The voice of customers matters in social media. It can be a major driving force of your marketing strategy. Indeed, word-of-mouth has grown more potent in digital marketing. The empowered digital customer wants to be heard and listened to. With over 9 in 10 online shoppers stating their purchase decision is influenced by online reviews (1), it is important for businesses to have a strategy to generate and manage it. It must be in your digital marketing playbook. In this post, we feature measures you can take. 1. Ask! It's the most simple and effective step to take - ask customers for a review. A reason businesses fail to ask is the fear of a bad review. In the interest of listening to the voice of customers, a bad review is better than no reviews. Now, there are many ways you can ask for a review online, for example, post-purchase emails, a thank-you page on your website that requests for reviews or directing customers to the relevant page for them to share their experience. Most people are willing to share their experience, sometimes without incentivising them either. But it is important you do not come across as pushy. 2. Choose the relevant platform- social media and e-commerce If you are in e-commerce, you're most likely to encourage reviews on relevant sites like Amazon or eBay. It adds to their seamless shopping experience or encounter with your brand. If you're in the restaurant business, some of the social media platforms associated with the sector encourage diners to leave a rating as well as reviews. In addition to these, you can encourage customers to post their reviews on your social media platforms too, for example, Facebook or on your website. 3. Build on the engagement Customer reviews are good starting points to engage with them. It's an opportunity to turn them into conversations. To this end, it is important you respond to the reviews, good or bad. As mentioned, your customers want to be listened to. Your response underlines your commitment to listen to their voice. To develop effective customer review strategies, speak to a consultant today. (1) https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/online-review-stats