Let me ask you a question!
“When you think about purchasing a product, who would you likely trust?”
The salesperson selling the product; or
The customer who has already used the product and given an honest review
Well, without a second thought, I will go for the latter option. And I’m not the only one!
97% of consumers mention that customer reviews they read influence their purchasing decisions.
Consumers often look out for the experiences of other consumers and not the product-savvy descriptions that you enlist on your website. It’s not me, but the statistics below that says so!
So, if you have great software but no reviews, you might be losing on a considerable number of prospects or buyers.
However, software reviews can help you get them. So, engage and encourage users to review your software. It will not only bring value to your offerings but also help software seekers to count on you.
Read on to know the importance of getting software reviews.
The Importance of Software Reviews
The use of mobile devices in 2020 is increasing at a rapid pace. Thus, the power of local search is at its peak. Besides, industry experts believe that it will continue to grow and so will the impact of user reviews.
No matter how attractive your marketing is, you need customer reviews. However, there’s no second thought around the fact that customers are willing to hear you out, but believe me, they tend to trust other people more.
According to a survey, software reviews influence 98% of buyers. But the way it improves your online reputation gives it more power.
So, if you are a software/service company but are yet to tap on the benefits that software reviews can bring, here’s a quick rundown for you!
Significant Advantages of Software Reviews
1. It injects confidence among buyers
Word-of-mouth has been a critical consideration when it comes to ensuring any business’s credibility. But with the widespread accessibility of the internet in this age, online reviews carry equal importance as that of a personal recommendation.
According to the research published by BrightLocal’s Consumer Review Survey, 88% of customers put as much weight on online reviews as they would on personal recommendations.
Most of all, seeking online reviews before buying a product has become the new industry normal.
Thus, software reviews provide a sense of confidence in buyers to validate their purchase. The more users endorsing the software, the more are the chances of a prospect making the purchase.
2. It helps you build a loyal customer base
Building customer trust and loyalty is the prime objective of any business. And, user reviews can help you with this!
Source: Freshdesk
Through software reviews, users can emphasize the positives of your software and even show the likelihood of recommending it to others.
3. It encourages you to make the product even better
While positive reviews assure your prospects that you are authentic and trusted, constructive criticism can improve your offerings. So, software reviews tend to be one of the most valuable and organic ways of collecting customer feedback. This will not only give you room for improvement but also enable the prospects to preview your services. Remember, with negative reviews; you stand a chance to respond in a way that will win you even more customers.
4. It optimizes your SEO Rankings
Software reviews bring along many benefits that will help you rank higher in search engines. If you are wondering how I will walk you through!
- Long-tail searches
In this digital era, customer searches are turning out to be very specific. Even if it takes up their time to type, they prefer it as getting exact results is what matters the most.
Let’s say; a buyer is looking to streamline his business operations and heard from a friend that XYZ provides the best services. What will he do? He will open the browser and type “XYZ Reviews.” A list of user reviews published on different SaaS listing websites will appear. He will go through those reviews and decide if it’s the best service for his needs in an instant.
Thus, the chances of your product ranking higher in search engines rise.
- Unique Content
Software Reviews are something that you might get from your users regularly. This would add to uniqueness in the content you generate. Moreover, it serves as an excellent source for search engines as compared to generic software descriptions on your website.
- Search Engine Ranking
One of the factors that search engines take into consideration to rank websites is user reviews. They are crucial for local SEO.
According to Moz, reviews are the third most influential ranking factor for Google’s local pack.
Over the past few years, reading online reviews has become a part of the customer’s buying process. But there are specific sources that they prefer for reading reviews.
For instance, I pick Amazon for reviews of electronic items and Myntra for fashion.
So, you must ensure that you have software reviews on the most popular channels, and one amongst them is SaaS listing websites.
The Power of SaaS Listing Websites in 2020
To stand out in this fiercely competitive business landscape, it’s good to have more people talking about your product or services. Thus, software reviews, ratings, client testimonials, etc. help you showcase your product among top ones and attract potential customers.
This is where SaaS listing websites like SoftwareSuggest come into the role. Along with comprehensive information about your software, these highly popular websites also include user reviews to help buyers make an informed decision.
However, these websites have no coalition to the software they host. It provides trustworthiness for the software that potential buyers won’t find elsewhere.
Source: RevLocal
This states that listing your software on such a website will promote business growth.
Once you have your software or service listed on a SaaS listing website, it’s time you ask your customers to review them.
If you’re wondering that most customers don’t prefer to leave a review, and hence your efforts might be in vain, I have something for you to curb the myth.
Source: Roundpeg
So, without any hesitation, start asking your users to write software reviews.
How to Ask Customers to Leave a Review?
1. Send them an email
Customers who are using your software for a long time are more likely to give a review. So, email them and ask them to write a review for your product. Some SaaS listing websites even provide an email template to ease the process.
Furthermore, you can focus on certain aspects of the software you could like your customers to review. You can also ask your customers how the software has helped them improve their bottom-line results and use the same for case studies.
2. Offer voucher or gift card
It’s always useful to give something in return for the favor your customers do for you. You can give away gift cards, vouchers, coupons, or even discounts for their next purchase. If either of the ways to convince your customers to write a review fails, this will turn some heads for sure. That’s not all! Some SaaS listing websites give away rewards on their own to your customers for reviews.
3. Make a compelling request
Your customers should know that you value their feedback, and their review will help you improve your software. Provide them with some review templates or links to your SaaS listing website and boost the chances of getting reviews.
4. Use Popups but at an appropriate time
When a user opens your software, he is there for a task or with a goal. Make sure you don’t place a popup that will hit him in the middle of the task. It would not only come as a roadblock for him but would end-up ignoring the message. If the latter is the case, you might miss out on a valuable review!
So, set the pop ups to appear only when the user finishes his task.
Once you receive software reviews, make sure you respond to them. It shows that you value their inputs.
Based on the type of reviews you have received, ensure that your responses vary accordingly. I’ve some samples compiled for you here!
- In case of a positive review, say thank you
- If the user has a special about some features of your software, recognize them and reiterate showing you are great at that
- In case of a negative review, apologize and address their primary concerns. Explain to them what your product intended to and how you’re trying to do it. Show them you accept their suggestions and are always open to improvements. You can even ask them if they have a better solution to offer.
5. Share on social media
Sharing customer feedback via social media channels is an excellent way to show your audience that you care for your customers. It helps you build trust and have a growing audience.
Key Takeaways of Software Reviews
Software reviews are now an integral element of SaaS businesses. On the one hand, where it helps you convince the buyers that your services are superior, on the other, it improves your search engine rankings.
Above all, it demands fewer efforts as compared to other marketing tactics and yields better results.
So, have you, as a SaaS business owner, started utilizing the benefits of software reviews? If not, it’s never late to start!
I’ve outlined the most potent aspects of software reviews here. But I would love to learn how differently you’re making the most of your user reviews. Let me know in the comments.
Chirantan Patel is the Product Manager at Softwaresuggest & Callhippo, an Inc. 275 company that researches and analyzes software to educate, advise, and connect buyers and sellers of business technology.
