The Future of Online Customer Reviews: 9 Trends

1. Online Reviews are shaping the Tactical Direction of Content Marketing

In the future, online reviews are likely to be the key factors shaping the tactical direction of content marketing.

Car dealers need to understand review trends before coming up with any marketing campaign.  

2. Linking Reviews with Social Networks

With the exponential growth of social platforms, fake reviews are likely to be a thing of the past. Even if reviewers choose to stay anonymous, they will still have to validate their identity with their social profiles.

3. SEO Friendly Reviews

Reviewers expect attention either from the dealer or other prospects. More and more of these customer reviews are happening on mobiles.

With Siri, Alexa, and Cortana fast gaining user traction, customer reviews are likely to be conversational in nature, and guided by apps to be voice SEO friendly.

4. Faster Response to Negative Reviews

With more and more people being connected to one or more social networks during their waking hours, responding to negative reviews and containing them before they go viral is now a top reputation management priority.

Expect the 6 hour golden window to shrink significantly in the near future.

5. Multimedia Reviews will be the Norm

Micro-videos are now trending on apps like Instagram, Vine, etc. Review platforms are likely to adopt this feature, to enable evidence-based customer reviews.

6. Review Sites will become more Emotionally Responsive

Online review platforms are gearing to be more social, incorporating features like emoticons. Expect them to be more emotionally responsive in a variety of ways. 

7. Customer Reviews May Morph Product Descriptions

Conventional wisdom says that products are defined by their product descriptions. Not anymore, at least not with passenger vehicles.

Even now, prospects rely more on reviews than product descriptions when buying a new car. This trend is likely to gain more ground in the near future.

8. Prospects will Read Their Friends’ Reviews First

As the circles of social influences grow, prospects are likely to rely more on their friends’ reviews than others.

9. Emotion Recognition will be key to sustaining Customer Loyalty

Facial recognition software that allows you to read your customers’ emotions are already available. Expect this technology to drive emotionally sensitive customer-centric services at dealerships, in the near future.

For more insights, Contact Us.