises, small businesses usually:

• Have more direct relationships with customers 
• Are more reliant on online reviews for sales and credibility 
• May not have the resources to recover from the fallout of a review gating exposé 

Alternatives to review gating

So, how should a small business handle reviews?

With vulnerability and authenticity. To start, invite and encourage all your customers to leave reviews. Welcome the opportunity to build constructive communication with your customers. And resist the urge to censor or react defensively to negative feedback — there’s a more productive way to respond. 

To build your small business’s authenticity, skip the review gating 

Building an authentic brand starts with reviews. Small and medium businesses are particularly vulnerable to the legal and reputational risks of review gating. But these brands also have the most to gain from constructive handling of negative feedback.

Sharing honest customer reviews is one of the most important things you can do for your small brand. Authentic reviews offer valuable insights into how to better serve your customers, highlight unique growth opportunities, and build your brand’s reputation for transparency and integrity. Ironically, how you respond to your negative reviews can make your positive reviews even more credible to your customers. 

LEARN MORE

Masterclass: Navigating the proposed FTC regulations – Episode One: Reusing reviews

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Our Shopper Experience index found that 78% of consumers say reviews impact their purchase decisions, and a separate survey revealed that 88% of shoppers use reviews to discover and evaluate products they’re considering. So how do you get that content in front of shoppers? With testimonial advertising.

Chapters:

1. What are testimonial ads?
2. Why are testimonial ads so effective?
3. Examples of online testimonial ads
4. Examples of in-store testimonial ads
5. UGC is the key to your testimonial ads success

What are testimonial ads?

A testimonial ad is putting your customers’ words on display in your marketing campaigns, both online and offline. As mentioned, customers trust their peers’ words over those of a brand, so it’s time for you to use those words to your advantage. 

In a time when the voice of the customer matters more than ever, testimonial ads are perceived as more honest and authentic to shoppers than strategic brand copy. If you have UGC in the form of ratings and reviews or you’re active on social channels, you already have a wealth of resources to pull your testimonial quotes from. 

Why are testimonial ads so effective? 

Testimonial ads work because people trust other people. In one survey, 76% of consumers said they trust online reviews as much as a recommendation from friends and family. Social proof is the idea that when we’re trying to make a decision, we look at the decisions our peers have made before to help. When we’re unsure about something, we’ll assume that someone else with more knowledge of the topic knows more than we do. 

For example, if you want to buy a new pair of noise-canceling headphones, but you don’t know a lot about tech, you’ll look to your peers. Maybe you’ll check out a tech blog, ask a friend, or read reviews of your top choices. You’re using others’ experiences to help make your decision. 

A product description crafted by your copy team is excellent, but a product description that details how customers use the product in their own words is better. Why? Because it provides social proof to online shoppers. And, by incorporating common customer use cases and customer phrasing into your product pages, it also helps improve search and marketing copy.

Read on for the best examples of testimonial ads we’ve seen.

Examples of online testimonial ads

Brands and retailers tend to use testimonial ads on multiple digital channels. You don’t have to limit testimonials to your product description pages or homepage. You can use them in email campaigns, social media posts, or out-of-home ads.

And don’t just think online testimonial ads only benefit your digital shelf, either. Our research shows that 30% of shoppers conduct online research while shopping in a physical store. Meaning these digital ads impact purchasing decisions everywhere your shoppers are.

Here’s a few brand examples of top-notch digital testimonial ads. 

1. Nisolo 

Ethical shoe and accessory brand Nisolo recently sent out this email campaign with the subject line “Comfy AND cute? You can have both!” And to hammer home the message that their shoes are actually comfortable, they used a quote from a recent review that highlights the stylishness and comfort of the shoe. 

2. Peloton

Fitness brand Peloton uses customer testimonials as part of their social media campaigns. They’ll post a customer photo with a quote about how Peloton has positively contributed to that person’s overall health journey. 

3. Brooklinen

Home essentials brand Brooklinen relies on the voice of the customer to sell their sheets. Since they’re sold online, curious shoppers can’t just feel the linens to see if they like them. That’s why the brand expertly uses big quotes on its homepage to provide real social proof to online shoppers. 

4. Gillette 

In a recent campaign, razor brand Gillette let the words of their customers speak for them. In this effective commercial, the brand displays customer reviews and shows how Gillette genuinely listens to the feedback from reviews to improve products.

5. Lush

Lush uses pull quotes from customers on their product detail pages (PDPs) to give shoppers more information. On this PDP for a bath bomb, the customer quote tells online shoppers how the bath bomb smells and how their skin felt after using it. Social proof like this can be highly beneficial for bath and body brands online because shoppers can’t see or smell the products in person. 

6. Hardys Wine

Having collected over 1,700 reviews through an offline marketing strategy, Hardys decided to incorporate them into online paid testimonial ads. The ads generated 10,000 clicks through to retail partner sites and decreased cost-per-click by 60%.

According to Alister Dell, Digital Marketing Manager at Hardys, “We’re really pleased to report that [using reviews in paid testimonial ads] has led to an increase in advertising effectiveness in the form of better cost-per-click and more engagement.”

Examples of in-store testimonial ads 

A lot of UGC is found online. It’s very easy for shoppers to access reviews, photos, and videos for products they’re curious about when browsing the web. But what about in-store shoppers?

In-store testimonial ads can help customers make better purchasing decisions too — 62% of shoppers look at UGC on their phones while shopping in a store. Many brands and retailers have begun making that process easier for customers by proactively displaying UGC in-store in the form of signage, digital displays and QR codes. Let’s take a look at the best in-store testimonial ads examples.  

1. Amazon

The online giant has a few brick-and-mortar stores across the country. In these stores, they curate items that customers have rated 4-stars or higher and sometimes include quotes from customer reviews on certain products.

Your brand doesn’t need to create a whole separate store for your highly-rated items, but you could consider using a small section of your store to showcase what customers love best and use quotes from reviews on signage and other displays as social proof. 

2. Neutrogena

Cosmetics and skincare brands can use in-store UGC to provide social proof for products that customers can’t open and test.

This display from Neutrogena highlights a customer’s 5-star review and uses a pull quote to describe what the customer loves about the product. 

3. Chobani

Food and beverage brands are another category that sometimes rely on UGC for social proof. In these billboards, Chobani could’ve written marketing copy about how good their yogurt tastes or what ingredients they use, but instead, they let their customers speak for them.

The brand uses customer tweets as quotes in a billboard to campaign to promote their yogurt and build trust with shoppers.

UGC is the key to your testimonial ads success

Putting your most compelling UGC front and center ensures your products are discovered and championed. By using testimonial ads mined from UGC in your marketing campaigns, website, social channels, and product pages, you’ll build trust and provide the authentic social proof that shoppers are looking for.

But the first step is having a comprehensive UGC program that allows you to gather consumer insights. Then, you can turn around and display this valuable content to inspire fast and confident purchases. 

Or if you’re a Bazaarvoice partner, you can leverage our Insights tool to quickly find customer quotes that can be used as testimonial ads on your product pages, emails, and other campaigns. And if you’re not a Bazaarvoice partner, get in touch below to learn more.

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But a substantial amount of marketers don’t feel confident they’re maximizing its potential and want to improve their strategies to further strengthen performance.

That’s why Bazaarvoice recently partnered with SMS experts Attentive — to help brands unlock customer advocacy and elevate their SMS marketing strategies.

If you’re one of the companies that want in on the SMS marketing goldrush but aren’t sure of the best way to do it, we have the answers to help you get the most out of this quickly growing trend.

Chapters:

1. What is SMS marketing?
2. Benefits of SMS marketing
3. Examples of SMS marketing
4. SMS marketing best practices
5. Getting started with SMS marketing

What is SMS marketing?

SMS marketing is a way for businesses to communicate with their customers who have opted-in, primarily through text messages. These types of marketing messages can include promotions, order and shipping notifications, new product alerts, brand updates, news, and more.

Because of the nature and capabilities of texting, brands can also utilize MMS — multimedia messages that include images, videos, GIFs, and other animated and visual content.

Benefits of SMS marketing

We’ve already established the attractive revenue opportunities of SMS marketing, but there’s plenty of other reasons to invest in this particular channel. These are some of the other incentives SMS can offer in a world that craves speed and brevity, and sometimes wit.

Deliver what customers really want

91% of consumers globally have already signed up for an SMS program, or are interested in doing so. And according to Soprano Design research, 85% of smartphone owners would rather receive text messages from brands than phone calls or emails. Their behavior confirms this, given that the average text open rate is a striking 98% and response rate is 45%, compared to 6% for email. 

And when it comes to customer service correspondence, 63% of global consumers engage with brands’ SMS programs at least twice a week. Consumer preference for texting comes as no surprise, considering that many of us are frequently fixated on mobile screens, and our devices are quite literally within reach at any given time.

Higher click-through and conversion rates

In a benchmark report that analyzed over 10,000 text campaigns, the SMS click-through rate (CTR) is 30%, meaning 30% of customers clicked a link in a text. If you’re wondering if that’s a high CTR, the answer is yes, insanely high. For comparison, the total average click-through rate of email campaigns across 40+ industries is 2.6%.

Conversion rates for SMS marketing are equally impressive. The average conversion rate based on a combination of sources is 29%, which is significantly higher than Facebook ads, digital ads, Google ads, and email marketing campaigns.

Examples of SMS marketing

Texting customers isn’t just like texting your friends or family. While the tone should definitely be conversational and friendly, it’s much more intentional and focused. Before launching an SMS marketing program, consider the most effective types of campaigns, how they apply to your business, and how to work them into your strategy.

Regardless of the types of messages you plan to send, make a great first impression and start off the relationship right with a strong initial welcome message. Automate your first message to send right after a customer signs up for SMS. Thank them for subscribing, and reinforce your brand by including your company name and what you specialize in. Include a call to action (CTA), like a link to explore your e-commerce site or to apply a first-time shopper promo code to their purchase for a discount.

Here’s the different types of SMS marketing, with examples for you to emulate.

Customer service SMS

Handling customer service-related questions and concerns is a popular and valuable form of SMS marketing for brands. SMS provides a quick and direct avenue to alert customers of purchase confirmations, shipping notifications and updates, delivery notifications, and any other pertinent information.

Beyond alerts and updates, texting is becoming consumers’ preferred method of communicating with customer service representatives about pressing issues. We’re all familiar with the nerve-wracking scenarios of being on hold with the customer service department for up to an hour or more or waiting days for a response to a customer service email. But with SMS, shoppers actually want to talk with brands.

When Attentive asked 8,000 consumers which of the following actions they’d rather do, from most to least, they said:

1. Text a brand customer service questions
2. Talk to a store representative
3. Do laundry
4. Exercise
5. Talk to a brand/customer service on the phone

In a consumer survey of over 2,000 adults, 44% of active texters would rather initiate an immediate text conversation instead of waiting on hold for a customer service agent. Conversational commerce via SMS — if done properly – can eliminate those customer frustrations and allow you to resolve problems quickly.

One way to offer customer service through your SMS program is with live texting with a real representative. This is an effective method that can satisfy the 88% of global consumers who would strike up a conversation to learn more about a product. Another approach is to automate customer service messages with prepared responses to frequently asked questions and concerns.

A successful SMS improves convenience, promptness, and accuracy in customer service experiences and can increase satisfaction and retention.

Promotional SMS

Promotional SMS is likely the most common type of text coming from consumer brands. These are the kind of texts designed to drive sales and strengthen brand loyalty. There’s plenty of use-cases for promotional SMS, including:

• Special offers: Special offers can include any kind of sale you’re running site-wide, for holidays, or for particular products. These can also include promo codes for first-time purchases, text-exclusive promo codes, or any other type of discount 
• Product launches: Using SMS for product launches will alert your text subscribers of new product releases and early release access before new products are widely released
• Product updates: SMS is a great tool for notifying customers when out-of-stock products have returned and when certain products are low on stock
• Customer acknowledgment: Another clever way to use SMS to strengthen customer connection is to send personalized texts on their birthday, anniversary, or other special occasions
• Educational content: For health and beauty brands, consumer electronics, or any industry that can offer helpful resources for its products, SMS can help distribute tutorials, tips, and how-to articles

One brand who sees success with promotional SMS marketing is clothing giant Monsoon. Monsoon creates and sends campaigns targeting loyalty members, with voucher reminders and early access to shop sales, to help increase engagement and spend.

Their lowest value voucher reminder (£10) resulted in a 13% CTR and 45% CVR, while their highest one (£40) resulted in a 16% CTR and 57% CVR — well above industry benchmarks

Post-interaction SMS

Similar to post-interaction emails, post-interaction SMS is a way to follow up with customers after they’ve made a purchase, are considering a purchase, or are otherwise engaged with your brand. 

Sending texts for abandoned cart notifications is an important function of post-interaction SMS. Current abandoned cart rates are at just under 70%. But the good news is brands can use SMS to recover abandoned carts by sending their customers encouraging texts to convince them to close the deal. 

Abandoned cart reminders should be friendly and personalized with the customer’s name. You can take it to the next level by including user-generated content (UGC) featuring products customers added to their carts. This can include customer reviews and visual UGC, like images and videos of customers with the products. To sweeten the deal, you could include a promo code for a discount if the customer finishes the transaction.

Post-purchase texts are an opportunity to send customers complementary information about their purchases, like useful tips, tutorials, loyalty points earned, and UGC to show how other customers use the products. You can also recommend similar products and accessories for future purchases.

Post-delivery texts are your chance to ask for valuable customer feedback. These SMS campaigns can be used to ask customers to leave a product review, share their own UGC on social media, and fill out customer satisfaction surveys. (You can collect 2x more UGC with Bazaarvoice SMS review collection).

Collecting and leveraging UGC and customer feedback has a direct impact on your business. Customer ratings and reviews are the top third factor that improves online shopping confidence for over 7,000 consumers surveyed.

Customer satisfaction surveys can also provide brands with feedback that helps improve their products and services. 

Communicating brand values and social responsibility

Expressing your brand values, including aligning with social causes you support, is an effective way to diversify your messages and instill your brand identity. This can include your thoughts on and participation in environmental sustainability, diversity and inclusion efforts, human rights, mental health, and more. 

These messages will particularly resonate with your younger audience, given that nearly a third of Gen Z have stopped buying from brands that don’t support social causes. By distributing this kind of content, you can also convey your brand story and background and make connections with customers. 

The above SMS example from fashion brand MATE the Label demonstrates its environmental values and commitment to using natural materials. MATE’s SMS program produces positive results in the form of high open rates and engaged subscribers.

SMS marketing best practices

Texting your customers may sound like a simple marketing task, but as you can see, it’s not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. Just as there’s different forms of SMS communication with their own objectives, there’s different best practices you need to take when developing your SMS marketing strategy and launching campaigns to uphold quality and privacy standards.

Ensure compliance

Make absolutely sure that you only send SMS texts to opt-in subscribers. Conversely, stop sending messages as soon as recipients request to opt out. You should have clear instructions for how to opt in and opt out and explain the details of what customers can expect by opting in to receive texts from your brand.

Text sign-up prompts should be clearly separated from email sign-up forms and any other subscription options. With the opt-in prompt, include the kinds of messages customers will be receiving, like special offers, early access announcements, shipping notifications, etc. There should also be clear instructions for how to opt out on both the sign-up form and within the texts sent to customers. 

Last but not least, do not send or schedule texts during off hours, like early in the morning or late at night. Doing so can be disruptive and can be a quick way to frustrate your customers.

Segment before you send

Segmentation is a core component of effective personalized marketing and will greatly increase your chances of customer engagement. Instead of blasting out one general mass message to all of your SMS subscribers, you can meet the unique needs of different categories of customers with segments.

The qualities of each customer segment will determine the type and frequency of messages to send each one. Some examples of segments with tailored SMS approaches are:

• Engaged subscribers: This segment includes SMS subscribers who regularly click links in messages or respond to messages. You can include all general messages to this segment
• Subscribers who haven’t purchased: If a consumer opted in for texts but hasn’t made a purchase, you can send incentivized messages that include promo codes, UGC, or reminders of products and how they can benefit them
• Product categories: These segments can include customers who have a particular interest in certain product categories. You can send this segment price drops, new similar products, relevant sales, etc.
• Loyalty members: This segment includes SMS subscribers who are also members of your loyalty program. Strengthen the value of your loyalty program by alerting this segment of points gained, exclusive offers, etc

Menswear brand Mack Weldon leveraged the power of SMS marketing during the pandemic to reach different customer segments. They focused their SMS strategy on targeting customers interested in particular products and categories with custom messaging, including price drops and restocks. Based on its success, the brand plans to continue to invest in SMS as a retention channel and refine its strategy based on performance results.

Personalize your messages

At a minimum, add the customer’s name to the beginning of your messages, and you can do a lot more to personalize your SMS marketing. Your customer segments are a great resource for planning your messaging. Send special offers and content that aligns with the behaviors and interests of the customers in each segment. 

You can personalize messages to all of your SMS subscribers by promoting text-exclusive specials and sales. Make sure your recipients know it’s an exclusive offer by including “only for our text subscribers” or similar messaging. 

Make it conversational

The casual nature of texting is a draw for SMS subscribers, so you should avoid sounding like a robot or too rigid. Since texting is a primary form of communication for many, brands should treat it as an interactive exchange. Encourage recipients to respond by asking questions and inviting their thoughts and feedback. And allow your brand’s voice and personality to shine through to create authentic connections.

Promote your SMS program

Feature sign-up forms on your website and your mobile app if you have one. Be clear about the kind of communication customers can expect and what the value is for them to opt-in. Invite your email subscribers and social media followers to subscribe to texts for the full omnichannel experience.

Make it as frictionless as possible by allowing customers to text your brand to automatically opt in and begin the SMS relationship.

Measure campaign performance

As with any marketing campaign and initiative, you should measure the performance of your SMS marketing to decipher what’s working and what isn’t. Use the data from your SMS platform’s analytics to your advantage. Make sure you’re tracking the three key buckets of SMS KPIs: list growth, revenue growth, and message engagement.

• Revenue growth. How is SMS helping your bottom line? What’s your program’s return on investment (ROI) or return on ad spend (ROAS)?  
• Message engagement. What types of campaigns and triggered messages are your subscribers engaging with? Are they responding to your messages? Are certain message types or send times driving more opt-outs? 
• List growth. How many new subscribers are you adding? How many subscribers are you retaining, and how many are unsubscribing? Which sources are driving the most opt-ins?

And make sure to frequently assess any underperforming campaigns and optimize your strategy for better results.  

A/B testing is a helpful way to utilize the best elements of top-performing SMS campaigns for future success. Different components you can test are text copy, CTAs, timing, frequency, and multimedia, including emojis, images, GIFs, and video. Users have different tastes and lifestyles, so their preferences will vary, making it even more important to pay attention to your campaign performance.

Getting started with SMS marketing

SMS marketing is a relatively new addition to the e-commerce marketing toolkit that customers have latched onto, but not all brands are practicing it yet. Or at least not to the extent they could be. Now’s your opportunity to adopt this powerful channel or improve how you’re currently using it.

To do that successfully, you need to dedicate the necessary resources, and this may require buy-in from the decision makers. Consider this guide your pitch to go all-in on SMS marketing and take your brand to the next level.

With the Bazaarvoice and Attentive integration, you can unlock the power of customer advocacy. By meeting your customers where they want to be met, you can encourage more review generation and other types of UGC, driving more connections with customers and enriching the customer’s shopping experience.

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When it comes to advertising, they want messaging to be genuine and not too salesy and images not to be too perfect. They want you to share the same values they hold dear and appreciate their feedback. The more authentic you can be, the more you’ll build relationships with consumers. 

Review marketing can help you achieve all of these things. It’s especially a game-changer for smaller marketing teams looking for efficient, yet effective marketing solutions. 

What is review marketing?

A review marketing strategy refers to collecting user-generated content (UGC), such as customer reviews, photos, videos, or anything else created by an individual and not your brand, and using the content in your marketing campaigns. 

Consumers consider UGC to be the most authentic type of marketing content and trust it as much (if not more) as recommendations from friends and family. 88% of shoppers consult product reviews before buying anything, and 78% say reviews are the biggest influencer on their purchases. 

Retailers and brands find UGC to be useful for improving customer service, products, and marketing messaging. For marketing teams with tighter budgets, tapping into review marketing can give you the biggest impact. Here’s why — and, some guidelines for how to do it. 

UGC and its place in modern advertising

Shoppers want to see UGC wherever they encounter your brand. That’s why review marketing is so powerful. Plus, 86% of brands and retailers recognize the impact of UGC. 

Ads featuring UGC experience 4x higher click-through rates, and they help retailers and brands reduce their cost-per-click rates by 50%, according to our own research. You can also increase consumer trust when you feature UGC in ads. 

Reviews are the king of UGC. 22% of consumers say ads that feature reviews increase the likelihood that they’ll purchase a product. And among brands and retailers, 64% rank reviews as the most influential aspect of their sales and advertising strategies. 

How small teams benefit from using reviews in marketing ads 

Reviews from real-life customers are some of the most valuable content you have. To harness their power, you need a review marketing strategy to collect and feature them in your advertising. 

Highlight customer reviews at every touchpoint — on social media, in emails, in stores, and on product pages. Consumers appreciate having easy access to this content wherever they shop. 

When you have a smaller marketing team, using reviews in ads is crucial. Here’s how you can benefit from review marketing. 

1. It’s cost-effective

Many marketing teams have been dealing with lean budgets lately. UGC is the solution. Reviews are easy and inexpensive to collect and display across channels. When you feature UGC in ads, you have the potential to see a 50% drop in cost-per-click rates. 

2. It resonates with consumers

Your customers are already talking about you. Developing a review marketing strategy to use review content in your ads will boost the authenticity factor. With authentic reviews, you can create impactful ads that resonate without the need for extensive creative resources. 

3. It enhances credibility and trust 

Shoppers trust the opinions of their peers. Using reviews in your marketing shows that you value consumer feedback and makes shoppers feel confident buying your products. Leveraging genuine user views can help smaller brands or businesses establish trust and compete with bigger players. 

4. It boosts engagement 

Ads containing UGC see 4x higher click-through rates. That means better engagement and more bang for every advertising buck. Consumers will take notice when they see that you’re showcasing reviews. 

Guidelines for choosing the right reviews 

A successful review marketing strategy depends on showcasing your most compelling reviews. These tips can help you encourage your customers to leave reviews and use them in a creative way to inspire shoppers, boost engagement, and drive sales. 

Engage with your community

The most effective UGC comes from real people who love your brand and products. These reviews feature high-quality, honest, and authentic content. The best way to collect it is to build a community, and there are several ways to do it: 

• Host a sampling campaign, where you offer consumers a product in exchange for a review, to increase reviews and sales
• Create branded hashtags on social media that are catchy and consistent with your brand. This helps consumers easily reference you in their posts.
• Comb social media platforms for mentions of your brand or product names, use Google Analytics to track on-site traffic, and look for instances where someone tagged their location at your brick-and-mortar location
• Send a review request email soon after someone makes a purchase with a link to make leaving a review easy. 
• Run a social media contest asking consumers to create content about your brand for a chance to be featured in your marketing

Note that whenever you use a customer’s feedback in your ads, you need to ask them for permission. It’s not safe to assume that just because they tag you in a post or use your hashtag that they want their content used in your marketing. 

Integrate reviews creatively

Consumers consider ads that feature UGC, including testimonial ads, to be authentic and relatable. They trust reviews from their fellow shoppers — mainly because of social proof, which is the idea that people often replicate the behaviors that they see from others. 

While it’s tempting to just include positive reviews in ads, 60% of consumers say negative reviews are just as important to them when making a purchase decision. Putting a creative spin on negative UGC and including it in your ads will make consumers take notice and make you seem more relatable. 

Just look at Snowbird Ski Resort. After receiving a one-star review saying the resort didn’t have enough easy-to-ski areas, the company repurposed the content into an ad targeting advanced skiers and thrill-seekers.

The ad was a hit — it attracted lots of attention, and the brand features these ads on its website. 

Follow UGC advertising regulations 

Review marketing is cost-effective, easy to put together, and gets results, but it’s still advertising. Therefore, it must follow certain consumer protection regulations and laws. Making sure everything you do is on the up and up heightens your authenticity and trustworthiness. 

Your UGC advertising strategy must follow these guidelines: 

• Treat all reviews equally. That means you shouldn’t just collect, moderate, and display only positive reviews. All honest, authentic reviews — negative and positive — should be treated the same. Don’t discourage or reject negative reviews, or only ask for positive reviews. Be sure to publish negative reviews, even when you don’t agree with them 

• Never allow or post fake reviews. Doing so is the epitome of inauthenticity. Fake reviews include those written by bots or real people who never purchased or tried your products, or that have been edited to appear more positive

• Disclose any material connection between reviews and a merchant. Consumers expect reviews to be written by real people who purchased an item and shared their feedback. If you have a relationship with a reviewer (they’re an employee, for example), you must disclose it. Otherwise, you risk losing credibility, and you could potentially violate consumer protection regulations

• Divulge any benefits provided to the reviewer. If a reviewer received anything in exchange for a review, it needs to be disclosed. That includes sampling campaigns or paying influencers to post or write reviewers

• Display disclosures prominently. Make sure these disclosures or incentives are clearly stated and prominently visible. There’s no standard wording that should be used, but it should clearly convey information to anyone reading the review and stand out enough for the reader to notice it 

Monitor and iterate

Your review marketing strategy doesn’t end after creating and running a review ad. You need to track metrics to gauge its effectiveness and make tweaks based on what you learn. Plus, the ad will most likely inspire others to leave reviews, and you’ll have fresh UGC coming that you’ll want to use in your review marketing. 

Using Bazaarvoice’s Insights and Reports gives you access to an easy-to-use dashboard where you can track different types of UGC for your brand, including reviews and social media posts. Bazaarvoice also has a UGC moderation program to help prevent low-quality, fake, or fraudulent from getting through our network. 

Monitoring data related to your review marketing campaigns will ensure they’re striking the right notes. You’ll know what type of UGC resonates most and is generating the best results. You can use these insights for future campaigns. 

Creating your review marketing strategy

Consumers trust reviews, more so than traditional marketing messages. They read reviews just about every time they purchase something and rely on this content to provide accurate, credible information. Collecting UGC and creating review ads appeals to shoppers — they feel confident buying from you, and they’ll tell their friends. 

Review marketing is a cost-effective, convenient strategy for small marketing teams with lean budgets. Consumers are already talking about you online and sharing their feedback. Capturing and displaying this UGC drives results, builds trust, boosts engagement, and inspires shoppers.  

To get started, join expert speakers Matt Phillips, Director of Customer Success at Searchspring, and Ashlee Meerscheidt, Technical Account Manager at Bazaarvoice, as they share their insights and tips on leveraging reviews for optimal results in this on-demand masterclass: How to boost product discovery with reviews.

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Given that 88% of shoppers consult ratings and reviews before making a purchase, brands should never launch a product without first collecting user-generated content (UGC). And smart brands also want to keep their products fresh and appealing to their consumers so periodically they may reformulate an existing product (“new and improved!”).

But that raises a serious question — can existing reviews be used for reformulated products? 

According to a recent FTC crackdown on fake reviews, this practice can be considered as “review hijacking.”

What is review hijacking and when does it occur?

Review hijacking is a type of fake review that occurs when a brand or retailer repurposes a review from one product and applies it to a substantially different product. Sometimes it’s done intentionally, such as knowingly using a review for a liquid dish detergent on the product page for a detergent pod designed for an electric dishwasher. 

But it can also happen unintentionally, like when a brand reformulates an existing product but displays reviews that already existed for the earlier version of the product.

Let’s say you’re a home appliance seller and you’ve been selling (and collecting reviews for) a specific washing machine. You launch an updated version: washing machine 2.0. The new product, however, has many different features. If you’re displaying reviews for the older model under the new one, you’re review hijacking. 

Or you reformulate several ingredients in your flagship facial cleanser. If those changes make the product substantially different — as perceived by your consumers — you shouldn’t re-use the reviews from the earlier version of the cleanser. 

Other examples of review hijacking include repurposing a listing page for a product that has positive reviews for another completely unrelated product. By repurposing the listing page, the review hijacker tries to make the second product look like it has more ratings and reviews than it actually does. These actions are, “unquestionably deceptive and of no redeeming value to legitimate marketers,” said the FTC. 

Potential outcomes of review hijacking

Whether intentional or not, review hijacking can mislead shoppers by giving the impression the reviewer’s comments apply to a specific product when the reviewer hasn’t actually had experience with that product. And it can have serious potential consequences.

Secondly, the FTC has signaled that review hijacking will continue to be one of its enforcement priorities. In February 2023, a supplement brand had to pay $600,000 to settle the FTC’s charges that they’d engaged in review hijacking, when they displayed reviews for one product on the product page of a similar product. 

And more recently, the FTC proposed new regulations identifying seven types of deceptive practices, including review hijacking, that could be subject to fines of up to $50,120 per review each time it is viewed by a consumer. 

How to avoid review hijacking when reformulating a product

With the preceding guidance in mind, we recommend all brands and retailers take a close look at their UGC program to ensure you’re not inadvertently misleading your customers.

1. Audit your current review program for hijacked reviews

The first step you should take is to look at your existing bank of reviews. Is there any chance a review for one product could end up on another, unrelated item? Are your current reviews in compliance with the FTC proposal? Would your customer(s) feel misled or tricked?

56% of shoppers say dishonest product information makes them lose trust in a brand. Even if you do it unintentionally, if they feel tricked or misled, they’ll likely take their business elsewhere,

2. Collect reviews for reformulation of SKUs and product launches

When launching an updated version of a popular product, talk to a pro (like one of our customer success managers) before you copy and paste over your current reviews. They can help ensure you leverage your existing UGC in the most authentic and compliant way. 

The same advice applies to any product launch. Don’t risk the fine or the loss of your brand reputation. According to our recent research on consumer attitudes toward fake reviews, 97% of shoppers say fake reviews make them lose trust in a brand. What’s more, 81% of respondents said they’d avoid using a brand again after losing trust in it. Not only do you risk a fine from the FTC, but also the loss of business from your loyal customers.

The good news is, if your audit reveals that your UGC may be misleading, there’s a number of ways you can collect more relevant, authentic reviews for your individual products, including:

• Running a sampling campaign, where you trade samples of products for honest authentic review, ensures you’ll have a bank of fresh reviews for reformulating current SKUs and new product launches
• Tapping into existing communities of everyday influencers like the Influenster App, which contain a trove of UGC about your brand
• Asking customers for feedback directly with a review request email
• Scanning your social pages for positive reviews left under product pictures

How do I know if I’m review hijacking?

Now this is where we fall into “gray area” territory. The line between legitimate review sharing and review hijacking can be a little fuzzy. It all comes down to transparency and the perception of consumers. You might be technically correct in sharing reviews across various products, but if customers feel misled, you could still face damaging backlash.

Don’t stress. Here’s a few examples of what’s acceptable — and what could land your business in the crosshairs of the FTC.

• You typically can apply the same reviews to items that are the same formula or product, but different quantities or sizes. For example, a t-shirt that’s a size small can share the same UGC as its medium counterpart. The trial and regular sizes of a shampoo can also share reviews

• You should be careful when items are different, but not substantially different. For example, if you tweak the scent or recipe of a product. We always recommend a conservative approach in these instances. When in doubt, discard the review. (That said, our customer success managers are here to help if you have any questions!)

• You cannot apply reviews from an unrelated or completely different product to another item. As discussed above, that includes transferring the reviews of an older item to a newer model with a substantially different formula or makeup — especially if it can affect a customer’s health (think skincare, food products, supplements etc)

Generally, your best bet should follow “better safe than sorry” because transparency and authenticity are essential to consumer trust. Put yourself in your consumer’s shoes. If you think they might feel misled by a re-used review, simply don’t post it.

It’s much safer to be one review down and protect your brand reputation (and bottom line!) for the sake of a review, given that 72% of shoppers choose products based on a brand’s reputation.

Review your reviews with Bazaarvoice

The proposed FTC rule shows that the agency is championing the importance of authentic, transparent shopping experiences for consumers — something Bazaarvoice supports our customers in doing every day.  

We’ve always touted the importance of content transparency as a core value and worked hard to develop protocols for keeping the businesses we serve safe and compliant.

Reach out to your Bazaarvoice client success manager for an audit to ensure your current UGC programs are in compliance with the proposed FTC reviews guidelines and prevent your review count reverting to zero. 

And don’t worry. If you find that your current reviews can’t be used or you want a fresh batch of reviews for your product reformulation, we can help you supercharge your UGC collection to get powerful reviews and ratings that will boost customer trust. Get in touch below.

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The authenticity movement: building consumer trust without fake reviews

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