Where to obtain customer opinions about a company? The most popular platforms with company ratings and product reviews.

So far, we have been trying to encourage you to take care of online reviews, not only monitoring them but also actively acquiring them. Now that you know perfectly well how important it is for your company to collect reviews online, we will try to suggest where to do it. If you are wondering which portals to choose for collecting reviews, this article is for you. We assure you, the choice is huge.

How to use your customers' reviews?

As a reminder - positive reviews are nothing more than references given by consumers that act as bait for potential customers. On the other hand, negative reviews about your company provide an opportunity for learning and development. They allow you to see exactly at which stage your company fails to meet the needs of its customers, and then eliminate errors and improve the product.

It is natural that tracking all reviews about your company on the Internet can be somewhat overwhelming. Therefore, we should create a "forum" for customers to exchange views on our products or services online. This will allow us to have insight into reviews, and more importantly, to manage them. However, before deciding where to collect reviews about our company, we must understand the purpose of these actions. Let's not forget that it is primarily the profile and scope of our business that determine the best place to collect reviews.

Where to collect customer reviews about your company? You can't miss this

There are many ways to collect customer reviews about your company, its products, and services. You should be aware that customers will look for your company in several different places, from Google Maps to social media, and even industry-specific websites. The first and fundamental source of acquiring reviews is Google My Business listing. Thanks to it, customers can find and evaluate your business from the search engine, which positively affects local SEO. Presence on Google Maps is also crucial for the credibility of the company, improves the customer experience, and enhances business visibility.

Customers are increasingly interacting with brands through social media channels, among which Facebook remains the most popular. Regardless of the target group you want to reach, be sure that you will find it on FB. The times when consumers used this platform only for social purposes are long gone. Your current and potential customers share opinions about their purchases and browse recommendations from their friends every day. That's why it is essential to have an official company profile that allows you to engage in a dialogue with brand users.

Keep in mind that customers will find a place to exchange opinions about your business anyway, so it's worth enabling them to do so on your company's fan page. This is a space where it will be easiest for you to react and moderate discussions. Regardless, you should also monitor mentions of your company throughout the platform - various tools for protecting your company's online reputation can help you with that. Finally, a small reminder - currently, reviews on Facebook are a recommendation system in which customers can comment on your service or product using phrases related to your brand.

Profiles on industry-specific portals

If you operate in the tourism or gastronomy industry, customers will definitely check your presence on portals such as Booking or TripAdvisor. Research results clearly show that over half of customers do not make a reservation until they read reviews. Similar trends can be observed in the case of restaurants or tourist attractions.

Why are guest reviews crucial from the perspective of your business? Firstly, positive recommendations directly translate into an increase in the number of guests in gastronomic establishments and the number of reservations in the case of hotels. Remember that if you do not collect reviews and share them with potential customers, you will lag behind the competition. Your sales will also suffer as a result. Secondly, insight into reviews is a way to understand the expectations of your guests and an opportunity to better meet their needs. In reality, reviews are a reflection of your company's image in the eyes of the customer, so use them to develop and improve your offer.

So how can hotels or restaurants acquire more positive reviews? Tripadvisor offers a free tool that will help you with this task. Use Express Review to quickly send personalized email messages that will encourage guests to leave a review. The tool also allows you to track the effectiveness of all campaigns, giving you access to statistics on the number of messages sent and read, as well as reviews posted. In addition to acquiring public recommendations visible on the property's page, on Tripadvisor, you can also collect confidential reviews. You can obtain them through a custom survey that assesses the level of guest satisfaction.

Undoubtedly, you have also seen the sticker of the mentioned portal on the doors of hotels or restaurant windows. This is another brilliant idea to increase the number of new reviews and show guests that their opinions matter. The stickers are distributed free of charge, simply submit an application on the website, and the sticker will reach you in a few weeks. It is worth adding that the largest travel platform in the world, in addition to the categories mentioned, allows reviewing tourist attractions.

When it comes to Booking, currently guests rate their overall experience of staying at the property. Optionally, they can also review the hotel in terms of other elements such as value for money, location, or staff. In addition, the platform offers helpful analytical tools to monitor how reviews change over time and which areas of activity, such as cleanliness, comfort, or amenities, need improvement.

Both platforms allow listening and communicating with customers, improving the level of service, and nurturing customer loyalty. Finally, do not forget that the fields in which customers most willingly read reviews are the branża and restaurant industries. Other portals in this category include, among others, Agoda and Hotels.com.

Review platforms

Returning to the domestic market, we also have platforms facilitating communication between consumers and companies, namely review portals. Opineo is one of the first Polish review platforms, which facilitates purchasing decisions based on internet users' recommendations. The company collects reviews only from customers who have actually made purchases in an online store, which guarantees the credibility of the reviews. In fact, consumers rate not only the stores but also the purchased product and even the delivery service.

Since each review is verified in terms of its origin and the consumer's credibility, you can be sure that the reviews are not generated by dishonest competition. By cooperating with the service, you will also gain access to a panel where you can communicate with customers and have constant insight into their comments. The advantage of being present on the platform is consistent building of your business's image.

Another system for recommending online stores is the work of the creators of the Ceneo website. It operates based on online surveys sent only to customers who have actually used the services of a particular seller. This is intended to ensure an accurate picture of the stores and, on the other hand, protect companies from false accusations.

Ceneo offers companies membership in the "Trusted Reviews" program - this is an award given to those online stores that have the best reviews among consumers. The special designation next to your brand will undoubtedly be an element of building trust among potential customers and create an opportunity to improve the store's position in the comparison engine. Registration on the website is free, and all you have to do is integrate your store's offer with the comparison engine. From the perspective of Ceneo customers, the website is used to search for products available in online stores, compare their prices, and also allows for direct purchases on the platform.

Similar to Ceneo, other price comparison websites such as Skąpiec or Nokaut operate.

Auction and classified ad websites

The Allegro website has gone a step further and, in addition to rating specific products, allows for reviewing the sellers themselves. Therefore, reviews of the product only concern specific items, while in the case of sellers, a recommendation system is used. Additionally, several stages of the transaction, such as compliance with the description, customer service, and shipping costs, are subject to evaluation.

Auction websites do not end with Allegro, however. It is worth diversifying your activities to conduct multichannel sales. These platforms have a number of advantages, including ease of starting sales and the ability to reach a wide audience. It is worth paying more attention to platforms such as Empik Marketplace, as well as foreign trading portals such as eBay and Amazon. What connects all these options is the rating and recommendation system provided by people who have used the offer. In the end, it is enough to add that the high share of intermediaries in online sales is an undeniable fact in our country, and this trend is unlikely to change in the coming years.

In summary, you can collect reviews from your customers from various sources, depending on the industry in which you operate. These include, above all: Google My Business listing, official brand profile on social media, review platforms, or auction websites. These are just some of the many communication channels with current and potential customers that will give you insight into opinions about your services or offered products. Now that you know where to collect positive reviews, don't hesitate and take care of your presence wherever customers may be looking for you.