Reviews and Ratings: Leveraging User Feedback as User-Generated Content

User reviews and customer ratings are vital forms of user-generated content (UGC) for customers and brands. These types of social proof provide invaluable insights that are authentic, honest, and transparent, and they feel far more genuine than traditional ads.  

Keep reading if you want to make the most of user reviews and ratings to drive credibility, improve SEO, and boost conversion rates. We’ve covered everything you need to know about collecting reviews, responding to customer feedback, and using ratings as a powerful social proof tool. 

How Customer Ratings and Reviews Benefit Your Brand 

Research from Search Engine Journal reveals that over 99.9% of customers read reviews when shopping online, 50% trust reviews as much as personal recommendations, and 69% feel positive about using a business if its reviews describe positive experiences. 

It’s no surprise, then, that user reviews and ratings massively influence online purchasing decisions.  

When customers read positive reviews, they’re reassured about the quality of products or services. This reduces purchasing hesitation and increases conversion rates. Reviews also have a positive effect on SEO, as they increase website content and keyword variations and encourage engagement. 

Additionally, UGC video product feedback that attracts social shares, likes, comments, or common threads like hashtags that point back to your brand improves your search engine rankings. Plus, Google prioritises ranking businesses with positive reviews as it signals to the search engine that you're trustworthy and provide a good customer experience. This is exactly the kind of value-driven result they want to provide to users.

Strategies for Collecting User Reviews

Collecting user reviews requires a proactive approach that ensures a steady stream of authentic customer feedback. Using these strategies, your brand can gather reviews and customer ratings on an ongoing basis:

Ask at the Right Time: Timing is everything when requesting reviews. Be sure to request reviews after a positive interaction, such as after a purchase, delivery, or successful customer query resolution.

Simplify the Process: The easier it is for customers to leave reviews or UGC video product feedback, the more inclined they’ll be to do so. To simplify the process, use short surveys or email prompts or include links to your social media, Google Reviews, or other relevant pages. 

Offer Incentives: By offering discounts, loyalty points, or small rewards, you can encourage your customers to share their experiences and feel valued at the same time. 

Utilise Multiple Channels: Your customers may leave reviews on numerous places online, such as Google, Yelp, and social media. Be sure to collect reviews on all the platforms where your audience is active to ensure you don’t miss any.

Responding to Customer Feedback

While collecting user reviews is essential for your UGC strategy, it’s only half the job. You also need to engage with your customers and respond to their feedback, even if it's negative. In fact, especially if it’s negative. This is vital for maintaining a positive brand image because your response plays a major role in influencing customer perceptions.

There are several best practices for responding to reviews, starting with always thanking customers for their feedback. This shows you value their input and are listening to what they have to say. It is also a great opportunity to invite satisfied customers to share their experiences on other platforms or to recommend your brand to friends and family.

If any concerns are voiced in a review, you need to address them promptly and provide solutions. If necessary, apologise for the issue and explain what you’ll do to rectify it.

It’s important to personalise your response rather than using a copy-paste generic reply for every user review. By personalising your response, you’ll make customers feel heard and valued, and they’re more likely to engage with your brand again as they know you’re listening. 

How To Handle Negative Feedback

Maintaining transparency in handling user reviews and ratings is critical for ensuring that prospective customers trust your brand. This means that you should never filter out negative reviews or delete them.

While negative reviews are inevitable, they actually offer your brand a lot of value as you can learn from them, especially if there are recurring themes. They offer insights into areas for improvement and give you the opportunity to demonstrate your dedication to customer satisfaction. In some cases, your response can change a customer's mind about your brand, turning them into a loyal supporter. 

While addressing negative feedback isn’t always easy, it’s a whole lot simpler if you know how. The trick is to stay calm and professional and avoid reacting defensively. It’s best to approach the situation with a problem-solving mindset and reach out to the customer directly to resolve the issue, then invite them to update their review. If they choose not to, you can post your own response highlighting how you resolved the issue and reinforcing your reliability.

Using Customer Ratings as Social Proof

While reviews offer ample opportunities for leveraging feedback as UGC, ratings are a quick way to convey trust and quality to potential customers. The majority of customers expect a business to have a rating of between 4 and 5 stars, so, to maximise the value of your ratings, you can:

Showcase Your Ratings Prominently: Display your average customer ratings and review highlights on product pages, advertisements, and social media for greater reach and impact.

Highlight Aggregated Scores: Use your cumulative ratings in your marketing, such as “95% of customers recommend this product,” to build trust.

Incorporate UGC: Pair your ratings with customer photos or video reviews to increase your brand’s authenticity.

Make Customer Feedback Count 

User reviews and customer ratings do more than tell you how people feel about your brand. They’re a valuable form of UGC that you can use to shape purchasing decisions and build trust. Whether it’s UGC video product feedback, star ratings, or even a negative review, with the right approach, you can use this information as a powerful asset to increase customer loyalty and facilitate brand growth. 

Ready to leverage user feedback as UGC? Book a demo today and see how we can help you grow.