By G+ Author: KJ Mason.
According to a recent survey, 82% of consumers say they find reviews “extremely valuable or valuable” and that consumers are willing to pay up to 99% more for a 5-star rated product than for a 4-star rated product.
Top sites such as Yelp, TripAdvisor and Amazon all fall under a continuously growing and shifting segment of “Review Forums.” These Review Forums are extensive, and it is inarguable that they have the greatest impact on consumer purchasing, over any far-reaching television campaign, or internet phenomenon. Social Media platforms tie into these sites, and many reviews are discussed in Facebook posts, Twitter tweets, and Google+ communities. These platforms provide conversations that can make or break a brand! Did you ever complain via tweet about that awful experience at “so-and-so” store? More often than not, not only are all of your followers listening, but the brand might be as well.
According to a survey by Zendesk, while Facebook was the leading resource for positive reviews, the most common place to find negative reviews were online review sites.
These highly trafficked sites are impacting online sales and spending every day. Many brands have began implementing their own tactics on these Review Forums, tactics similar to the olden days of “SEO”; and now recognized as Review Forum Optimization.
Customer Feedback Optimization
– On Wikipedia‘s Customer Feedback Management Service.
Also referred to as Review Forum Optimization or RFO. Similar to SEO, CFO is the process of affecting the visibility of select web pages or results in the natural or un-paid results of various customer feedback management services or online review forums. CFO stands for Customer Feedback Optimization, thus the sites being optimized are those for the review, ranking, and giving feedback of goods and or services by customers. In recent years review forums or customer feedback management services have been growing rapidly in influence, with 83% of consumers saying online reviews influence their perception of a company. In addition, a study states that, consumers were willing to pay between 20 percent and 99 percent more for an Excellent (5 star) rating than for a Good (4 star rating), depending on the product category.
Some commonly known review forums are Yelp (20 million visits in February 2013), Trip Advisor (10 million visits in February 2013), Travelocity (3.7 million visits in February 2013), Angie’s List (3.4 million visits in February 2013). Top companies providing service in CFO are Moz, Frost Media Solutions, and Bazaar Voice . Their main purpose is to help business owners monitor and manage their online image.
The following is an info-graphic on Review Forum Optimization that was submitted by Frost Media Solutions. Do you think brands sometimes don’t get a fair shake when it comes to overly angry fans? Comment below!
