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Ever notice that when we hear a good tip about a movie, restaurant, or gossip around the water cooler, it makes us listen? It keeps us engaged and arouses our curiosity. Depending on the source, we either believe it or seek out more information. And, it’s the same for user-generated reviews and content (UGC) online. If we are looking at a purchase, we want to know more from the people who have already bought and tried it.
When it comes to buying, people look for reviews, videos, or photos from other people who have purchased and used the product. Shoppers feel that other customers have no ulterior motives and, therefore it must be legitimate.
70% of consumers believe peer recommendations above professionally written brand copy.
Reevoo
For eCommerce merchants, positive user recommendations and ratings are the Holy Grail of advertising. But, with so many social media and email marketing channels, how do you go about finding and curating good reviews?
Fortunately, there is a company that has solved this problem for you.
Gather, Curate, and Manage All UGC From A Single Platform
Yotpo is a user-generated content marketing platform. Their enterprise technology and integrated solutions enable marketers to gather, curate, manage and respond to all kinds of user content from just a single platform.
They leverage content throughout the buyer’s journey which increases brand awareness and sales. And the combination of technology, integrations, and partnerships with Facebook, Google, and Shopify makes it easy for users to operate and manage the application.
Yotpo’s robust platform is designed explicitly for eCommerce stores and scalable to any size of online businesses. Some of their enterprise customers include Away Travel, Moroccan Oil, Pura Vida Bracelets, MVMT Watches, UNTUCKit, GoPro, and Esurance.
Yotpo has been in business since 2011 and now has more than 300 employees globally and more than $101 million in funding.
Using data science, the platform generates up to 9 times more customer reviews and content than any other User-Generated Content (UGC) solution. Some of the tools they use are:
- Smart Algorithm – precisely determines which products to request reviews for, and when.
- Algorithm-backed Reminders – Sends an email reminder to your customers to leave a review at the perfect moment.
- Data Science – Emails customers at the right time.
- Yotpo’s Review Request Emails – Proprietary technology consistently gives 40-50% email open rates and 6-11% review response rates.
- Yotpo SMS – Targets customers directly through SMS avoiding potentially ending up in their spam folder through email.
Yotpo believes that the target market is real people, not businesses or demographic groups. User-generated content is people talking to other people.
The Value of Social Proof
Are you aware of just how influential and valuable UGC is? According to a study developed by Yotpo survey,
“On average, 55% of customers engage with UGC before making a purchase.”
And, it’s even higher with younger shoppers under 30. In a recent report, 97% of shoppers aged 18 to 29 said that peer reviews had an “extreme influence” over their buying decision.
And, Yotpo looks for more than just reviews. It returns relevant photos, videos, and Q&A from customers in all marketing channels.
Online Reviews and Ratings Turn Customers into Advocates
It’s no secret that UGC reviews are powerful motivators that drive sales. Yotpo studied one million reviews made on 6,623 products. 94% of purchases were for products that had an average rating of 4 stars and above.
Yotpo reviews can help you convert those customer reviews into sales. Reviews can be collected through a community Q&A, review request emails, SMS review requests, Yotpo on-site widgets, and customer rewards for submitting feedback. Customer content can be displayed in intentional ways to drive sales such as a review section on the home page, star ratings displayed under products, and at checkout to upsell products. Yotpo reviews use data-driven tools to make it easy for customer feedback after every purchase. Users can view their UGC performance analytics to see exactly which data collection methods work best for their bottom line. Data such as conversion rates, revenue & spending, ROI, and much more can be accessed directly through Yotpo's Advanced Analytics Dashboards.
One advantage of using star ratings, customers can find more highly rated products before they check out, increasing the likelihood of additional purchases and boosting your average order value (AOV). Full-service marketing agencies use the Yotpo app to quickly add the average star rating with the number of reviews next to each product. It increases traffic and sales to their client's eCommerce products.
Yotpo Improves ROI on Paid Channels Google & Facebook Partnerships
Yotpo has strategic partnerships with Google and Facebook, making it easy for the ratings and review widget to include star ratings in both Google AdWords and Product Listing Ads. The app can automatically build Facebook campaigns with your UGC.
Social proof has a tremendous impact on your eCommerce marketing. 25% of the world uses one or more social media platforms, with Facebook leading the pack at 1.6 billion users. This single, user-friendly app reaches your potential customers where they are. Their Smart Social Sharing will automatically post reviews and other content right on your Facebook business page.
The app collects billions of behavioral data points, and artificial intelligence optimizes every step of the buyer’s journey, from content generation to distribution through all channels.
Leveraging and Generating Social Proof for More Conversions
Large social networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others create a network effect and have incredible power to expand awareness.
Integrating with 26 eCommerce platforms and an exclusive partnership with Google, Yotpo is in a unique position to leverage UGC in both paid and organic Google search results. By exploiting all the social media outlets, Ecommerce companies benefit from more significant exposure and reviews.
Some of the examples are:
- Magento reports an average of 2.5 times more conversion rates
- BigCommerce conversions increase from 30% to as much as 120%
- Shopify merchants who use Yotpo have sold over $1 billion in goods
An official Shopify Plus Technology Partner, Yotpo has received over 1,000 5-star ratings from customers on that platform.
Yotpo helps you maximize your response rates with personalized review requests, reminders, and incentives.
Already Optimized for Mobile
Yotpo Reviews dashboard and tools are available on mobile devices which is mandatory for today's shoppers. Flurry data shows U.S. Consumers continue to increase their time spent on mobile devices. In fact, they spend a whopping 5 hours a day on these devices. With this information, we see mobile shoppers spending 37% longer on a site which creates more opportunities to capture new reviews, UGC, and sales.
A more effective way to collect reviews from customers is to utilize Yotpo SMSBump. With Yotpo's SMSBump, you gain the ability to send review requests through SMS. Data has shown that review requests through SMS garner a 66% higher conversion rate than any form of review collection.
Yotpo SMS is cutting through the clutter of email inboxes as well as successfully avoiding ending up in junk mail. SMSBump remains unique by offering a full suite of capabilities. Yotpo offers a multichannel subscriber collection method to build a large audience, fast. Customers can sign-up for SMS through on-site forms, QR Codes, and dual opt-in for SMS and Email.
Through Yotpo SMSBump, customers can receive targeted text campaigns for sales, exclusive offers, and releases, as well as 1-Click checkout links. Users can send a pre-built eCommerce Cart that will take subscribers from their messaging app straight to checkout at the click of a button. Sparking a two-way conversation between your brand and customers will increase brand loyalty and keep customers engaged with your brand. Yotpo SMS also allows you to build flows in real-time based on customer behavior. You can personalize your SMS flows to target customers who have abandoned their carts, customer support, and first-time customers.
Reap the Advantages of Instagram With Yotpo
Pictures paint a thousand words making Instagram the perfect product marketing platform. Yotpo integrates with a merchant’s Instagram account allowing placement of user-generated photos, content, and star ratings to create effective ads. Instagram’s engagement rate is the highest of any social media. Combining Instagram ads with Yotpo’s UGC and photos generate four times as many clicks at 50% less cost. By setting up a Shoppable Instagram, make it easier for shoppers to buy from your store.
Listen to Your Customers to Make Better Business Decisions
Beyond driving traffic and sales, the app lets you see what your customers are thinking and measure their responses. These insights are a valuable tool to improve what you offer and make better marketing decisions. It’s the simplest way to benefit from social media marketing because you manage everything with just one app.
Customers who write reviews are four times as likely to make another purchase increasing brand loyalty. Timely response to negative reviews resolves the issues immediately before they can spread like wildfire on social media and humanizes the brand.
Happy customers are your best marketers. Use Yotpo to let them strengthen your brand with their voice. If you need help integrating Yotpo into your digital marketing strategy, find a full-service marketing agency that can assist you with that and start growing your brand.
