Consumers Trust in Online Reviews Skyrocketing!

Myles Anderson of BrightLocal just released the 2013 Local Consumer Review Survey at SearchEngineLand. What is eye-catching within the study is that there are very clear and indisputable results that we can easily see.

What we learned offers us four distinct takeaways.

• More people are trusting online reviews just as much as personal recommendations. A full 79 percent (up from 72 percent just a year ago!) say that genuine online reviews (emphasis on genuine) carry the very same impact if not more than a recommendation from someone they know.
• The trust in online reviews is growing. A stunning 72 percent are of the opinion that genuine, positive customer reviews make them trust a business more. This is up from 58 percent in 2012! It’s very apparent that buyers are seeking and taking note more than before and are placing their trust in reviews. At the same time, only some 12 percent of consumers said they pay no attention of online reviews, down from 17 percent in 2012.
• Also, people are viewing far fewer reviews before making their buying decisions. Notably, 67 percent of consumers read 6 reviews or less, up from 52 percent in 2012. Consumers are also reading less than 7 reviews – 22 percent now vs. 35 percent in 2012.
• It’s now more significant than ever to make sure you manage your online reputation. Since the number or reviews read are shrinking, as well as the impact of those reviews heightened, it’s important to make sure you are monitoring your online reputation for all current activity. As the most recent reviews are swinging the buying decisions, you’ll want to find out if anything negative shows up and act on it. Create a policy for handling negative reviews in an open manner, and a system for generating new, positive reviews which will send those less than desirable reviews further down the page . Be sure that these are genuine, as consumers are getting better at ferreting out fake and corporate-generated “reviews”.

Take this and run with it!

Information such as this is pure gold, and clearly actionable. Kudos to Myles Anderson and the people at BrightLocal for this very beneficial and eye-opening study.