By generating personalized responses and continuously monitoring feedback, businesses can mitigate the damage caused by negative customer reviews and use them as catalysts for improvement.

This blog has the 7 strategies for managing negative customer reviews. We’ll even show you how to turn negative customer reviews into positive branding. 

What is a negative customer review?

A negative customer review is any feedback that paints your brand in an unfavorable light. Research suggests that any starred review below 4 might turn off future customers. 

In truth, consumers are more understanding than you may think. They know things happen. Your response to negative customer feedback sways potential customers more than the review itself. 

Understanding the psychology behind negative customer reviews

Negative feedback can be a blow to your customer retention efforts. And you should make every effort to get to the bottom of why customers are unhappy. 

After all, unhappy customers are more likely to share their experiences than satisfied customers. 

Not only that, a negative customer review leaves a lasting impression. Studies show that it can take at least 12 experiences to undo the impact of one unresolved, bad experience. 

Promptly addressing negative customer feedback is the best way to neutralize its power to damage your online reputation. 

Having good and bad reviews is normal. That’s what Jay Baer, Customer Experience & Digital Marketing Expert and the author of the book, Hug Your Haters, told us in Birdeye View 2023. 

Human psychology proves that a customer is likelier to share a bad review than a good one because we tend to feel the negative experience more intensely. 

Though often unwelcome, bad reviews can be important for several reasons. Baer opines that customer service and customer experience are marketing.

7 Steps of how to respond to negative reviews

Routine action and immediate review responses are how you publicly prioritize customer satisfaction. Discover effective review-response strategies below to address negative feedback. And take the steps to solidify your commitment to customer service.

1. Act promptly

The longer you wait to respond to negative reviews, the more damage they’ll do to your brand. Respond quickly and communicate that consumers’ concerns matter. You’ll show that you pay attention and value their input. 

You’ll also prevent hot-topic escalations when you show up and respond promptly to negative customer feedback.

2. Express empathy

Be genuine about apologizing for your customers’ frustrations. Copy-and-paste, generic responses won’t have the empathy needed. Authentic and compassionate responses will publicly recognize their poor experience and provide validation for the negative experience. Make sure, too, they feel heard to diffuse tensions.

3. Take the conversation offline

Don’t get into the back-and-forth online, airing the gritty details of the complaint online. Instead, get specific about the issue with the reviewer offline. 

• Acknowledge the problem publicly, then take the conversation private. 
• Ask them to join you on a call or email them privately. 

That’s where you’ll dig into the details and negotiate the best way forward.

4. Find a solution the problem

It’s important that before you throw any refunds or solutions at your customer, you acknowledge the root concern. From there, you can offer insights into how your business plans to resolve the issue. 

Being proactive with potential solutions and support showcases that you care – about them and about resolving the issue. 

• Take a structured approach to solving problems.
• Outline your action plan. 
• Follow through on each action. 

5. Highlight your strengths

Seize this negative feedback opportunity to introduce other, more positive, aspects of your business. Remind the unhappy customer about what your company does well. Maybe this includes notable awards or achievements. 

And it can always include your brand’s commitment to top-notch client satisfaction. By emphasizing your strengths, you’ll remind them that it’s not so bad doing business with you. It subtly reminds them, too, about the qualities your business values. 

6. Offer compensation

Sometimes, all you really need to do to turn a negative customer experience into a positive customer experience is offer compensation. 

A refund is always going to be a good idea. It demonstrates goodwill and respect. It’s also a genuine commitment to addressing the concerns of a negative reviewer. 

Discounts, freebies, and refunds usually rebuild trust in the business-customer relationship. And it certainly encourages the consumer to give your business another shot.

7. End on a positive note

• Always wrap up your customer conversations, online and offline, with respect, positivity, and appreciation. 
• Be thankful for the opportunity to make things right. 
• Emphasize that their reviews help you improve your customer service. 
• Reassure the reviewer that you care what they think and continuously strive for improvement.

These 7 practical methods for responding to negative reviews demonstrate your empathy, professionalism, and service commitment. Using these tips, you can make negative customer reviews work favorably. 

If you want to use these strategies and discover more examples, check out how to respond to negative reviews  – a business owner’s guide that discusses bad reviews from consumers. 

Are 3-star rating reviews always negative?

On the surface, a 3-star rating is satisfactory or average. But to your future customers, too many 3-star ratings are suspect. A study by Harvard Business Review revealed that 3-star evaluations can give you valuable insights and information.

That’s why you need to analyze three-star reviews. You’ll probably spot recurring themes and patterns. Then, you can make changes to bump those mediocre reviews into shining, 4-star positive feedback. 

Read our blog about handling negative reviews to turn dissatisfied customers into loyal ones. 

The hallmark of negative customer reviews and how they can help your business grow

Negative customer reviews can be demoralizing. It helps to remember they’re also an opportunity to improve. Customer feedback is also an excellent way to learn where your company stands regarding product quality, delivery, and service. 

Some of the ways negative customer reviews positively impact your business when handled well include:

Enhance customer service

Negative online reviews usually focus on customer service. They’re an opportunity to re-evaluate and improve. 

Companies can improve customer service, reputation management practices, and employee training through assessing consumer feedback. 

Resolve product issues

Negative customer reviews usually shed light on product-related issues. When customers complain about a service or product, you get insight into the items’ efficacy, quality, and usability. 

Timely handling of customer complaints shows your company’s dedication to quality. You can make changes that will benefit all of your customers by responding to the concerns of your most vocal critics.

Streamline service delivery

Negative reviews highlight problems or inefficiencies. With this information, a company can better serve its clientele and compete in the marketplace.

Room for growth

A negative comment allows you to address issues. You can issue remedies and acknowledge the problem to ensure future customer happiness. 

Enhancing a consumer’s experience shows others that your business cares. Incorporating improvements based on online reviews will increase customer loyalty. 

Business owners can improve the overarching customer service experience in a couple of key ways. First, analyze your reviews and look to spot any recurring issues. Look for any not-so-great customer service trends, too.

You can use these insights to streamline operations, address service delivery hiccups, and optimize processes that impact the consumer journey. 

Use AI to turn negative reviews into positives

Birdeye’s AI-powered customer experience platform, like Reviews helps you run your business more efficiently. 

The benefits of AI reputation management platforms like Birdeye Reviews empower you to tackle negative customer reviews and 

• Auto-generate review responses to each customer review
• Automate the process by responding to customer reviews using pre-fixed templates and rules
• Translate reviews to respond in your customers’ language
• Generate a review summary to get an overview of reviews received
• Rephrase review responses that are on-brand and thoughtful without grammatical errors

Here’s what Melissa Cameron, SVP of Customer Acquisitions, National Storage Affiliates, shared at Birdeye View 2023 during the session about ‘Harnessing the Power of AI & Automation for Customer Feedback,’ 

Know more about Birdeye pricing based on your specific business requirements. 

FAQs on negative customer reviews

Handle negative customer reviews the way you handle positive ones

Negative customer reviews are brilliant opportunities for your teams and businesses to grow and improve. Addressing issues and being proactive about your response efforts can improve the user experience. Remember that learning from mistakes is part of achieving success and progress. 

If you want to learn how successful review management is and how to put customer reviews to use in your business, Birdeye Insights can help. For your business, we can make it happen.

The post Turn Negative Customer Reviews into Positive with These 7 Steps appeared first on Birdeye Customer Experience Management.

If you’re on the hunt for customer opinions, you need to target the correct audience — one that will be fair but honest. And knowing where and how to find that audience is key. 

From targeting website visitors to connecting with the right pool of people, in this blog, we’ll give you ideas on where you can find ideal survey respondents.

What are survey respondents? 

Survey respondents are participants who share their experiences and opinions while answering survey questions. It could be someone who has gone through the whole customer journey or individuals who have previous experience with your business.

Why do businesses need survey respondents? 

Businesses need survey respondents to obtain relevant customer feedback, opinions, and experiences to improve customer satisfaction. Finding qualified and willing survey participants allows for a high response rate.

How to choose the right survey respondents

Selecting the right survey respondents allows you to obtain relevant, accurate, and actionable customer feedback. 

You want to distribute your survey to respondents who:

• Are relevant to the questions you are asking
• Have been through the entire customer journey with your brand 
• Have recent experience with your brand, especially if you’re asking questions about products/services

Here’s how to choose the right survey takers who will provide quality responses to your questions.

1. Define your objectives: Clearly identify the objectives of your survey. Be straightforward with the questions so respondents understand what you’re asking. 
2. Identify your target audience: Identify the broad group of people you want to reach with your survey. This is your target audience. Take into account their demographics, behaviors, sales history, and other relevant data.
3. Determine your sample size: The sample size is the number of people you need to survey to draw the best conclusions. Use statistical tools and formulas to calculate an ideal sample size based on your desired confidence level and margin of error.
4. Segment your audience: If your survey has multiple objectives or if your target pool of people is diverse, consider segmenting your audience. This allows for comparisons between different groups.
5. Ask screening questions: Screening questions help you gather feedback from respondents who fit your target profile. For example, if you’re interested in opinions from people who have bought a specific product, start with survey questions that filter out those who haven’t.
6. Offer incentives: Giving participants a discount or other rewards can boost response rates. Ensure incentives are relevant and manageable as to bias responses.

Types of survey respondents to beware of

When conducting a survey, you want to categorize respondents into different types based on their response behavior, attitude, or patterns. These insights will help you interpret survey results more accurately and eliminate biases.

Let’s look at these types of survey respondents:

• Professionals: These are respondents who take surveys seriously and will usually complete the research without skipping questions. They’re considered good respondents because they tend to provide thoughtful responses.
• Speeders: They rush through the survey without giving much thought to their answers. Their responses can sometimes be seen as unreliable because they might not have read the questions carefully.
• Rule-breakers: They have a difficult time following instructions. Either they’re breaking the rules intentionally or are clearly not paying attention. Screening questions can help weed this group out.
• Straightliners: Also known as flat liners. These respondents are just looking to get through a survey and might not be paying close attention. They tend to choose the same response option (e.g., strongly agree) for all questions, especially for Net Promoter Score rating.
• Cheaters: This category includes real and fake respondents (e.g., bots, multiple accounts, etc.) They’re majorly motivated by the incentives being offered and will do anything to claim the rewards without actually doing the work of completing the survey.
• Posers: These consist of over-claimers and under-claimers. Over-claimers tend to answer positively to all statements, even those that might be contradictory. Under-claimers might under-report behaviors or opinions, possibly due to social desirability bias. 

Where to find survey respondents

Depending on the objectives of the survey research, the right respondents can be found in a lot of different places, including via text and email. 

Let’s look at where you can solicit customer feedback and attract potential survey participants without being intrusive. 

1. Social media

Social media is a very convenient tool for finding survey respondents. You can easily request that your loyal community on social media participate in your online survey. Simply post the survey link on your page, in your bio, or in your stories, and ask your followers for their feedback — they may even share it with their own followers.

Remember to promote your survey extensively across different channels — if you’re active on Instagram and Facebook, post your survey in both places. This will encourage more participation. 

Additionally, use relevant and trending hashtags in your survey posts to increase visibility to a broader audience. You may consider collaborating with influencers in your niche by asking them to promote your survey to their audience.

2. Email lists

It’s especially easy to survey your target audience if you already have their email addresses. Use the following steps to create a persuasive customer satisfaction survey invitation email. 

Step 1: Write a catchy subject line

Your subject line is one of the most important parts of your email — if it doesn’t grab attention, your customers might delete the email without ever opening it. Use your business name in the subject line and keep the tone conversational and friendly.

Step 2: Create the message

Write a meaningful and personalized message asking your customers to share honest feedback about their recent purchases or interactions with your business. Don’t forget to state that you value their unique feedback and intend to use it to improve your products and services. 

Step 3: End with a purposeful CTA 

Be sure to add a direct call-to-action (CTA) button at the end of the email so that your customers know exactly what action to take and how to take it.

3. Text subscriber lists

If you have a list of phone numbers, text subscriber lists are great for generating respondents. Be mindful to keep your text messages short, direct, and meaningful. 

Also, add a survey link to the page where you want your customers to share their feedback. NPS surveys work really well with SMS, too, due to their simplicity.

SMS texting is a more personalized way of communicating with customers. Just be sure that you select the appropriate texting time (not in the middle of the night) for sending out your survey request.

4. Reviews

Look at reviews about your business on Google or Facebook. Choose the most relevant reviews, based on the purpose of your survey. For example, if you’re trying to improve a product, prioritize those specific reviews that give detailed feedback about the product’s features or performance.

Next, reach out to the customer who left the review. Send a personalized message asking them to participate in your survey. Make a point to mention why their feedback is particularly valuable. 

5. In person

You can also get survey respondents physically by interacting with customers who come to the physical location where you do business. Additionally, you can turn to your own loyal employees if they are eligible as relevant respondents to your survey.

Other physical locations where you can find respondents include: 

• Malls, parks, public squares, local events
• Playgrounds, schools, public-teacher meetings
• Colleges, libraries, community centers

Always approach potential respondents politely and professionally. If they’re not interested, thank them for their time and move on. Do not pressure anyone into participating. 

Best practices for keeping survey respondents engaged

Many people may disregard an online survey invitation if it has no clearly defined purpose. A well-designed customer survey will collect honest answers and assist with data collection. It will also increase response rates. 

Here are some actionable tips and best practices that will help you get the most out of your survey respondents.

1. Set expectations upfront

Let respondents know upfront just how long the survey will take to complete. If possible, add a progress bar at the bottom of each page, too. This allows them to see how far through the survey they are. It’s also potentially encouraging to keep them going to complete the survey.

2. Keep the survey short

Be respectful of your respondent’s time. Ask short, easy-to-answer, and simple questions that your respondents can understand. Avoid the overuse of jargon, as this can lead to the abandonment of the survey. Lastly, verify that your survey questions flow well in the order you’ve placed them.

3. Make it convenient

Make it easier for customers to participate in the online survey. Include a direct link to the survey questions so respondents don’t have to work hard to find the survey. You can additionally send the survey invitation via text or email.

4. Ask open-ended questions 

Open-ended questions give participants a chance to respond in greater detail. Be sure to phrase your questions and research topic correctly to avoid receiving generic one-word, yes-or-no answers.

Survey respondent FAQs

Get the most out of your surveys with Birdeye

Get a deeper insight into what customers think about your company or its services with custom surveys. Birdeye survey software lets you ask only the questions that matter the most and to the right audience. Learn how to automate your online survey invitations and get more respondents.

The post How to find survey respondents and get the most out of your surveys  appeared first on Birdeye Customer Experience Management.

This blog details the panel discussion on Grow sales by delighting customers with George Grigoryan – Marketing Director, SEV, and Vandana Agarwal, VP of Pre and Post-Sales, Birdeye and Justin Meredith.

Key Takeaways of the “Grow sales by delighting customers” session: 

• Customer delight means going above and beyond the customer expectations in your industry so that you can outshine your competitors. 
• Good customer experience or delight has significantly evolved to finding value across every touchpoint. 
• Focusing on customer delight turns customers into brand advocates, improves brand awareness and increases word-of-mouth recommendations.  
• Delivering a consistent experience across locations is challenging and needs quality-check processes, staff training, and a customer-centric culture. 
• The advent of AI can help businesses route tasks like responding to reviews, social media post generation, and survey responses to AI. 
• Businesses should leverage AI and utilize their human agents to personalize customer interactions and provide a personal touch to all customer interactions. 

Watch this exciting conversation here to learn more about customer delight: 

Grow Sales by delighting customers – Session Transcript: 

Justin Meredith (Birdeye): Good morning, Good afternoon, and Good evening everyone. 

We are so happy to have you join us for today’s session, “How to grow sales by delighting customers.” My name is Justin Meredith, and I’ll be your moderator. In this session, we will talk about a few things you can do to delight your customers, and by simply doing that, you can generate more revenue for your business.

Let me introduce today’s guest speakers. We have Vandana Agarwal – the vice president at Birdeye, for pre and post-sales functions. Also, we have George Grigoriyan – the marketing director of SEV, a leading Med Spa with over 30 locations across the United States. Welcome. 

Justin: I’m super happy that you’re here too because we are going to be diving into a fantastic topic, and I think it will resonate with many of the people tuning in right now. And we will uncover the secret to sales growth by simply delighting your customers. But before we jump into that, can you tell us more about what you and your team do at SEV?  

“Customer delight helps business growth. Delighted customers become brand advocates. They happily share your business with friends, write reviews and testimonials.”

George Grigoryan

George: Of course. SEV is a multi-location med spa combining Boutique experience with affordable pricing. We offer laser hair removal injectables, microneedling, and other comprehensive skin care treatments with nearly 30 locations throughout the United States. We’ve become a household name in the massage industry. 

Justin: So we are here to discuss how to delight your customers. While it seems simple, there is much more to it than it may seem. George, what does it mean to Delight your customers?

George: We’ve always heard that businesses should strive to meet client expectations, but given today’s landscape, I believe businesses shouldn’t just meet the expectations. They should strive to exceed expectations and go above and beyond because if competitors meet their expectations, what’s the value your business adds? 

Justin: Vandana, you have an incredible experience in customer success, and that is just ensuring that your customers are delighted. But what does that mean to you, and how does that apply to some of the other people who are tuning in from different Industries? What does it mean to delight your customers? 

Vandana: The definition of delighting customers has changed a lot. It’s not just about providing a great experience or doing a great job during that one appointment. You have to ensure 

• you are giving them easy ways of finding you when they’re running a search.
• You’re available on all the social or communication channels they want to contact you on. 
• You’re making it super convenient for them to book an appointment with you or make a payment to you. 

Every touchpoint needs to have value additions done to delight customers these days. 

Justin: So, how can you focus on providing exceptional customer experience as a business?  

George: Honestly, the answer is probably everything. You have to hit all the variables across. But if we had to summarize them, the few central areas would be service, pricing, and people. 

Service has to be exceptional; you have to promise and cater to every client’s needs. I would also say pricing is critical. It is straightforward to say that we’re the best and charge the most expensive price. But it’s much harder to be the best and charge an affordable price. 

I believe that nowadays, it is essential to personalize customer experience. Last but not least, I would say people. Being in the med spa industry, our nurses and receptionists are our most significant assets. They’re the ones facing the clients, and they’re the ones delighting the customers at the end of the day.

Justin:  Interesting. Now, outside of just having happy customers, what would you say are some of the benefits that you’ve seen that result from delighting your customers?

George: If I were to say one word, I would say growth. We wouldn’t be where we are if it weren’t for our customers. Let’s look at it this way-  delighted customers become your brand Advocates. They will happily share your business with friends and write reviews and testimonials. Then word of mouth takes, more clients come, and you start getting better rankings on search engines, and the whole growth cycle just develops. 

“AI can help businesses save a lot of time or resources, do a quality job, and delight customers. Recurring tasks can go to AI, while businesses focus on building a human touch in interactions.”

Vandana Agarwal

Justin: Now, Vandana, you have worked with all types of businesses, especially at Birdeye. In your experience, what have you seen as the benefit for businesses that can delight their customers?

Vandana: Yeah, it creates a lot of positive noise on social media and other channels. When you spend time delighting customers, they become your brand ambassadors and write great feedback online; they follow your social media, boosting your business. 

Also, it’s important to note that not all delighted customers proactively do this. It works well when businesses remind them that they have just had a good experience and make it easy for customers to write a review or leave a comment. So it’s a combination of delighting, making it easy for them, and reminding them to spread that word online. 

Justin: That’s a great point, and the word that you said was easy. I think that’s something that can be a game changer for many businesses when you can just make it easy for your customers. 

If exceeding high customer expectations and truly delighting customers was easy, we would have many happier customers. But it is not so easy. George, what pain points in that customer-to-business relationship can lower customer satisfaction levels?  Please share anything you know in your experience at SEV that you had to overcome to deliver customer delight. 

George: When it’s just a business with two or three locations, and especially all three locations are in the same city, it’s a little easier to manage and provide the same quality of service. There are the exact expectations from the customers, and the owners can easily visit and just check on their staff. But growing, scaling, and making sure you still don’t compromise on that quality and personal touch are some of the main challenges when they scale. 

“I love BirdAI. We use it to generate more (review) response options.”

George Grigoryan

So, making sure you have the systems in place with the staff training and quality expectations across is important. Businesses must make sure that across the board, wherever the client visits, they get the best experience. 

Justin: So, looking ahead, I think everybody here knows about this boom of AI that we’re in. I think it was late November when chat GPT was released, and since then, it seems like the entire world has gone full AI. That’s not just on the business side but also on the consumer side, which can affect some of their expectations.

So, George, what is your prediction for the future as technology evolves? Will customer expectations continue to evolve? 

George: I mean, it’s a very fascinating landscape, and it’s only going to keep growing and developing. The future can be so easy that you can get a website done with a click of a button. 

I believe that the human aspect, which is the personal touch, would only become more valuable. If calling or texting becomes the norm, having a human answer will be much more valuable. 

So, I think businesses would highlight real operators- real humans will become an asset to a brand.

Justin:  I think that makes total sense, and businesses could promote having real humans that will talk to customers and make it almost a marketing campaign. Vandana, from your perspective, because you work here at Birdeye, we are a technology company looking forward and progressing. We’re leaders in the pack, especially regarding automation things like AI. What is your prediction for the future as technology and customer expectations evolve?

Vandana:  I think AI can help businesses save a lot of time or resources, do a quality job, and delight customers. All recurring things can be done through AI. For example,  AI can help write a response to a review and quickly create a social media post. Businesses can instead spend time building the human touch and resource management as an asset while offloading as much as possible to AI.  

Justin: Yes, you can use AI and automation to take away a lot of the tedious manual work, and you can use that human capital to focus on the essential things. This can be being able to talk to a customer face to face or handle a more negative review that might require a more nuanced approach from an actual person instead of an automated review response.  

But, if you had to respond to hundreds of reviews, it would be much harder to get to those negative ones. Whereas, if you can use automation to help, you could get through many of them. That’ll give you more time to spend on the more significant issues AND give that human touch. 

Now, George, in that aspect, is SEV implementing any AI capabilities at the moment?

George:  We’re using chat GPT at this point. We’re also using Birdeye’s new product – BirdAI. By the way, I love the product. We use it to generate more response options. I think having options is so good. Words significantly impact people, so having different variations of the same sentence so you can pick and choose helps. 

Justin: Yeah, I was a social media manager in a past life. And trying to think of multiple ways to say the same thing repeatedly is exhausting. I would have loved to have something like BirdAI to write all the captions or to come up with different options I could choose from or play around with. Vandana, would you be able to tell us a little bit more about BirdAI? I know we’ve got some pretty cool capabilities that we just released.

Vandana: Thank you, George, for experimenting with all the new features. Just so that everybody knows, we recently launched a review response AI. Over 70 percent of the responses done manually through Birdeye are all AI-generated, which is a big win. We are also adding a lot to our AI features. As of last week, we have launched listings description – you can write SEO-friendly descriptions, and Birdeye Social can save time posting on social media using our AI. 

We have also launched automated web chats. You can draft a quick response when a question comes in on your web chat, or if a question comes in through social media, you can respond to a message using our AI.  

You can also draft your survey, respond to survey responses, etc. This is a game changer because you’re saving so much time and can improve your response quality without hiring additional staff. 

Justin: Incredible. Also, some extraordinary capabilities are coming out. For example, our social tool has a large language model integrated from where you want to create the post. Not just that,  it can also do something similar for images that you need for the post. 

I think just having it on that same platform where you can apply it to your social media, not just for one location but for any location you want, is awesome. 

Before we wrap, I just wanted to ask what strategies businesses could implement to improve customer experience. 

George: Let’s look at it this way – the service or product offering has to be outstanding; it has to cater to what it promises to; otherwise, growth or delight becomes challenging. So, investing in

the service and product and ensuring that it satisfies and goes above and beyond the customer expectations will be number one.

Also, I would say people are your biggest asset for service businesses in the Med Spa, health & healthcare industry. They’re the ones who are facing the customers, and they’re the ones who are delighting the customer. So, the more you invest in training them and keeping their motivation high, the better customer satisfaction across the board will be. 

Then, stay current so you know everything we learned last year. We can kind of forget because they say now we have AI. Things are getting exciting differently, so staying current, staying and following trends, or even setting trends is essential. 

Justin: Vandana, do you have any advice? From your experience working with so many different industries and businesses, how can they prioritize delighting their customers and establishing that culture, creating different processes to manage it better?

Vandana:  I think you should focus on the customer journey. Then, trying to have enough tools to communicate with each other and be automated rather than the business spending time is the key.  

For example, several clients hardly got two or three reviews a month on Google. By automating their review generation process through Birdeye, they get hundreds or thousands of reviews monthly. Also, companies like SEV, spending a lot of time improving customer satisfaction, use our reporting tools to know which locations are doing great.

You can also automate client communication. If your website visitors are reaching out to you, give them the ability to text you later. Understanding the customer journey and implementing automation with the right tools is the key so humans can spend time with customers. 

Justin: You said something exciting at the beginning: just knowing your customer Journey.  George, last week, you mentioned Aroma marketing. You know you don’t think about that unless you understand your customer Journey. So, you walk into a facility or a business location, and you’re considering what am I, as a customer, feeling, smelling, hearing, and seeing.  You need to understand from that level. 

Also, on the online side, consider how hard it is to set an appointment, communicate, or ensure that my services are met. It’s essential to understand all that stuff when trying to create an exceptional customer experience.

Birdeye’s user conference – Birdeye View 2023, aims to help businesses understand customers and leverage the right tools to improve customer experience and sales. For more valuable conversations surrounding local businesses and technologies that can help them grow, tune into Birdeye View now. 

The post Grow sales by delighting customers appeared first on Birdeye Customer Experience Management.

And that is why it is time to understand the factors contributing to customer experience in the insurance industry. This blog post explores the importance and methods of delivering an exceptional customer experience to your clients. 

State of customer experience in the insurance industry

The insurance industry has evolved significantly in recent years, mainly due to the emergence of automation and artificial intelligence for customer experience.

Customers now expect insurance companies to offer a better customer experience, tailored advice, shorter wait times, efficient internet-based solutions, and more.

Here are several statistics that will help you better understand the state of insurance customer experience:

• According to IBM, 85% of insurers prioritize customer experience throughout the journey.
• Zendesk reports that 50% of consumers will switch to a competitor after one bad experience. 80% said they would switch to a competitor after two bad experiences.
• Accenture indicates that 71% of consumers aged 55+ would like internet claim processes to replace traditional in-office processes.
• IBM has shown that 50% of insurance customers prefer personalized digital communication to telephone- and postal-mail-based communication.
• According to Emplifi, 42% of customers said a seamless omnichannel communication experience is their top priority.

The numbers in the previous tell us that the majority of clients for an insurance company now focus on their customer experience equally, if not more, than the product itself. 

Why is customer experience important in the insurance industry?

Customer experience is essential in the insurance industry because putting the customer first and offering tailored advice builds a significant edge over the competitors. 

Clients expect insurance companies to abandon archaic systems and methods of communication. They want to see insurance organizations embrace new technologies, simplify communication, engage with them ongoingly, and offer relevant, customized advice.

By focusing on improving insurance customer experience, insurance companies can make sure that they: 

• Remain a top contender for clients to choose from in the increasingly competitive landscape
• Improve customer satisfaction which leads to reduced insurance policy turnover
• Build a community and boost loyalty in clients
• Identify customer pain points and cater specifically to those challenges 
• Increase their chances of securing referrals from their clients 
• Build an open channel of communication that allows them to collect feedback, identify customer issues, and resolve them quickly. 

How to improve customer experience in the insurance industry: 8 ways

If you want to improve your customer experience, follow the steps below to adjust and enhance your customer strategy

1. Understand your customer’s requirements and pain points 
2. Provide omnichannel claim support to streamline conversations 
3. Implement personalization across all verticals 
4. Provide faster resolution to customer queries 
5. Work on streamlining buyer’s journey 
6. Monitor customer feedback across all channels 
7. Improve social media presence for greater visibility 
8. Provide 24/7 availability for self-service 

1. Understand your customer’s requirements and pain points

While it may be true that everyone needs insurance, knowing exactly who your clients are and what they need enables you to provide exceptional customer experience. 

Depending on your company’s niche or business model, identify the specific type of client you serve along with its specific needs. Knowing this information helps you be prepared and tailor the product/service accordingly. 

• Use data and product survey questions to discover where your customers like to hang out online. 
• Ask existing insurance policyholders what technical terms or jargon they struggle to understand. 
• Use social media polls to discern whether your customers prefer human or AI interactions and how often they want to receive communication from you. 
• All of these customer preference insights can help you make meaningful tweaks.

2. Provide omnichannel claim support to streamline conversations 

According to IBM, 50% of clients prioritize and prefer personalized digital communication. What this means is that it’s never been more important for insurance companies to be able to move fluidly from one communication channel during client interactions.

For instance, a customer calling in may have just requested a quote on a life insurance policy online moments ago. An agent should be notified to review the details, make adjustments, and send a quote back to the customer via email or text.

Providing omnichannel claim support can increase efficiency, improve customer interactions, and help your company save money. 

Make sure that the communication tools you use in your organization support easy transitions between channels. Birdeye Messaging helps businesses view all client interactions in a unified inbox, leading to a smoother customer experience. 

3. Implement personalization across all verticals 

According to DataArt, embracing personalized communication should increase revenue by 60% per customer, improve customer engagement by 89%, and boost broker channel effectiveness by 60%.

Because customer needs can vary from one person to another, insurance companies need to tailor their approach to the individual. When choosing insurance providers, clients are majorly expecting personalization and may not settle for anything less.

Gordon Watson, CEO at AXA Asia, feels, “ The business benefits of personalization are clear: sales, customer loyalty, and engagement, and a higher success rate when cross-selling.”

Personalized communication through tailored emails, texts, and mail will ensure better customer satisfaction.

Of course, the more you invest in knowing your customers via surveys and interviews, the better you can personalize your products. Birdeye Surveys allows businesses to conduct pulse surveys and in-depth surveys to gather data and personalize communication. 

4. Provide faster resolution to customer queries

Nothing improves customer experience than an immediate fix to a customer’s problem. 

Insurance companies should prioritize faster resolution and, if possible, “first call resolution.” This is where your agents answer questions and resolve problems the first time customers call in instead of spreading the communication over multiple calls.

Facilitate these lighting-fast resolutions by streamlining how your insurance company processes incoming inquiries:

• Arm your teams with the knowledge they need to see a client’s profile and access institute solutions.
• Implement AI-powered chatbots that help customers find self-service resources, and phone numbers and answer simple queries. 
• Adopt a ticketing system that helps your team track concerns, closure TAT, and implement solutions. 

First-call resolution helps companies create a great customer experience by reducing the stress involved in the claims process. First contact resolution will also free your agents to handle more daily calls.

5. Work on streamlining buyer’s journey

IBM indicates that 85% of insurers deploy CX (Customer Experience) initiatives throughout the customer journey. As companies compete on the basis of customer service, it is time to focus on every client interaction. 

• For example, focus on making it easy for prospects and customers to find your company online. Streamline methods for customers to review and understand your policies. 

• Keep essential aspects of service, like the privacy statement, visible and quick to access. And make it a no-brainer step to obtain quotes promptly.

• Prioritize your digital marketing strategy by using social media to connect with clients, creating educational content, and utilizing automation to ensure a streamlined process.

Optimizing every step of the customer service process is essential for a boosted customer experience in the insurance industry. 

6. Monitor customer feedback across channels 

Customer feedback allows your insurance company to identify areas where processes need improvement. 

Even the most meticulously developed strategies can have gaps in service. Understanding where you’re falling short will help you optimize the right things and optimize the insurance customer’s experience at every level. 

Customer feedback helps you:

• Be more agile. Insurance companies are going through a technological revolution, and the industry is changing rapidly. An overreliance on technology, however, has led to decreased customer satisfaction. Organizations must listen to their customers and be willing to pivot fast and anticipate customer needs.
• Improve your digital touchpoints. Customer feedback can help you understand what channels your customers are using, how they are using them, what they expect to be able to find or do on your website and social media, and much more.
• Remain relevant. Just because new technologies exist doesn’t necessarily mean these tools automatically improve customer experience. Listen to your customers, and you can ensure that your company is relevant, serving its customers at a high level.
• Create a dialogue with your policyholders. You can solicit customer feedback at every touchpoint to ensure everything is moving smoothly for them. However, you should avoid overwhelming customers with surveys and commit to learning about one touchpoint before gathering data on another.
• Monitor sentiment: Tuning into your customers’ sentiments will ensure you’re on top of emerging preferences and service gaps.

Online reviews, specifically about customer experience, help with driving decisions. The power of cross-promoting reviews on social media channels helps potential customers decide to choose a Globe Life product. They’re helping their customers build a bridge by reminding them they are making the right decision and supporting a loved one. 

7. Improve social media presence for greater visibility

The Independent Insurance Agents of Dallas indicates that it costs an insurance agency seven to nine times more to attract a new policy-holding customer than it does to retain an existing one.

Your insurance company’s social media presence plays a vital role in continually engaging your customers and fostering loyalty among them. It allows your customers to interact with your content and develop an affinity for your brand.

You can also use social media to:

• Offer customer support,
• build trust and credibility with your customers,
• and listen to your customers and what they’re saying about you.

The key is ensuring you have the right team and resources to grow and enhance your social media presence to offer better customer service.

8. Provide 24/7 availability for self-service

AI-powered tools and chatbots allow insurance companies to offer 24/7 support. It’s a significant customer experience boost when your policyholders can file claims and get answers anytime. 

These digital solutions are also great self-serve options for customers interested in a quote or finding information about their policies. This availability reduces wait times on the phone and keeps you from overloading your internal teams.

As an added benefit, AI and chatbots can also be used to analyze customer data and develop customized experiences for the individual.

FAQs about insurance customer experience

Use Birdeye to boost customer experience in the insurance industry

The insurance industry is nuanced, and your clients have specific needs. You’ll need a thorough and organized system covering everything from customer touchpoints to social media strategy to meet their needs. Your insurance customer experience approach will directly impact your ability to land new customers and build a loyal customer base.

If you’re looking for a comprehensive solution to make your life easier, it may be time to explore how Birdeye can help you boost your customer experience.

Check out our pricing today! 

The post 8 ways to improve customer experience in insurance industry appeared first on Birdeye Customer Experience Management.

This may sound like a strong statement; however, the truth remains that 72% of customers won’t take action and purchase until they read reviews first.

Unlike some industries where reputation revolves around corporate practices or policies, in retail reputation management, the quality, availability, and customer experience related to specific products play a significant role in shaping reputation.

Want to know more about retail reputation management? Read our ultimate guide in this blog. 

What is reputation management for retail?

Retail reputation management means actively performing online reputation management of your business. Your retail business actively takes steps to influence what people online see, think, and experience when communicating with your brand.

Various studies have shown that consumers’ exposure to online reviews will influence their online retail shopping behavior. 

To understand the influence of online reviews on retail businesses, click to download our impact of online reviews on multi-location businesses.

What is a good reputation management strategy?

Good retail reputation management involves:

• Responding to negative comments or reviews
• Setting the record straight whenever information is incorrect or misleading
• Regular review management about what people say online about your brand

Retail reputation management also requires the business to:

• Proactively look for opportunities to expand its reach
• Improve its online image instead of simply waiting for customer feedback or complaints.

5 Strategies to implement reputation management for retail companies

Below, we set out the top 5 strategies for successful reputation management for retail companies.

1. Update your business listings on all platforms

You want to be accessible to your customers. Failure to be accessible when they need you could result in the customer looking elsewhere to purchase a similar product, particularly if time was deemed essential to the customer.

Birdeye’s AI-powered business listing management makes it easy to create, update, and manage business listings for all locations. All these are to make your business show up where your customers search, even when it’s on customer review sites. 

A key part of being accessible to the customer involves creating, claiming, and regularly updating your local business listings to give customers accurate information to get in touch and finalize a sale.

Complying with this strategy also requires you to ensure you are consistent across all platforms, including opening times and contact details.

Taking the time to follow these steps will save you time and stress in the long run and allow your business to work efficiently across all platforms, including your Google business profile, social media profiles, and other online listings. 

2. Respond, manage, and market your reviews smartly

The first component of this reputation management retail strategy is to take the first step and ask for reviews before your customers leave or exit the customer journey so that you can collect and analyze the reviews in real time.

A great response can be the difference between an angry customer who tells family and friends to steer clear of your business and a loyal customer. 

Read our guide to responding to reviews to show you’re serious about delighting every customer.

Getting the reviews upfront can help you control the narrative, as you show you’re taking the lead in looking for improvement areas. 

However, once you have the reviews, you want to train your staff well to respond to both good and bad reviews and act as quickly as possible to address negative feedback. 

Remember that over half of customers expect businesses to respond to negative reviews within a week, and one-third expect a reply within three days or less.

3. Supercharge your ad performance with Google Seller Ratings

Google Seller Ratings is another reputation management retail tool that can catapult your online reputation by offering increased customer conversion, increased advert quality score, and lower cost per click on your business adverts.

For those who don’t know, Google Seller Ratings is an ad extension that allows you to display your customer reviews directly to your Google ads.

4. Get the best word-of-mouth marketing with referrals

Word-of-mouth marketing remains a crucial marketing strategy, even in our increasingly digital world. 92% of consumers trust testimonials from the people they know, meaning the more people talking about your business within their inner circles, the more likely your business will organically grow through word-of-mouth referrals.

Naturally, this will have an impact on your retail reputation management. Fortunately, with Birdeye, your business can track and multiply your referrals. 

5. Turn customer feedback into actionable to-dos

A retail reputation management strategy often overlooked is actively turning customer feedback into actionable insights. 

There are two main ways of achieving this: directly and indirectly: 

• The direct approach is when the customers share their experiences and comments with you via support channels, surveys, online polls, and any other medium where you’ve directly requested it.

• The indirect approach is when customers share their feedback elsewhere, and it’s your job to locate that feedback and action it as necessary. 

Why does reputation management in retail matter?

Retail reputation management matters because the stronger the reputation, the more likely the customer will purchase your product. Here are 3 reasons explaining why reputation management in retail matters:

#1. Shows the brand’s resilience

Reputation management enhances a brand’s resilience during challenges. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Target’s proactive safety measures and transparent communication helped it maintain a positive reputation and customer trust.

#2. Influence on supply chain

A strong reputation can influence supply chain relationships. 

Walmart’s commitment to sustainable sourcing boosted its reputation and attracted eco-conscious suppliers, ensuring a consistent supply of eco-friendly products.

Did you know: Pricing is crucial in retail reputation management as it directly impacts customer perception, satisfaction, and trust, ultimately shaping the business's reputation?

#3. Helps in global expansion

Reputation management facilitates global expansion. Amazon’s consistent focus on customer satisfaction and quick problem resolution has played a pivotal role in its global success, as it ventured into new markets while maintaining a solid reputation.

These examples demonstrate how reputation management can profoundly impact a retail brand’s success and growth.

What are the consequences of a negative reputation?

Obtaining a negative reputation can do significant damage to your business’s profitability. Even attracting one negative review can negatively impact future prospects, particularly if that one review is left unaddressed or unremedied.

More and more young people are shopping online and forgoing the traditional modes of shopping. 

Here are some reasons outlining the potential repercussions: 

1. Loss of trust

A negative reputation erodes trust in the affected entity, whether it’s a person, brand, or institution. People are less likely to believe or engage with those they perceive negatively.

2. Reduced credibility

A poor reputation diminishes credibility, making influencing or persuading others challenging. Rebuilding a damaged reputation is often lengthy and resource-intensive, and some entities may never fully recover.

3. Decline in sales or support

Businesses often experience a drop in sales or financial support when their reputation takes a hit. Consumers are more inclined to choose brands they trust.

4. Strained relationships

Negative reputations can strain customer, partner, employee, and stakeholder relationships, impacting collaboration and cooperation.

5. Legal and regulatory consequences

In some cases, a tarnished reputation can lead to legal issues or regulatory actions, affecting an entity’s operations and finances.

6. Employee morale and recruitment challenges

Negative reputations can demoralize existing employees and make it difficult to attract top talent, as potential hires may be wary of associating with a poorly regarded organization.

7. Limited opportunities

Individuals with negative reputations may find securing new job opportunities, partnerships, or business ventures challenging.

Ultimately, a negative reputation can result in financial losses, impacting revenue, stock prices, and overall financial stability.

Building that trust and dependability doesn’t mean receiving negative reviews or feedback, but it does mean professionally addressing those reviews and doing so on time. 

What are the phases of reputation management?

One would do well to remember that developing a negative reputation may not solely be limited to the quality of your product. 

The product itself may be excellent. However, in this day and age, what also matters to customers is the overall customer experience. 

• If your business takes too long to respond to issues, statistics show that customers will pass that on as a negative experience to their friends and family. 

• They, most importantly, will discontinue the purchase and find an alternative business to go to.

What are the benefits of a positive online reputation?

Conversely, maintaining a strong online reputation will help your business avoid the above scenario and ensure you enjoy a lasting relationship with your customers. 

• Enhanced trust
• Attracts customers
• Improved search visibility 
• Business opportunities 
• Employee satisfaction

A strong retail reputation requires you to ensure you are accessible to your customers; your website is user-friendly, your social media is active and responds timely to queries, and so on.

How does AI help in retail reputation management?

AI helps in retail reputation management in the following key ways:

• Gain insights and monitor developments in market trends
• Monitoring of key channels
• Control misleading and inaccurate information
• Reduce operational costs
• Personalized and tailored marketing activities

Are there any tools to automate reputation management retail?

The short answer is yes.

Implementing reputation management for retail stores can seem daunting. Fortunately, Birdeye’s professional team and world-class software can help automate the entire strategy.

With Birdeye’s reputation and review management software, businesses can expect to see the following results:

• Ranking higher on SEO results.
• Automated reviews that are easily manageable and reviewable in real-time.
• Automated replies to reviews and queries. 
• Monitoring reviews on over 200 sites, with the ability to turn reviews into social media content.

Similarly, with Birdeye’s state-of-the-art social media management software, businesses can readily achieve the following:

• Create automated social media posts within minutes that are tailored to your customers.
• Publish across a range of social media entities, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube X (formerly known as Twitter) and Google.
• Schedule posts and keep track of them through an intuitive calendar.
• Track your posts’ performance metrics, including reach and engagement.

Frequently asked questions about retail reputation management

Make retail reputation management stress-free with Birdeye

No one expects business to be perfect. Some studies suggest that consumers are likely to be skeptical of companies whose reviews and ratings are flawless. 

With this in mind, retail reputation management means actively managing your business’s reputation online and taking steps to manage and control the narrative.

Building your brand as a trustworthy and credible business is crucial to developing a loyal customer base that can continue to grow exponentially.

To learn more about how Birdeye’s all-in-one platform can help propel your retail reputation management strategy, click the link below.

The post 5 Strategies to Elevate Your Retail Reputation Management appeared first on Birdeye Customer Experience Management.

Reputational risk is the potential harm to an organization's credibility. It occurs when actions, events, or circumstances lead to a negative perception that can damage one's reputation. 

Mistakes that threaten a business’s good reputation leave lasting effects. This constant threat to your brand’s name is known as reputational risk. Understanding reputational risk and how to manage it effectively can safeguard your business.

We will break down how to measure reputation risk, strategies for identifying vulnerabilities, and what you can do to protect your reputation in this blog. 

What is reputational risk?

Reputational risk is potential damage to an organization’s image caused by negative publicity, scandals, or crises that can impact revenue, brand value, and stakeholder loyalty. 

A company’s reputation is shaped by public opinion. Customers, partners, investors, and the public shape how they feel about a company and its services.

Even small mistakes can damage brand perceptions. A poor reputation creates a far-reaching fallout throughout your organization. 

What are the indicators of reputational risk?

Here are some key reputational risk indicators. Monitoring these indicators can help identify and mitigate emerging reputational risks proactively:

• Negative media coverage 
• Social media backlash 
• Ethics scandals
• Data breaches and cyberattacks 
• Lawsuits and legal issues 
• Leadership crises 
• Culture problems 
• Poor financial performance 
• Poor product quality 
• Regulatory noncompliance

What are the factors that damage your reputation?

Your reputation is your lifeline. Once it’s damaged, your relationships with consumers take a hit. Managing your reputation isn’t a luxury. It’s a need. Know the following pitfalls that can negatively impact how others perceive you and your brand:

1. Dishonesty and deception

Being deceptive and falsifying facts, even about small matters, can undermine customers’ trust. Lying and cheating is a surefire way to damage your reputation.

2. Poor communication

Things can fall apart if you don’t communicate clearly. Being unclear, rude, or failing to listen to your customers leads to silent phones and poor sales. You’ll earn a bad reputation if you alienate your customers with poor communication.

3. Inappropriate or damaging social media use

Social media marketing is an art. And many companies have dug their own graves by sharing posts that miss the mark. Inappropriate social media content will damage your brand and your social media reputation. 

4. Lack of integrity

Using your position to benefit unethically can quickly lead to a damaged reputation. Any actions that lack moral integrity affect how the consumer views your services and their purchasing decisions.

5. Failure to self-monitor

Public sentiment around issues and content is constantly shifting. Don’t fail to monitor the dynamic between the public, trends, and your business. Doing so will surely misstep and damage your brand’s reputation.

3 Real-world reputational risk examples

Reputational risk is a hazard for any brand. These real-world reputational risk examples will show you how easily companies damage their public image and customer trust.

#1. Nike and Asian Factory Workers

In 1991, activist Jeff Ballinger released reports detailing the poor working conditions and low wages at some of the Indonesian factories for Nike. Workers regularly put in grueling 60-plus-hour weeks. Yet they still earned a measly 14 cents an hour. 

Some factories also didn’t have basic safety services. The public outrage damaged Nike’s image. And consumers saw that the brand didn’t care about ethical labor standards. Nike sales fell.

Nike didn’t learn its lesson and continued to exploit workers. As the company celebrated 30 years of its “Just Do It” slogan, people protested that it was still underpaying its workers. This outcry saw the brand’s reputation drop. And some people even burned Nike products to show dissatisfaction. 

#2. United Airlines

In April 2017, United Airlines suffered reputation risk because a video showed three Chicago Department of Aviation security officers harassing an elderly man. The video showed the officers dragging a 69-year-old Asian American passenger from his seat onboard a United Express flight at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.

The passenger suffered a concussion, a broken nose, and lost two front teeth. The incident became a global news story. Within days, United’s stock price dropped by about $1 billion. The CEO resigned within a month due to public pressure. United Airlines is still working to repair its image on its services and passenger treatment.

#3. Facebook

In March 2018, around 87 million Facebook users found their data had been improperly shared with a UK political consulting firm during the 2016 US presidential election. This was a massive breach of trust.

Facebook stock plunged by over $40 billion. Many companies and political leaders also called for greater accountability from the platform on data use and misinformation controls. 

Rebuilding user trust around data privacy and platform integrity remains a challenge to this day. This is perhaps one of the biggest reputational risk examples that a company has ever faced.

How does reputation management software mitigate reputational risks?

Reputational risk puts every aspect of a business at risk, from customer service to sales. With reputation management software, you can monitor, analyze, and improve your online reputation. You can stay ahead of potential issues and solidify a positive brand image.

Let’s explore how to measure reputational risk in different sectors. After all, it’s not all doom and gloom. Online reputation management can turn sticky situations into success stories. 

What is reputational risk in customer service?

Poor customer experiences will tank your brand’s reputation. This could be slow response times, rude or unhelpful behavior, or product/service failures. 

Dissatisfied customers frequently take to online review sites and social media. There, they trumpet their frustrations and influence potential buyers.

• Online reputation management software monitors customer feedback across numerous online channels to spot complaints early.

• It alerts customer service to priority issues. They can then quickly address problems and put the brakes on further negative online reviews. 

What is reputational risk in business development and finances?

You need to know how to mitigate reputational risk if you work with investors. Partnerships and investment deals can fall if stakeholders question a company’s financial stability or delivery ability. 

Any signs of cash flow difficulties, lawsuits, leadership turmoil, and operational issues raise red flags in financial services’ online reputation management. 

Online reputation management software:

• Scans for these risk factors across public records and open web sources. 
• Draws all findings into risk reports that identify vulnerabilities before damage is done. 

With this intelligence, management banks can take swift corrective actions or update important relationships to maintain confidence.

What is reputational risk in marketing?

Social media has amplified how quickly brand messages can spread. An insensitive ad or poorly tested promotion can trigger public outrage within hours. Reputation management software monitors all branded conversations to keep track of controversies at inception. 

The software also provides engagement insights that analyze sentiment toward reputation marketing and campaigns. With these warnings, companies can fine-tune campaigns early to avoid reputational damage.

What is reputational risk in sales?

Sales teams depend on your company’s good standing to create trust and close deals. Overpromising, supply issues, or questionable sales tactics scare customers away. 

Retail reputation management software audits external sales profiles and tracks discussions between buyers and sellers.

It detects early signs of trouble that could jeopardize future sales across industries, such as real estate. To eliminate reputational risk, sales managers reinforce best practices and address potential problems.

How to measure reputational risk?

Now that we’ve identified the factors contributing to reputational risk let’s explore how to measure it effectively.

1. Media monitoring

Regularly monitor news outlets and social media for mentions of your company. Pay attention to sentiment analysis to gauge public perception.

2. Stakeholder survey 

Conduct surveys with key stakeholders, including customers, employees, and investors, to gauge their perceptions of your brand.

3. Risk assessment frameworks

Utilize established risk assessment frameworks to quantify and assess reputational risk. These frameworks often consider various risk factors and their potential impact.

4. Social media analytics 

Leverage social media analytics tools to track mentions, engagement rates, and sentiment trends surrounding your brand.

Once you’ve measured reputational risk, it’s essential to implement strategies for effective management.

Can AI help to reverse a damaged reputation into a positive online reputation?

Yes, AI can play a significant role in helping to reverse a damaged online reputation and build a more positive one. 

Birdeye, armed with AI capabilities, can seamlessly help you elevate your online reputation by using Birdeye Review generation, management, and marketing prowess and: 

• Ask for reviews before your customers leave.
• Send them straight to your favorite review site with a custom QR code.
• Personalize your review replies at scale with help from AI
• Generate tailored, error-free responses with a single click.
• Monitor reviews on 200+ sites.
• Translate reviews and replies. 
• Turn reviews into ready-made social content. 

Apart from these, you can integrate with over 3,000 software systems to automatically get new reviews, be found online, improve operations, and increase revenue.

How can reputational risk be managed?

Managing reputational risk is crucial for any business, as a damaged reputation can have far-reaching consequences. Here are steps to effectively manage reputational risk, along with real-life examples from a few well-known brands:

1. Establish a clear code of ethics

Step: Develop and communicate a robust code of ethics within your organization.

Example: Johnson & Johnson is renowned for its Credo, a document outlining its commitment to ethical behavior and customer safety.

2. Regularly monitor social media and news

Step: Use monitoring tools to stay aware of online conversations and news articles related to your brand.

Example: Starbucks actively monitors social media to address customer concerns and prevent potential PR issues.

3. Engage transparently and responsively

Step: In case of negative events, respond to reviews transparently and promptly to address issues and regain trust.

Example: Domino’s Pizza recovered from a reputation crisis by openly acknowledging and addressing customer complaints in a YouTube video.

4. Implement a crisis communication plan:

Step: Develop a comprehensive crisis communication plan in advance to effectively manage and mitigate crises.

Example: Toyota’s response to a major recall in 2009 showcased a well-prepared crisis management plan.

5. Quality control and product safety

Step: Ensure rigorous quality control processes to reduce the risk of product recalls.

Example: Apple maintains stringent quality control standards to prevent product defects and recalls.

6. Train and empower employees

Step: Train employees to be brand ambassadors and empower them to make ethical decisions.

Example: The Ritz-Carlton is known for empowering its staff to go above and beyond to ensure customer satisfaction, enhancing its reputation for exceptional service.

7. Regularly review and update policies

Step: Continuously review and update policies and procedures to adapt to changing risks and stakeholder expectations.

Example: Amazon consistently revises its policies to address emerging reputational risks, such as counterfeit product concerns.

Setting excessively low pricing for our products may pose a significant reputational risk, as customers might perceive it as a sign of compromised quality or unethical business practices. 

Read more about pricing strategy in our 11 Pricing strategy explained: Examples + tips blog. 

FAQs on reputational risks

Improve your online reputation management with Birdeye

Your business’s reputation is undoubtedly the cornerstone of your success. And since you can’t get by without an online presence, you can ensure public sentiment towards your company remains favorable by managing reputational risks.

Birdeyes’s reputation management software can help you monitor customer feedback, manage online reviews, and respond to comments. 

We help you strengthen customer relationships and solidify your brand as trustworthy and reputable. Click on the banner below to learn more.

The post Reputational Risk Explained: Effective Strategies to Build Trust and Credibility appeared first on Birdeye Customer Experience Management.

Today’s marketplace is competitive and transparent, so managing brand perception isn't just important - it's imperative. The stakes are high, with 91% of customers admitting they'd switch to a competitor following a poor customer experience.

By getting inside the minds of your customers, you’ll gain actionable insights to craft a brand image that resonates, engages, and stands out from the competition.

This guide will uncover what your target audience thinks about your brand. We’ll look at actionable tips to measure brand perception, identify gaps between belief and reality, and outline strategies to align the brand experience with customer expectations. 

What is brand perception?

Brand perception is customers’ cumulative impression of your company based on every interaction and experience they’ve had.

Brand perception refers to how consumers view, think, and feel about a company and its offerings. It develops from direct interactions, word-of-mouth, marketing, public relations, social media, and other channels. 

Brand perception is subjective and can be influenced by consumer expectations, preconceived notions, and a company's reputation. It shapes consumer behavior and impacts a brand's success.

What is the purpose of brand perception?

The purpose of brand perception is to understand how target consumers view and relate to a brand. Positive brand perception provides several benefits, such as creating brand advocates, providing a competitive advantage, allowing premium pricing, attracting good talent, etc.

Understanding how the target audience sees your brand gives you the power to shape that perception. A positive image adds to your brand equity. And that influences the customer’s purchasing decisions. The result is higher sales and revenue.

How to measure brand perception?

Measuring brand perception is crucial as it provides valuable insights that can significantly impact a brand’s success and sustainability:

• Enhance customer experience
• Understand customer sentiments
• Identify internal and external strengths and weaknesses
• Guides market strategies
• Builds credibility among customers 

Brand perception measurement can be done through various methods, like:  

• Brand perception surveys
• Brand perception study
• Brand perception research
• Social listening

1. Brand perception surveys

These are used to gather direct feedback from your target audience. You can include questions about how they perceive your brand, what qualities they associate with it, and their overall impression.

Example of a brand perception survey you can use: A smartphone brand conducts an online survey asking customers to rate their perception of the brand on aspects like product quality, customer service, and innovation. They analyze responses to understand customer sentiments and areas for improvement.

2. Brand perception studies

These studies often involve qualitative and quantitative research methods to gain comprehensive insights. Undertake in-depth studies to analyze customer attitudes, preferences, and behaviors related to your brand. 

Example of a brand perception study you can use: 

An automobile manufacturer conducts a comprehensive study involving focus groups and in-depth interviews. Researchers delve into participants’ perceptions, exploring factors such as design, safety, and reliability. 

The study uncovers nuanced insights about how different demographics perceive the brand.

3. Brand perception research

It engages in ongoing research to monitor changes in brand perception over time. 

This involves tracking specific metrics or conducting regular surveys to assess shifts in customer attitudes.

Example of brand perception research done right: 

A fashion retailer conducts annual brand perception research, tracking brand awareness, customer loyalty, and purchase intent. The company identifies trends by comparing data over several years, allowing it to adapt marketing strategies based on changing customer perceptions.

4. Brand perception measurement

It uses the key performance indicators (KPIs) related to brand perception. These could include metrics like brand awareness, brand loyalty, customer satisfaction, and perceived brand value. 

Regularly measure and analyze these metrics to gauge brand perception.

Example of brand perception measurement done smartly: 

A coffee chain sets KPIs, including customer satisfaction scores, social media engagement, and brand mentions. Regularly, they assess these metrics. 

If customer satisfaction drops, they investigate reasons such as service quality or menu changes, enabling them to address issues promptly and maintain a positive brand perception.

5. Social listening tools

It monitors online conversations about your brand. 

Analyze mentions, comments, and sentiments on social media platforms and other online channels. Social listening provides real-time insights into how people perceive your brand online.

Example of a cosmetic brand that uses social listening tools to monitor social media platforms: 

They track hashtags related to their products and analyze customer comments. By observing positive sentiments about their new skincare line and addressing concerns mentioned online, they adapt their marketing and product strategies to enhance positive brand perception.

Why does positive brand perception matter?

Simply put, people buy from brands they trust. Creating a familiar and consistent brand can increase your revenue by up to 20%. Customers will not buy from you if you don’t positively influence the customer’s beliefs. And your brand will not grow. 

A good brand perception comes with countless advantages, such as:

• Influences purchasing decisions: A reputable brand will always win over its less trustworthy competitors. 

• Increased customer trust: Customers who trust your brand will buy from you even when they have plenty of other options.  

• Competitive edge: Good brand perception helps customers easily recognize your brand. It makes your brand unique and desirable. 

• Supports premium pricing: Customers will pay more to shop from brands they know and trust. And you will make more profits in the long run. 

• Facilitates market expansion: Launching a new product is a breeze when you have a loyal customer base. Customers already familiar with your brand won’t hesitate to buy your new products.

• Builds customer loyalty: Customers with a positive brand perception will become loyal customers and advocates. They will also recommend the brand to others. 

How do you create a strong brand perception?

1. Consistent brand identity: Maintain a cohesive visual identity, logo, and messaging. For example, Coca-Cola’s iconic red color and timeless “Open Happiness” slogan.

2. Quality and reliability: Deliver on promises consistently, like Toyota’s reputation for reliable cars.

3. Customer engagement: Foster meaningful interactions, like Starbucks’ personalization of coffee orders.

4. Storytelling: Craft compelling narratives, such as Nike’s empowering “Just Do It” campaign.

5. Social responsibility: Engage in ethical practices, as seen in Patagonia’s commitment to environmental sustainability.

6. Differentiation: Highlight unique selling points, as Apple does with its emphasis on design and user experience.

7. Brand associations: Form partnerships with brands that align with your values, like Red Bull’s collaborations with extreme sports events.

8. Employee advocacy: Ensure staff embody brand values, exemplified by Zappos’ renowned customer service culture.

9. Consistent brand experience: Ensure a consistent and positive customer experience across all touchpoints, as seen in Disney’s commitment to creating magical moments.

10. Adaptability: Stay responsive to market trends and consumer feedback, like how Netflix evolved from a DVD rental service to a streaming powerhouse.

How does your brand positioning increase with a good brand perception?

Brand reputation management must be your priority to make your brand unique. Your brand’s value increases when your target audience sees it in a positive light. Customers will send friends and family your way.

Here are some other ways good consumer perception contributes to a strong brand: 

• Builds credibility 
• Builds an emotional connection 
• Positive reviews and ratings 

How does a negative brand perception impact your reputation?

A negative brand perception shatters your company’s standing. Your target audience gets all the wrong feels when your brand is beset with poor reviews and bad press. Some other reasons include poor customer service and public relations mishaps. 

Negative brand perception can lead to the following:

1. Loss of trust: Customer loyalty takes a nosedive when trust is lost. And customers shrink away from purchasing from a brand they don’t trust. 

2. Damaged brand equity: Brand equity is hard to nail down but greatly impacts your revenue. It’s the quality makes customers pay more for a product with your brand name. You can’t be competitive without brand equity. 

3. Decreased sales: It’s obvious, but bear pointing out. Sales go down if consumers perceive you have a negative brand perception.

4. Increased marketing costs: Once your brand reputation sinks, you need to spend big to get it back. That means spending more on advertising, public relations, and promotional activities.  

5. No competitive advantage: A negative brand perception disadvantages your business. People have a lot of options. And they are likely to choose a trusted competitor over your brand.

6. Long-term damage to your brand’s image: Negative brand perception takes a long time to fix. The poor perception may still linger even after you put in blood, sweat, and tears to change it.

Real-life example of brand perception gone wrong:
Chipotle's E.Coli Outbreak in 2015

Background: An E. coli outbreak spread across Chipotle locations in the US, sickening over 50 customers in several states.

Impact: The outbreak was a huge blow to Chipotle's brand image of serving natural, fresh, high-quality food. Customers perceived it as a health risk.

Fallout: The stock price fell 30% immediately after news of the outbreak. Revenue plunged due to customers avoiding Chipotle for months after.

Recovery: Chipotle implemented new food safety procedures and marketing to regain trust. But recovery was slow and sales decreased for years after.

This example shows how in the food/restaurant industry, a single food safety failure can annihilate brand perception built on quality and health standards. Customers felt betrayed by the breach of trust in Chipotle's food preparation. It demonstrates how fickle brand perception can be following health crises.

6 Tips for turning a negative brand perception into a positive one

Dealing with negative brand perception is no piece of cake. But you can turn lemons into lemonade. Transform your poor perception into a new and better brand image. A good brand strategy and a proactive approach will get you there.

1. Acknowledge the problem

This first step is acknowledging where you went wrong, which goes a long way toward showing your customers that you care. It shows you respect their opinion and think highly of their feedback. 

2. Apologize and take responsibility

Own up to mistakes. Don’t try to argue, blame, or make excuses. Express regret for the disappointment and inconvenience your customers experienced.

3. Listen and understand them

Listen to your customers and understand their concerns. Conduct a brand perception survey, read reviews, or engage with customers online.

4. Offer a solution

The next step is to offer a solution to the customer’s problem. These could be improvements or changes you’re making. Show customers that you value their input and are committed to improving things.

5. Reinforce brand values

Point out your brand’s values and how the changes will help align with those values. This will go a long way toward rebuilding trust and customer loyalty.

6. Engage your audience and seek feedback

Try to be connected with them across all the online platforms, social media, or online discussion forums. Ask for feedback on the changes. Address any concerns. And respond to comments.

Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day. And turning a negative brand perception into a positive one won’t happen overnight. It’ll take time, dedication, and genuine efforts to provide value and a better customer experience.

How to determine your brand’s perception?

Understanding how your target audience perceives your brand is crucial to marketing success. But with consumers bombarded daily by brand messages, how can you cut through the noise to find out what people think about your company?

By using the right mix of brand perception analysis tools. Here are the top 4 ways to determine brand perception: 

1. Social media monitoring

People are more open about what they think about brands online. So, keep track of online mentions using social listening tools or Google alerts. You also want to take notice of social media comments and perform review management using the Birdeye platform, and online forums such as Reddit or Quora. 

2. Brand audit

A brand audit is a detailed analysis of how customers and stakeholders see the company’s brand. A brand audit helps a business identify the company’s strengths, where it needs to improve and compare itself to competitors. 

3. Net promoter score(NPS)

NPS measures brand perception and customer loyalty. To calculate the net promoter score, you need to find out how likely your customers are to recommend your brand to other people. This is often gauged on a scale of 0-10. A high score means customers perceive your brand positively. 

4. Conduct a customer satisfaction survey 

A customer satisfaction survey perception is a first-rate way to learn what your target audience thinks about your business. Zero in on emotional, cognitive, and action-oriented questions.

Alternatively, you can also do a brand perception survey.

What is a brand perception survey?

A brand perception survey collects feedback about how the target audience sees the brand. The brand perception survey aims to understand people’s emotions, beliefs, and associations with your brand. 

The questions cover brand awareness, associations, and sentiment topics. The target audience can include current customers, potential customers, or the general population.

Share your brand perception survey widely to get plenty of feedback. Use online reviews, phone interviews, or in-person interviews. Assure anonymity and confidentiality. This encourages people to be candid. 

How can customer service improve your brand equity?

Customer service plays a huge role in shaping brand equity. You need to improve your customer service to improve your brand equity. World-class customer care has the following impact on brand equity:

• Increased customer satisfaction: There are higher levels of customer satisfaction when customer service is at the top. Customers who are satisfied with your products and services will have a positive impression of your brand.
• Increased referrals and positive word-of-mouth: Customers who love your goods and services are likelier to recommend your brand to others. Word-of-mouth marketing builds a positive brand image. 
• Increased customer loyalty: Customers who receive good customer service will likely become repeat customers. This creates brand loyalty, and even when presented with options, they’ll be more likely to choose your brand. 
• Stronger brand trust: You build trust when you offer reliable customer service. Customers know they can depend on you to address their needs and concerns. 

Your brand’s image is always evolving. And that’s why reputation management is ongoing. Use Birdeye’s reputation management solutions to closely monitor, manage, and refine your brand reputation. 

FAQs on brand perception

Improve your brand perception with Birdeye’s reputation management

Brand perception is the mainstay of business success. And a first-rate customer experience is the first step to creating a positive brand perception. From there, get involved in positive social values. Be consistent in your messaging. And above all, get serious about collecting as many positive reviews as possible. 

Birdeye’s comprehensive online reputation management solutions can take your brand perception to the next level. We help elevate your brand’s image and create lasting customer connections. Click the banner below to learn more.

The post What Is Brand Perception, How to Measure It & 4 Examples appeared first on Birdeye Customer Experience Management.

During our digital conference, Birdeye View, our VP of Product Marketing, Rebecca Colwell, sat down with Baer to discuss strategies for constructively handling negative customer feedback. Baer is the author of the bestselling book “Hug Your Haters” and has consulted with over 700 major brands on improving customer experience.

In this blog, we’ll cover the key lessons Baer shared with Colwell on extracting value from negativity. 

Want to hear the full conversation? Access the webinar here. 

Acknowledging feedback wins customer loyalty

When a customer takes the time to lodge a complaint, they are giving you an opportunity to potentially win back their loyalty. Unfortunately, the vast majority of unhappy individuals quietly stop engaging with a company without saying anything. Baer highlighted startling data on just how rarely people actually speak up when dissatisfied. Here is what the research reveals:

• For every 100 dissatisfied customers, only around five will proactively voice a complaint.
• The other 95 take their business elsewhere without saying a word.

This silent mass exodus sounds a warning bell. As Baer succinctly put it, “A customer you ignore is a customer you should be prepared to lose.” The vocal minority who complain represent a golden chance to resolve issues before it’s too late. The silent majority who disappear are the real revenue threat.

Even if you can’t turn all of your public detractors into vocal advocates, acknowledging criticism shows that you are listening. This simple act of responsiveness provides public reassurance to the many other observers monitoring how you handle negative situations online.

Distinguishing between public & private complainers

Every dissatisfied customer is unique, which means there’s no magic solution to making things right. Understanding what you’re working with is the key to a successful resolution. Baer identified two major classes of complainers:

• Offline/private complainers: Communicate via phone, email, or in person. Tend to be older and expect a direct response.
• Online/public complainers: Vent on public forums like review sites or social media. Tend to be younger and often don’t anticipate a reply.

For private offline complaints, the priority is resolving each issue quickly, completely, and without transferring customers between departments. Public online commentary requires a different approach — respond openly before taking discussions into private messages.

Make the most out of negative feedback: 4 Tips from Jay Baer

1. Respond to every message on every channel

Given the potential value of complaints, Baer advised that brands should strive to “respond to every customer, every channel, every time.” This engagement strategy certainly requires extensive time and resources. However, it builds immense customer trust and loyalty over the long term.

Baer acknowledged that the dizzying surge in channels makes complaint management much more complex than in years past. Disgruntled customers can now easily criticize companies via social media, text messaging, review sites, community forums, and more. Carefully tracking, aggregating, and coordinating responses across every touchpoint is essential to avoiding frustrated customers. 

2. See your haters’ feedback as a gift

Receiving criticism can feel like a dagger to the heart. It feels so personal. Baer stressed that this instinctive response triggers a “fight or flight” stress reaction, making it hard to objectively assess and thoughtfully respond to feedback.

To overcome this tendency, Baer emphasized the urgent need for a major mental reframing. Rather than resenting “haters,” their candid and unfiltered input should be appreciated as an invaluable customer gift and service. Even exaggerated or unjust complaints generally contain kernels of truth.

3. Analyze review content, not just ratings

When evaluating customer feedback, Baer cautioned against fixating solely on 1-5 star ratings or simplistic numeric scores. While directionally insightful, these metrics fail to provide tangible opportunities for improvement.

Instead, Baer urged paying close attention to the qualitative verbatim text within reviews and social media posts. He said 3-star reviews often contain the most thoughtful and balanced opinions, as people explain their mixed sentiments in great detail.

Carefully analyzing the words and language real customers use in context provides actionable competitive insights that basic star ratings lack. This textual analysis unlocks targeted ways to enhance products, services, and business processes.

4. Strategically limit public conversations

When responding online, Baer strongly advised against getting drawn into lengthy public back-and-forth debates. His simple rule of thumb: “Reply only twice.”

In other words, briefly explain your position just once or twice, then intentionally disengage. Don’t keep fruitlessly arguing point-by-point in comments. This restraint avoids inflaming tensions while still signaling you paid attention.

AI: Your ally in diffusing raw emotions

Receiving criticism can feel intensely personal and trigger inflammatory, knee-jerk responses. Baer explained that technology like BirdAI can help defuse these volatile emotions and respond to customers in the most effective, efficient way possible. Here’s how: 

• AI-generated reply templates: BirdAI creates initial responses to criticism and facilitates empathetic, consistent communication at scale. You can tweak these responses as necessary before pressing send. 
• Empowering human teams: AI handles basic replies, allowing human team members to focus on cases requiring deeper, personalized dialogue. It also promotes efficient time management within teams for more effective communication.
• Strategic AI integration: AI enhances human capability without fully replacing it. Thoughtfully integrated AI helps smaller teams manage larger volumes of complaints with composure and efficiency.

Embrace the haters and strengthen your brand’s reputation 

Negative feedback is never enjoyable or easy to receive gracefully. But avoiding criticism can jeopardize your brand’s reputation. By embracing your haters instead of ignoring them, you can identify areas needing improvement, strengthen customer relationships, and demonstrate that you authentically care. 

For more expert insights from Jay Baer on effectively responding to unhappy customers, check out his book, “Hug Your Haters,” or watch the full conversation from Birdeye View here.

The post Hugging your haters: A conversation with customer experience expert Jay Baer appeared first on Birdeye Customer Experience Management.

The existing Google Merchant Center has helped businesses upload their products, manage the listings, and run product ads for many years. Google recently announced that the next update in this platform will be out in 2024 – the Google Merchant Center Next. 

This blog post explores everything you need about the Google Merchant Center Next and what to expect in the coming update. 

What is Google Merchant Center Next?

Google Merchant Center Next is a new simplified and redesigned version of the existing Google Merchant Center, announced in the Google Marketing Live 2023. 

The new dashboard and listing website aim to offer businesses an easier way of managing their product catalogs so that they can run better campaigns and shopping ads. This can help small businesses or merchants understand how to create a presence on Google Shopping. 

Google Merchant Center vs. Google Merchant Center Next 

Here is a quick look at some of the differences and similarities between these two platforms for your understanding: 

Benefits of Google Merchant Center Next 

Businesses have been using the existing Google Merchant Center for a long time, but the new upgraded version has a few benefits that businesses can leverage, such as : 

• Google Merchant Center Next has a simplified UI that can make it easier for people with non-technical backgrounds to use and grow. 
• The verification process is also more straightforward, with the option for email verification in addition to the existing methods. 
• Businesses can also connect product information from the e-commerce platform/website to the Google platform.

While the Google Merchant Center Next will be available in 2024 in phases, businesses using the existing Merchant Center will have access as soon as the rollout is complete. 

Google Merchant Center Next: What’s new? 

To know more about what to expect from this new platform, let us look at some of the new features of this rollout. The major feature changes coming up are:

• Insights in the performance tab
• Product studio
• Product upload features
• Editing 
• Click potential 
• Customer support connection 

Insights in the performance tab 

One of the most critical changes in the Google Merchant Center Next is how the insights would now be directly available within the performance tab itself. This makes it easy for businesses to gather reports and understand their campaigns’ performance. 

Some of the information that would be available, in addition to the existing product lists, within the new dashboard now are: 

• Overview 
• Competitive visibility
• Pricing
• Demand 
• Store appearance on Search and Maps 
• Non-product website details 

The new Google Merchant Center Next shows a simplified version of insights, in contrast to how it was in the previous dashboard. While we have to wait and see if simple is also helpful, we aim to provide businesses with a simpler and concise insight report. 

Product studio

Google recognizes the value of product presentation via product images in the success of Google Shopping campaigns. In fact, Google sees a 76% increase in impressions and a 32% increase in clicks when the product listing has more than one image. 

Of course, not all businesses can conduct high-quality product photoshoots and designs. With Google Merchant Center Next, businesses can circumvent this problem and create product images using generative AI from the platform itself. 

With the Product Studio, businesses can create free, unique, attractive product images while editing their existing photos to improve quality. Some of the AI capabilities include: 

• Creating custom product scenes where AI can generate backgrounds for the product image to enhance its attractiveness. 
• Removing low-quality or distracting backgrounds to make the product shine in the image. 
• Increasing the quality of the existing product image with resolution changes. 

With the right prompt, you can significantly increase the impact of your product photos for your campaigns. 

Product upload 

The most prominent feature that Google is bringing to the Merchant Center Next is the ability for businesses to upload product information from the website into the platform directly. The dashboard can detect:

• Product Title 
• Product Description
• Product size
• Pricing 
• Product image 

This simplified process makes sure that businesses can easily create a product feed without a lot of technicality while also reducing the possibility of errors. The products will appear in your Google Merchant Center Next within three days of choosing the import. 

In addition to the business website, businesses can upload product information from:

• Online store 
• E-commerce website running on a third-party platform such as Shopify
• Google Sheets
• Manual processes 
• Google Shopping feed 

Editing 

While businesses could only upload or delete products within the existing Google Merchant Center, the editing features help businesses edit product details without deleting and reuploading. 

With the Merchant Center Next, editing is possible for each specific product. To do so, all you have to do is:

• Choose the product you wish to edit by clicking on it. 
• Click on the “Edit product” button. 
• Make changes to the product title, brand, description, final URL, etc. 

Click Potential 

In addition to the existing performance insights, the Merchant Center Next has a new metric that businesses can use – click potential. The platform uses existing historical data to calculate the potential for Google users to click on the product listing ads. 

You can use this information to optimize your listings and improve your chances of success. 

Customer support connection 

When a business is accessible, it shows the customers that they care and are willing to offer support whenever they require help. Connecting your customer support information to your product catalog via the Merchant Center Next would help customers find your business instantly. 

Businesses can add:

• Contact number 
• Email address
• Service page URL 
• The option of live chat support or chatbot support 
• Preferred contact method for the business 

Limitations of Google Merchant Center Next 

While the Google Merchant Center Next is an exciting prospect for merchants of all sizes, there are a few features that currently do not exist within the proposed platform. Some of those features are:

• The missing feed view is currently available in the Google Merchant Center but is not in the proposed new platform. 
• The growth tab missing from the product tab that showed the success of product listings 
• The fewer filters in the product tab than what exists in the Google Merchant Center 
• No automatic optimization process for product lists with low-performance indicators 

FAQs about Google Merchant Center Next 

Conclusion 

Google Merchant Center is essential for any business to grow awareness of their products within Google search or boost revenue with shopping ads. The Merchant Center Next experience promises to simplify businesses’ product upload and optimization process. This would come in handy for someone with less technical experience. 

Leveraging this platform well can help businesses grow faster, establish a solid online presence, and attract your target audience via Google.

The post Google Merchant Center Next: What businesses need to know  appeared first on Birdeye Customer Experience Management.

Your social posts say a lot about your business, products, and services. Displaying them only on your social media profiles is a wasted opportunity. Instead, make them a central component of your site to build brand awareness and social proof. 

What are embedded social media feeds?

Embedded social media feeds visuals on your website that instantly update with your new social posts — think of it as a sneak peek into your social media activity straight from your website. A social feed can display text, images, photos, videos, and links that interest website visitors. These feeds can also contain content from multiple sources, from video platforms like YouTube to social feeds like Instagram. 

A carefully curated embedded social feed will help keep website visitors engaged. It’ll also bolster brand reputation and provide social proof. In a perfect world, your social media content effortlessly draws people in with exciting wit and attention-demanding visuals. But it’s not always possible to keep a singular social feed that engaging. 

One solution is to embed social media content from multiple sources — show off all of your best content from all of your channels. If you’re not sure of the best way to do this, consider creating a social media wall on the homepage of your website. This social wall can act as a sort of social media aggregator and contain posts from your brand’s most relevant social media platforms. 

Why should businesses add social media feeds to their website?

Increasing brand awareness and keeping your website visitors captivated go hand-in-hand. An effective way to do both is by regularly posting compelling and high-quality content on your website. Enter embedded social media feeds. 

Let’s take a look at the key benefits that embedded social media feeds offer. 

1. Increase visitor time on the page

As any social media marketing team knows, it’s challenging, expensive, and time-consuming to deliver quality content on the regular. There’s nothing worse than having all that top-notch content spread across a bunch of social media platforms that your website visitors will never see. 

By creating a social wall, you centralize all that phenomenal social media content and display it directly on your homepage. And every time your social media marketing team posts new content, your social wall updates to display the latest posts in real-time. Website visitors view these posts and: 

• Get a better feel for your brand
• Can click to your social feed to explore further 

2. Grow brand awareness

New visitors often don’t gain a clear picture of your brand’s offerings just by glancing at your homepage. A social media wall can help them quickly work out what your brand is all about — how you interact with customers, what your values are, etc. 

Try displaying your latest Facebook reviews and YouTube video testimonials. Positive testimonials can convert new visitors into longtime customers. A convincing Facebook feed or YouTube feed acts as powerful social proof.

3. Grow social media following

Staying active on your social media platforms nowadays is a must. Devoting time to your social media profiles helps grow your follower count. But it also helps you develop and curate your embedded social media aggregator. Having all social media feeds contained and centralized in one place helps to expose fresh content to a new and existing audience. 

Consider your own social media feeds. Perhaps most of your customers follow your Twitter feed but know little of what’s happening on your Instagram account. If they visit your website and view your social wall, they can see all the stunning photos you’ve taken recently via the connected Instagram feed. They might even decide to follow you on Instagram once they see what they’ve been missing out on. 

The key takeaway here is that embedded social media feeds work exceptionally for cross-promoting and building followings across all your social media platforms.

4. Promote user-generated content 

Encouraging customers to create user-generated content (UGC) helps build credibility. UGC may take the form of video snippets, photos, illustrations, witty comments, and even memes. 

This kind of content speaks volumes of how customers perceive their experience with your business and products or services. Embedding a social media feed on your website gives you the perfect opportunity to show off all the great customer-created content you’ve turned into social media posts. 

5. Improve lead conversion

Leads probably won’t know much about the quality of your products or services the first time they reach your website. You might have cool imagery and clear copy, but it takes more than that to build trust — you’ll need something more substantial to nudge leads down your sales funnel. 

If you have social media posts that include customer reviews and testimonials visible on your homepage, these will say more about your offerings than any sales pitch ever could. Leads will feel confident in trying out your products or services if they’re convinced that your existing customers are benefiting from them.  

6. Display social proof

Social media posts showing positive customer reviews, user comments, and engaging UGC all act as powerful social proof. The more active your social wall, the more likely visitors will perceive your website and brand as worth their time. And if your social media posts are funny, interesting, or newsworthy, visitors might even share them with others — boosted brand awareness with minimal effort is a major win. 

Types of social media feeds

There are five common types of social media feeds in use today, including: 

1. Single account feed: Displays posts from a single social media account. This is a great way to showcase the latest content from platforms like Instagram or Twitter directly on their website.
2. Hashtag feed: Aggregates and displays content from various social media sources based on a specific hashtag. Often used for campaigns or events.
3. Mention feed: Displays content where a particular user or brand is mentioned. It’s a way to showcase user-generated content or customer testimonials.
4. Curated feed: Instead of automatically displaying all content from a hashtag or mention, brands can manually select which posts appear on their website. 
5. Mixed or multi-network feed: Combines content from multiple social media platforms into a single feed. For brands active on multiple platforms, this provides a comprehensive view of their social activity.

Embedding these feeds onto a website, especially a WordPress site, is often done with the help of plugins or third-party tools that pull the content in real-time and display it in a stylized manner consistent with the website’s design.

Below, we’ll explore some of the most common social media feeds that people embed on their websites. 

Facebook Feed

Your Facebook page contains a wide variety of content you want to appear on your social wall. After you adjust your permissions so that WordPress can access your Facebook information, Facebook will send content to the Facebook feed embedded on your website. It will include your posts and content posted by users that mention your page. 

Instagram Feed

Similarly to setting permissions on your Facebook page, you’ll need to authorize permissions on your Instagram account before proceeding. Then, you may synchronize all your Instagram content with the Instagram feed embedded on your website. A cool feature is the ability to sort your posts with hashtags so you can curate your Instagram feed more effectively.  

TikTok Feed

TikTok is the fastest-growing video-sharing platform that has enthralled users of all ages — particularly younger generations. Many of your customers likely have TikTok accounts, so you should embed a TikTok video feed on your website. You can create and share stunning on-brand and user-generated videos this way.

YouTube Feed

You likely have a YouTube channel to showcase your offerings and produce ‘how-to’ videos to educate your customers about advanced or upcoming features. Videos are one of the most engaging forms of content, so embedding them in a YouTube feed on your site is a great way to grab attention. 

Pinterest Feed

While Pinterest is a lower-profile photo and image-sharing platform relative to Instagram, it has a hyper-engaged user base that you shouldn’t ignore. The Pinterest widget will allow you to build a social media aggregator for displaying striking photos and UGC. 

LinkedIn Feed

Business people and professionals love to share anecdotes or updates when they meet milestones. All this results in content that will interest or excite others in your industry or business niche. So, consider adding LinkedIn to your social wall. 

Twitter Feed

You likely have a Twitter (recently renamed ‘X’) account for promotional purposes and engaging with your customers. But your Twitter account is also an indispensable tool that you should synchronize with a Twitter feed embedded on your site. You can curate the tweets to appear on your social wall via hashtags and mentions. 

How to embed social media feeds on website

Embedding social media feeds on a WordPress website can be achieved in various ways. Here are two of the most common methods: 

1. Using official embed codes

Many social media platforms, like Twitter and Instagram, provide official embed codes that you can use to display specific posts or feeds on your website.

For example, to get an embed code for an Instagram post:  

1. Instagram: Open the post you want to embed

2. Click on the three dots at the top of the post

3. Choose Embed 

4. Copy the provided code and paste it into your WordPress post or page.

Note: If you don’t see the Embed option, the account may be private or may not have enabled the option to embed. 

2. Using WordPress plugins

There are several plugins available in the WordPress repository that allow you to embed social media feeds. For example: 

• Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed
• Custom Twitter Feeds
• Smash Balloon Social Post Feed

Simply install and activate the chosen plugin from your WordPress dashboard, then follow the setup instructions.

Real life social media feed examples

Wondering what an embedded social media feed looks like? Here are a few real-life examples. 

Review feed

A review feed showcases real-time customer reviews and testimonials from various platforms or a specific review site. It’s a great way to show off all of your glowing Google reviews.  

Instagram photos feed

​​An Instagram photo feed displays real-time photos and posts from a specific Instagram account or hashtag directly on the website. This allows visitors to view your latest Instagram content without leaving your site.

FAQs about social media feeds

Maximize your social media presence with Birdeye

There’s no better way to build trust and engage your customers with social media posts, customer mentions, reviews, and UCG. Birdeye makes it easy to manage all your social media channels like an expert while engaging with your customers effortlessly. Watch a demo today and contact our team at your earliest convenience to learn more about Birdeye Social.

The post How to embed social media feeds on a website (with examples) appeared first on Birdeye Customer Experience Management.

But this knowledge does not come easy. That is why businesses invest in developing buyer personas before they get out there in the market. The right buyer personas can help you become an efficient and smart business in your industry. 

This blog post uncovers everything you need to know about buyer personas and how to create the right one to help your business grow. 

What is a buyer’s persona?

A buyer persona is a detailed depiction of your ideal customer as a fictional profile you build from market research. You may also know them as customer, audience, or marketing personas. 

This profile describes an imaginary person who possesses the essential characteristics of your audience. This includes a psychological profile, demographic profile, values, and desires, to name a few. 

Why do businesses need buyer personas?

Businesses need buyer personas to understand their customers and determine how to serve their needs better. Buyer personas help businesses to dwell into each ideal customer profile and identify attributes that uniquely identify them. This helps in designing better products and tailoring services accordingly. 

By putting the customer front and center, you can translate your product’s features into benefits customers care about. Most importantly, buyer personas help you create an emotional connection with your audience. That emotional connection makes your marketing efforts more effective.

Benefits of buyer personas: 

• Buyer personas help businesses understand customers and explore purchase motivations
• Buyer personas help businesses optimize sales strategies and drive results 
• Buyer personas help businesses choose the proper marketing and advertising channels
• Buyer personas help develop better products with insight into customer requirements 

Buyer persona help businesses understand customers and explore purchase motivations

You need buyer personas to understand better your target market, which usually has a heterogeneous composition of customers. By developing specific buyer personas, such as marketing personas, you stand to gain a deeper understanding of your customers. 

It helps you explore behavior, motivations, pain points, social media usage, and other preferences. 

Buyer personas help businesses optimize sales strategies and drive results 

A buyer persona helps you zero in on the customer’s needs more than the business’s. Focusing on the customer is especially important during a marketing campaign. 

With this information, your sales team can understand customers’ challenges and approach your target audience with appropriate solutions more convincingly. According to a study by Marketing Insider group, businesses that use buyer personas generate more leads and have shorter sales cycles. 

Buyer personas help businesses choose the proper marketing and advertising channels

With detailed buyer personas, you can use your resources on channels that resonate better with potential customers. Different marketing channels, like social media and email marketing, work differently on your target audience, depending on their preferences. 

In 2020, An RV Association wanted to run a campaign to attract vacationers and boost the sales of recreational vehicles. They developed buyer personas and determined that targeting one particular type of customer would help in generating sales. The information from the buyer persona helped them build a website, choose advertising channels, and achieve their sales target.  

Buyer personas help develop better products with insight into customer requirements 

Buyer personas are especially helpful before you invest significantly in product development and marketing strategies. 

Understanding your customers lets you develop products & services that meet their needs and attract loyal customers. It’s also easy for you to identify gaps in the market, gather more information on desired features, and adapt your products accordingly. 

Spotify discovered that reasons for different customer segments for buying and listening to music varied a lot only after they dived into the buyer persona research. 

How to create a buyer persona

Creating customer personas isn’t about describing a potential customer. It’s about developing a reflection of an existing customer in your target market. Creating a buyer persona aims to improve marketing, sales, and product development. 

To create a thorough and effective buyer persona, businesses must follow these steps:

1. Conduct audience research from various sources to gather data
2. Talk to customers and experts via interviews and surveys 
3. Define elements of the buyer persona
4. Dive into specifics
5. Outline buyer personas 

Conduct in-depth audience research from various sources to gather data

A detailed buyer persona starts with research. The more information you have, the better. Market research helps you get to know your customers and understand what they want and what problem they’re looking for you to solve.

Businesses can conduct audience research by

• Analyzing customer data from their website visitor information, social media ad metrics, PPC ad metrics, and so on. 
• Studying their competitors, understanding who they serve, and what problems they solve for their customers. 
• Analyze independent market studies, industry-wide reports, and third-party research data.
• Talking to their sales, pre-sales, and customer support teams to know more about customer needs, wants, and preferences. 
• Analyze customer feedback channels such as reviews, marketing surveys, chatbot conversations, and social media conversations. 

Talk to customers and experts via interviews and surveys 

Reading reports is good, but sometimes, you must take a step ahead and talk directly to the people involved. Conducting interviews is a great way to collect essential information from your target audience. 

Businesses can conduct one-on-one interviews with current customers, prospects, and a sample audience group from their target audience.  

Conversations are a gateway to a wealth of information beyond primary demographic data. Talking to your customers helps you discover their pain points, motivations, and needs. 

You can use survey tools such as Birdeye Surveys to conduct these interviews and get precise responses from your customer base. 

Define elements of a buyer persona to fill out the template 

Now that you’ve the data, it is time to derive critical insights and build a buyer persona template. To do so, you must begin by detailing the elements of your buyer persona. 

These include: 

• A fictional name for your persona
• A job title with a detailed description to help the business understand the motivation and needs of the customer
• Demographic details such as age, gender, location, and so on
• Goals of the person that may bring them closer to your business 
• Challenges or pain points 
• Values or beliefs that may bring them closer or farther from your business 
• Fears 
• Purchasing process
• Influencing sources 
• Active communication channels 
• Other important preferences 

While you can easily define the essential elements of the buyer persona, it is vital to dwell deeper on some that help you differentiate each customer profile from the other. 

Download our buyer personas template to get started right away! 

Dive into specifics to gain insights into customer preferences

Once you create a buyer persona template, determine your customers’ goals and objectives. You can derive information from studying the challenges your target audience is facing and looking to solve. 

Add as much defining and specific information as possible to the buyer persona. Focus on information that can help you understand: 

• Who influences customers in their purchase decisions? 
• How does the customer discover a product or service? 
• What needs do they want to address with your product or service? 
• Why would they choose you or your competitor? 
• How does the product fit as a solution for the customer? 

A link between the challenges they’re facing and how your product/service IS important to connect with customers. Including this information in each buyer persona helps the sales and marketing teams craft the right messaging for that section of the target audience while promoting the business. 

Understanding these details will help convert potential customers into active customers and build long-term relationships. 

Outline buyer personas 

Now that you have all the necessary information, it’s time to create a detailed outline of your buyer personas. 

Each persona should include demographics, job roles, challenges, goals, and preferred communication methods. It could also be helpful to add personal anecdotes to add more authenticity to the persona. 

After creating the personas, compare them to your collected data and feedback. Make any adjustments as necessary based on the data and feedback from your sales, marketing, and development teams. 

Do not treat the personas as rigid, and regularly update them as your business evolves.

Examples of buyer personas

Developing a buyer persona may feel like a daunting task but the Birdeye buyer persona template makes it easier. The template helps you break down research data and categorize it accordingly. 

Here are some buyer persona examples to help guide you when creating some using our template for your business:

Rachel – buyer persona for a multi-location retail store

Rachel is a 32-year-old sales manager who lives in a suburban area with easy access to the retail store. She earns $70,000 annually. Being a busy professional, she values convenience and quality. 

Rachel’s goal is to find high-quality products within her budget. She would also like to enjoy a stress-free shopping experience. Some major struggles for Rachel are:

• managing finances while sticking to a budget, 
• balancing her work, family, and shopping time, and
• the overwhelming choices retail offers.

She enjoys shopping on weekends and considers online and in-store shopping valuable. Payment security during online purchases is vital as she is fearful of privacy issues. 

Rachel relies on online reviews to make an informed shopping decision. She also enjoys spending time on Instagram and Facebook to discover new products. 

Henry – buyer persona for a dental clinic

Henry is a 45-year-old Financial Analyst who lives in an urban area within a 10-mile radius of the dental clinic. Annually, he makes $100,000. He is health-conscious and values a confident smile. 

Currently, he is struggling to maintain oral hygiene due to conflicting schedules with dentists and is unable to book an appointment due to its working hours. 

• He prioritizes maintaining his oral hygiene for health and professional reasons. 
• He aims to find a dental clinic that offers convenient appointment scheduling and promptly addresses any dental issues. 
• He struggles with a demanding job that leaves him with limited free time and dental anxiety due to his past experiences. 

When looking for dental services, Henry considered the reputation of the clinic, flexible appointment slots, and transparent pricing information. He prefers email for appointment reminders and follow-up care instructions. He reads website and online reviews when researching a clinic’s reputation and customer service. 

Scarlet – buyer persona for an Insurance company 

Scarlet is a 28-year-old Elementary school teacher living in a suburban area about 20 miles within the radius of the insurance company’s office. She earns $45,000 annually. As a relatively young person, she is in the process of building a stable life and wants to have a secure financial future. 

• She’s concerned about unexpected events that could disrupt her plans. 
• She aims to secure insurance coverage that offers protection and peace of mind and aligns with her future home ownership goals. 
• She struggles with her budget since her income is limited, and she lacks familiarity with insurance terminology. 

When considering an insurance firm, she prioritizes clear insurance options and terms, affordable premiums, and the ability to customize coverage to suit her needs. She prefers direct email communication when inquiring about policies and receiving updates. 

She relies on online resources to research insurance options and learn more about coverage details.

Coal – buyer persona for a real estate business

32-year-old marketing manager, Coal, makes $80,000 a year and is looking for a new home. He values style, convenience, and a sense of community. 

Coal wants to find a modern home in a dynamic neighborhood with many shopping, dining, and entertainment options. He also hopes to invest in real estate to fund his future. Coal needs help finding time to visit properties due to his demanding job. He wants a property within his budget while still checking off his must-haves. 

Coal places a high value on a short work commute. Recreational activities, modern design, and competitive pricing also top his list. 

He prefers emails for property listings and scheduling viewings. He uses social media platforms for inspiration. 

Dana – buyer persona for a Storage facility with 10+ locations

Dana is a 45-year-old small business owner living in a suburban area. She earns $70,000 a year. Being a busy entrepreneur, Dana needs flexible storage solutions for her business inventory. 

Dana wants a reliable partner to manage her storage needs at an affordable price. She also wants a  convenient and secure storage solution for her inventory. 

She worries about security, her inventory remaining organized, and the possible damage to goods. Location, security measures, and leasing options top her list.

She prefers phone calls. She also relies on Google Maps and navigation tools to find the nearest options. 

FAQs about buyer personas

Understand your audience with Birdeye

Creating buyer personas helps you understand your audience. Following the steps that help you create a comprehensive persona will positively impact your business growth. 

Birdeye helps businesses gain insights from customer interactions and feedback channels to craft the most effective buyer personas. Contact us today to know more! 

The post How to create buyer personas + Free template appeared first on Birdeye Customer Experience Management.

Artificial intelligence can help healthcare businesses of all sizes step up their game and gain a significant edge over their competitors. 

This blog post explores the many ways using artificial intelligence in the healthcare industry can boost your growth. 

What is AI in healthcare?

AI in healthcare describes the application of artificial intelligence in the healthcare industry using technologies like machine learning, Natural language processing, Generative AI, and other AI programs. 

Drug discovery, medical diagnosis, surgery assistance, patient data management, automated customer service, and data analysis are just some examples of how AI in healthcare can impact the industry. 

What are the benefits of using AI in healthcare?

AI in healthcare provides medical providers with accurate, streamlined support. AI systems can take on mundane tasks prone to human error. Artificial intelligence also helps medical professionals be more efficient and accurate and, ultimately, improves patient outcomes.

A recent report from McKinsey estimates that using AI in healthcare for administrative tasks and streamlining processes could help businesses save up to 9% of their total costs annually

Some of the major benefits of leveraging AI in healthcare are:

1. Cost savings
2. Efficiency in operations 
3. Scalability with lean teams 
4. Reduced wait times with appointments 

Cost saving

Healthcare costs and the cost of running a healthcare business have been significantly on the rise over the past few years. Businesses are struggling to meet customer expectations, while still running a profitable venture.  Artificial intelligence can help them close the expectation-reality gap and reduce costs as well. 

Businesses can:

• Use machine learning to train chabots and reduce customer support costs
• Generative AI to streamline administration tasks, improve insurance claim management, authorizations, and so on. 
• Natural language processing to spot trends and opportunities without spending a lot of resources on them. 

Efficiency in operations

AI in healthcare can tackle a large volume of data from electronic health records to help healthcare providers provide accurate diagnoses and tailored treatment options.

Clinics and hospitals can also improve patient experience by streamlining operations by introducing artificial intelligence in repetitive tasks such as generating reports, setting up reminders, and automating payments, to name a few. 

Scalability with lean teams

The U.S. needs over 4 million more healthcare workers in the next five years to meet demand.  Artificial intelligence can help ease the labor shortage. This especially is a boon to businesses looking to expand to multiple locations, but struggle to find the resource due to skill or budget shortages. 

AI can help you scale medical procedure scheduling, payment processing, marketing, advertising, record keeping, data maintenance, and so much more. This way, you can grow faster and boost employee productivity as well. 

Reduced wait times with appointment

According to one study, using AI to automate patient registration reduced wait times by an average of 12 minutes. This was by using the technology to analyze a patient’s history, determine urgency, and find the best appointment slot with the data. 

Businesses can also set up an AI-driven appointment scheduling process that schedules appointments, sends reminders, and makes sure patients reach on time and reduce overall wait times. 

11 ways to use AI in healthcare

Artificial intelligence has wide ranging applications in the healthcare industry, across all verticals. Healthcare providers can leverage AI in:

1. Improving patient experience
2. Managing patient data
3. Review generation
4. Omnichannel support
5. Trend predictions 
6. Appointment systems 
7. Automating administrative tasks
8. Simplifying medical documentation
9. Improving healthcare marketing 
10. Feedback collection
11. Social media marketing 

Improving patient experience

The healthcare industry is rapidly growing and patients now have the option to choose from different service providers. Guaranteeing a satisfactory patient experience is one of the few ways healthcare businesses can seek to retain their clients. 

With Artificial Intelligence, healthcare businesses can:

• Analyze their processes and make changes wherever there is scope
• Understand customer pain points from market research and model solutions accordingly 
• Make onboarding easier on patients and staff 

Johns Hopkins Hospital  used predictive AI programs to create a better patient journey. A task force armed with AI data science revamped every aspect of activity throughout the hospital to improve patient experience. As a result, admitted patients got a hospital bed 38% more quickly.

Managing patient data

The healthcare system is just the latest frontier in the growth of big data. From doctors’ visits to hospitalizations to even health information from wearable tech, each patient accumulates a wealth of health data. But that data is only useful if healthcare providers can manage it right.

Clinics, hospitals, and other healthcare businesses can adopt AI technology solutions that search patient data for relevant information upon command instead of having staff manually combing through old records. 

Artificial intelligence can help businesses: 

• Find patient’s medical and billing history when they book an appointment 
• Manage all insurance and payment data within a single file to avoid refilling forms 
• Analyze intake forms to understand the ideal customer profile for the business. 

Ofcourse, when you use AI to manage patient data, it is important to make sure that the tool is HIPAA compliant and secures the data while processing it like Birdeye does. 

Hardin Memorial Health in Kentucky uses AI technology to pull relevant information from a patient’s record that providers can review on a single screen.

Review generation

According to one report, patients won’t consider a doctor who has a rating lower than 4 stars. AI in healthcare can help you increase your review rating on major channels by automating review requests to all your patients. 

Often, clinics and hospitals provide excellent standards of care but miss documenting that publicly in the form of reviews. All customers need prompting to write reviews and sending them manual requests can take a toll on resources. 

With AI, healthcare businesses can:

• Send automated review requests to all patients as soon they complete a transaction
• Remind patients to complete outstanding review requests
• Analyze the success of these review request emails or messages so that the business can tweak the messaging 

Birdeye helps businesses improve their reputation on review sites with the robust review generation mechanism. For example, Zynex Medical went from a single one-star review to over 4,000 reviews averaging 4.5 stars in a few short years with Birdeye.   

Omnichannel support

In many ways, healthcare is like any other business. Medical professionals who provide a better customer experience will be more successful. Providing support through different channels is one way to provide better service and improve efficiency.

Using AI, 

• You can communicate with patients via text messaging, social media channels, or Web Chat 24/7. 
• Compile frequently asked questions and enable self-service with pre-written answers with the AI assistant. 
• Manage all conversations from a single unified inbox as with Birdeye Messaging to streamline support. 

Make sure you use solutions that are HIPAA-compliant to secure patient data. 

Trend predictions

AI applications can do more than find the right information in the proverbial haystack. Using data science, healthcare AI tools can help businesses gain actionable insights to grow their business. Healthcare providers can use these insights to anticipate patient needs.

Some of the major ways to leverage AI in healthcare trend predictions are:

• Anticipate recurring appointments and inform patients accordingly
• Analyze hospital spending and draw accurate financial budgets 
• Track and predict medical supplies in storage and trigger orders accordingly 
• Reduce complications by anticipating outcomes using predictive models. 

For example, The University of Texas Southwestern discovered that data science could give insight into readmissions. They used predictive analytics to identify patients more likely to face complications after discharge.

Appointment systems

Almost all healthcare service providers rely on appointment systems to schedule resources, manage time, and help customers book a slot with them. However, you can massively upgrade your appointment scheduling processes using artificial intelligence. 

AI-driven appointment scheduling systems help businesses:

• Book appointments 24/7 using the AI assistant to help the patient find the right doctor and service 
• Streamline and manage all appointments across multiple locations 
• Plan the resource requirement based on the appointments
• Send reminders to patients to reduce wait times and cancellations 
• Book recurring appointments based on the type of treatment 
• Collect patient data with customized intake forms 

Automating administrative tasks

Up to 30% of healthcare costs goes towards administrative tasks. Artificial intelligence can help reduce much of this spending, while optimizing the processes. 

AI can handle all periodic and repetitive tasks such as:

• Sending invoices 
• Maintaining shift records
• Doctor and nurse shift scheduling 
• Anticipating shortages 

For example, Scheduling nursing shifts is just one administrative task that Mercy Health turned over to AI. The hospital conglomerate addressed its nursing shortage by offering flexible shifts to “gig” nurses, former full-time nurses willing to pick up shifts. Nurses can download an app to their phones and choose to work shifts that can be as short as two hours.

Simplifying medical documentation

Medical documentation is easily one of the most time-consuming tasks healthcare professionals face. Transcribing patient information into digital data is labor-intensive work and with AI you can divert those resources to other places. 

Conversational AI can pick up key phrases and information when you talk with your patients. Generative AI can then input that patient data into the appropriate fields. All you have to do is read through the information and make minor adjustments.

AI can also help doctors create quick and efficient medical summaries for insurance claims and legal reasons. 

Improving healthcare marketing

It is important for all businesses to market themselves so that the right customers can find them. This is true for healthcare providers too, especially in the current competitive environment. Using AI to guide their marketing efforts, healthcare providers can boost the success of their efforts while optimizing their budgets as well. 

AI can help businesses: 

• Understand their customers better by analyzing buyer personas to devise powerful marketing campaigns
• Analyze existing patient data to understand pain points and position themselves as the solution
• Analyze the success of existing marketing and advertising campaigns 
• Identify happy clients via reviews and surveys to promote loyalty and referral programs. 

Feedback management 

Often the key to success is right in front of us and we miss it. And that’s what happens when healthcare providers neglect the mountain of feedback they receive every day. This feedback holds the key to knowing what is going right and going wrong for your service. 

Healthcare businesses must leverage AI in customer feedback management to:

• Send automated surveys to all customers and collect feedback on all their processes. This includes onboarding, diagnosis, treatment, follow-up, and payment 
• Analyze customer feedback to pull out actionable insights for growth
• Identify unique selling points of the business to use them in marketing materials. 

Social media marketing 

Customer communication channels are changing and the impact is now visible in the healthcare industry as well. Patients now like to research potential service providers on various channels including social media before booking an appointment. 

It now becomes important for businesses to build and maintain a strong social media presence on these platforms. However, consistently posting content, engaging with users, and answering questions can be resource-intensive. But not with AI. 

Using AI-driven social media management tools like Birdeye helps business:

• Generate post ideas for their platforms that help them build a strong following 
• Monitor social media engagement and respond to customers on different platforms from a single easy-to-use dashboard
• Market their brand using positive reviews garnered on popular review sites 
• Respond to customer queries using an AI assistant 

How to leverage AI in healthcare with Birdeye

Implementing AI in your healthcare practice feels like a mammoth task. And some of the AI technology may seem out of reach, but it is not. But Birdeye has AI technology that you can adopt now to streamline and grow your healthcare practice.

Appointments

Reducing friction in the patient journey is one of the keys to a successful healthcare system. Birdeye Appointments powered by AI will improve the patient experience while reducing no-shows and cancellations. Use Birdeye Appointments to let patients book online and send automatic follow-ups.

Birdeye Inbox

Birdeye Messaging uses AI technology to put all of your patient communications on a single, secure platform. You can message a potential patient on your website or conduct consultations on Webchat. Whatever the channel, you’ll gain a comprehensive view of all patient conversations with Birdeye Inbox.

Birdeye reviews

Birdeye’s AI-powered reviews system gives you the tools you need to improve your online reputation. You can use Reviews to send automated review requests or respond to reviews you’ve received. Birdeye Reviews also gives medical providers the power to monitor reviews on hundreds of sites within one dashboard.

Hughston Clinic used Birdeye Reviews to earn a four-fold increase in online reviews. The boost in their online reputation improved their SEO, increased visits to their websites, and, ultimately, led to more phone calls.

Birdeye Insights 

Birdeye’s AI-driven Insights will help you better understand your patients’ experience. You’ll learn where you can improve, even if you have hundreds of locations. The artificial intelligence powering Birdeye Insights will shed light on patterns that you may miss otherwise.

Birdeye Webchat

Connect with potential customers with Birdeye’s AI-driven Webchat. Any medical procedure, no matter how big or small, evokes anxiety. Be available 24/7 to your website visitors who may otherwise hesitate to book an appointment due to unanswered questions.

FAQs about AI in healthcare

Work with Birdeye to leverage AI in healthcare

The future of AI in healthcare is here. And the healthcare AI industry will grow 20-fold within the decade. Artificial intelligence will reduce healthcare costs and improve patient outcomes. 

AI will also reduce human errors, deliver insights, and all-around improve patient care to help healthcare practices grow successful.

Use Birdeye’s AI-powered tools for patient communications, scheduling, reputation management, and insights. Contact us today. 

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