Online review sites are the biggest way for consumers to share feedback on products and services. And when prospective customers are considering a purchase, they’re one of the first things they check.

Collecting ratings and reviews is great, but are you making the most of this valuable data? You can use testimonials to create social media posts that engage your audience and build trust in your products for services.

How to generate reviews for your business

Google My Business is the platform that is linked to Google’s search engine. When customers search for a business, Google displays a listing alongside the search results as displayed below:

It include details such as opening hours, photos, location and reviews (plus you can post content).

Gathering reviews on Google helps with your search ranking, and the more you have, the more credible you’ll appear to people who are looking up your business. Plus from my experience, there is a much better response in asking people to leave a review on Google than to email a testimonial. Perhaps because it’s not direct – who knows – but for me it works much better!

When asking your customers to write a review, send them a link which takes them directly to the review section of your Google My Business page to make it as easy as possible for them. You can use bitly.com to shorten the hyperlink.

If your business is listed on TripAdvisor or Trustpilot, you may wish to direct people to these platforms instead. But I would always suggest they leave you a review on a platform instead of via email, for the reason above but also because it’s then getting the advantage of being displayed in one of these places.

Facebook also has its own ratings and revies system, which may be relevant to you if you frequently use your Facebook page.

How to promote reviews on social media

1. Keep the message short

If the testimonial is lengthy, pick out the essential parts. You could then link to the full review wherever it is written such as on Google, or if it’s displayed on your website.

2. Use visuals

Words alone are unlikely to capture the attention of social media users. That’s why you need to get creative and use visuals to promote customer reviews. Canva is a brilliant tool for creating social media graphics, and they have an endless amount of testimonial design templates which you can customise with your colours and branding.

Another great way to share received reviews is to take a screenshot of them and share it to your social media channel.

3. Use reviews to ask for more feedback

When you share a testimonial, whether it be in the form of a graphic or screenshot, take the opportunity to encourage others to leave you a review too, stating which channels they can/should leave a review on.

Hopefully this quick guide has given you a few tips and tricks that you’ll be able to implement yourself when it comes to sharing reviews online. Good luck!