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We live in a world of ratings and reviews. It is virtual word of mouth, only much more powerful. In fact, 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
Almost everything we do is preceded by checking a rating or review. We go to websites like Rotten Tomatoes before we go to the movies, we Yelp before we head to a restaurant and we read reviews from complete strangers before we buy practically anything from any business. Businesses that aren’t proactively managing and enhancing their online reputations should be scared.
Why? Because most businesses have competition, and your rivals could be swiping up customers before you have the opportunity to interact with them.
Here are six social media statistics for businesses that we hope will scare you straight!
Stat #1: 75% of shoppers research a business online before buying.
Most people are looking online first and then weed out companies they deem unworthy.
Stat #2: Only 37% of consumers go directly to a review site to find reviews.
However, when your company is searched, your Google and Yelp review ratings show up on the first page and horrifyingly, two-thirds of consumers will dismiss your business at that point.
Stat #3: 93% of consumers who read reviews say what they read online influenced their purchase decisions.
Don’t make the mistake of not actively managing these conversations or it will reflect negatively on your business’s perceived level of customer service.
Stat #4: 90% of consumers read less than 10 reviews before forming an opinion about a business, forming impressions quickly.
Every online review matters, especially the recent ones. At any moment, you could lose a customer because of a string of bad reviews. Make sure you have a plan in place to monitor for bad reviews and a solution for getting new, positive reviews.
Stat #5: 68% of millennials trust online reviews most, as opposed to 34% who trust television advertisements.
Times are changing, and you can’t rely on traditional lead generation tactics to fall back on. Millennials are a big chunk of the market right now and they trust reviews over traditional ads.
Stat #6: 55% of consumers use Facebook as a place to learn more about brands. When retailers replied to negative reviews on social media, a third of customers either deleted their original negative review or even replaced it with a positive review.
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