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Eighty-four percent of people report trusting online reviews as much as they trust their own friends. Do you know how to capitalize on all the reviews you get – including the positive ones?
You probably already have a strategy in place for handling negative reviews. You’ll respond publicly and show your commitment to fixing the problem or addressing the concern. If the negative review is really out of line, you might even use humor to get other readers on your side.
However, responding to positive reviews can actually pose more of a challenge. Is a simple “Thank you” enough? How can you make the response interesting and on-brand?
In this guide, we’ll give you some strategies for responding to those positive reviews. Keep reading to find out how and why to reply to positive responses!
Why You Should Reply to Positive Comments
It might seem like positive reviews can just stand alone and speak for themselves. What difference does the reply make? A lot, actually – let’s take a closer look.
1. People Appreciate Recognition
If someone compliments you in person, you’ll probably respond with a heartfelt “Thank you!” Replying to a positive review online functions much the same way – it shows appreciation and good manners.
When someone posts a positive review, they took the time and effort to share their thoughts with you. Not responding can look cold to other readers, and might make that person hesitant to write another good review about their next experience.
2. You Can Form a Connection
When you respond to online reviews, you have a new opportunity to create a connection with the customers who already like you. This can turn them into repeat customers, as well as repeat reviewers.
If you see someone post more than one positive review, you might spend more time making the response personal or fun. And you can also spend more time replying to the long, thought-out reviews to show that you appreciate the time they took.
Other people will see that you connect with your customers, and will probably want to share in the experience, too.
3. You’ll Improve Your SEO
In addition to making you look better in the eyes of customers, typing out responses can also benefit your SEO.
This is especially true when it comes to local search. Google considers how many reviews you get, and the type of review, when they prioritize content. The more reviews you get and engage with, the better your SEO will get.
How to Respond to Positive Reviews
Now that you can see why responding to positive reviews helps, let’s delve into how to work your response.
1. Address Problems
When a review is positive, it’s easy to ignore any bits of constructive criticism that appear within it. But you can add value to your review by addressing even small problems that were mentioned. Without making a big deal about it, show the reviewer that you hear them, and offer a solution if it makes sense to do so.
2. Use Their Name
One of the great things about online reviews is that they always have the user’s name attached. You can easily mention them by name to make your reply more personal and compelling.
3. Avoid Generics
Simply writing “Thank you” might be better than nothing, but not by much. Formulaic replies can sound like you just copy and pasted them, even if you actually didn’t.
Instead, add specifics in your review, to show that you read what they wrote and considered your response. The shorter and more impersonal their review is, the shorter yours can be. But try to add something to give it feeling, even if it’s just the perfect emoji or using their name.
4. Mention Specifics
To help your reply sound less generic, it often helps to reiterate a detail or two from the original review in your own reply.
This is also a great place for you to place keywords. For example, if someone mentions their neighborhood, you could write “I’m glad you had a great time at our [neighborhood name] store!” This gives your reply more texture, while also helping boost your rankings for searches in that neighborhood.
5. Encourage Action
You can also use your response as a time to encourage further action. This can be as simple as writing “We look forward to seeing you again!” Or it can be more elaborate, such as posting a link to your next event.
You can decide what actions to encourage based on the nature of the review. Someone who wrote a short review about a single experience might not be interested in purchasing a subscription package. But someone who wrote a long review that was thrilled about the experience could be.
6. Designate Times to Respond
If you don’t have a full-time social media team to check reviews and write responses, this task might seem daunting. However, you’ll be able to respond to reviews quickly and effectively if you designate specific times for the task.
The amount of time you devote to this depends on how many reviews you get. For a small business, once a week might be enough. If you get lots of reviews, you might check once a day instead.
Block this task into your calendar as needed, and write out the responses at that time. That way, you won’t get old reviews piling up while you don’t have time to reply to them.
Ready to Get More Positive Responses?
When you respond to your positive reviews, and not just the negative ones, you’ll probably find yourself getting more and more of them. This boosts your credibility in the eyes of new potential customers so you can grow your brand.
However, there are many other ways you can handle your online reputation for the best results. For more tips, don’t miss this guide.