By: Trustpilot and 3Q Digital

1. 5 Types of Companies That Absolutely
NEED Trust to Grow
(they just don’t know it yet!)

2. Jake Favaro
Account Director
3Q Digitial
Presenters
Jordan Garner
Director of Marketing
Trustpilot

3. Agenda
Intro to Trustpilot & 3Q Digital
Why Customer Reviews Matter
5 Type of Companies That Need
Trust to Grow
Proactively Collect Reviews
Respond To & Resolve Reviews
Leverage Reviews for Conversion
Your To-Do List
Q&A

4. Introduction to
Trustpilot & 3Q Digital

5. Trustpilot by the Numbers

6. Retail Services Money

7. Common Client Challenges
Manage Online
Reputation
•Managing online
reputation & brand
development
•Standing out from
competition
•Developing social
media presence &
community
Drive Traffic
•Improving PPC
performance
•Driving SEO traffic
via branded search
•Optimizing
performance of other
paid digital channels
Increase
Conversions
•Increasing
conversion rates &
growing sales
•Creating repeat
customers & sales
through advocacy
•Increasing AOV
Improve
Business
•Collecting customer
feedback & insights
•Identifying unhappy
customers &
resolving issues
•Hearing value prop
in customers own
words

8. About 3Q Digital
Team
A dedicated, 180-member team of innovators, entrepreneurs, data
junkies, and growth agents.
Offices
Team members throughout the nation with offices in San Francisco, San
Mateo, Austin, New York City, Chicago, San Diego, and Vermont.
Partnerships
$500MM under management globally. Strong relationships with the
networks - inclusion in Alphas & Betas and special client events
Mission
To drive relentless, sustainable growth and innovation for our clients
offering SEM, SEO, paid social, analytics, mobile, display, CRO, and
strategic consulting

9. Customer Focus + Coordination = Sustained Growth
TIME
GROWTH

10. Why Customer Reviews Matter

11. 50% of Americans who are aware of advertising don’t trust
what they see, read or hear in advertisements.
44% think advertisements are dishonest.
-YouGov.com
“

12. 72% of people trust consumer opinions posted online
(2nd only to “Recommendations from people I know”)

13. Need
recognition
Product
specification
Evaluation
of options
Purchase
decision
Post-purchase
Influenced
by reviews
Look for
reviews
Leave
reviews
How Consumers Purchase
Look for
reviews
Leave
reviews
Look for
reviews

14. 90% of consumers say
buying decisions are
influenced by online reviews
The Impact of Reviews on the
Consumer Buying Journey
72% of consumers will take
action after reading a
positive review
Customers are likely to spend
31% more on a business with
“excellent” reviews

15. Reviews are happening
EVERYWHERE.
Consumers are demanding reviews for
EVERY BUYING DECISION.
Companies of all sizes, from all verticals,
must have a customer review strategy
(not JUST eCommerce).

16. 5 Types of Companies That
NEED Trust to Grow

17. Marketplaces

18. Companies connecting businesses or sellers to anyone
looking to purchase their product or service.
What are Marketplaces?

19. • Reviews are part of the unique value-add of using a marketplace vs. going
directly to the seller or using search engines
• Marketplaces typically encounter heavy competition from direct sellers & other
marketplaces  trust & reviews is a key differentiator
• Marketplaces tend to lean HEAVILY on advertising to attract consumers, but
consumers don’t trust advertising  reviews can help drive conversion
• Consumers expect options offered to be “trusted” or verified  meeting this
expectation gets repeat users
• Return users + consistent trust-building experiences = brand fans & advocates
Why do Marketplaces need trust & reviews?

20. Subscription Services

21. Companies that offer a service or product(s) delivered on an
on-going basis over a prolonged length of time.
What are Subscriptions?

22. • Longer-term/more serious commitment can be a conversion obstacle  trust &
reviews can help address & overcome this objection
• Subscriptions have a service component, which can often be a differentiation
point from competitors  reviews help speak to & define high service levels
• Subscriptions for non-typical products/services are becoming popular 
reviews can help consumers feel comfortable with this new way of buying
• Retention is the #1 key success metric for subscriptions  use reviews as a
health check as well a early detection of trends & root cause analysis
• Increase retention = increase LTV & build advocates to bring in new biz
Why do Subscriptions need trust & reviews?

23. Finance

24. Companies dealing with the movement, exchange, or holding of
money (credit, consumer deposits, lending, insurance, retirement).
What are Finance companies?

25. • Space is more crowded than ever before  need to stand out
• Numerous easy-to-access options means customers are less loyal, they can
transact with multiple institutions  trust can help retain/upsell current
customers & win new ones
• Paid advertising is incredibly competitive, with some of the most expensive
keywords in Google  use reviews to build efficiency in these channels
• Consumers are demanding high service-levels in finance  use reviews to
differentiate based on excellent customer experience
• Money is easier than ever to transfer & exchange  consumers are looking for
trust signals to accept these new methods
Why do Finance companies need trust & reviews?

26. B2B

27. Companies that primarily sell goods or services to other
businesses.
What are B2B companies?

28. • Longer sales cycle + bigger financial/time commitment + multiple decision-
makers = reviews can help keep sale moving forward & overcome objections
• Reviews & testimonials are critical to B2B conversions  more than 85% of biz
buyers are only satisfied after reading 10+ recent reviews
• Decision-makers are doing more research  online reputation management is
crucial to ensure they are able to find positive feedback
• As the space becomes crowded, companies are differentiating more on service
& customer success  reviews help demonstrate a strong service offering
• Use reviews for health checks & insights  increase retention/LTV & build
advocates in your most loyal customers
Why do B2B companies need trust & reviews?

29. New Markets/Brands

30. Companies offering products or services that are new or
uncommon to their intended audience, or are selling their
offering in a new way.
What are New Markets/Brands?

31. • Consumers need more content & info to understand unique offering  use
reviews to offer information in language consumers actually use
• Consumers naturally do more research for new markets/brands before making
decisions  reputation management is critical to manage what they find
• Reviews help identify insights to make business decisions & understand how
consumers will define your value prop
• Reviews can help to identify potential issues early on, which is critical to having
a smooth launch & adjusting processes as needed
• Unfamiliar brands for consumers need trust to ensure conversion!
Why do New Markets/Brands need trust & reviews?

32. Trust-Building Tactics
for EVERY Business

33. 1. Proactively Collect Reviews

34. Poll Question

35. Impact of Asking for Reviews Proactively
NOT asking for reviews:
50/50 split positive/negative at best
(likely many more negative reviews)
Proactively asking for reviews:
83% positive reviews
More balanced representation of a business

36. The Need for Social Engagement: Ask & Convert
Of the 4.3M reviews we've
helped customers collect
since May of 2015, 86%
have been 4 stars or higher

37. Implementing a Proactive Collection Strategy
1
Design a collection
flow in your existing
customer journey to
align with your goals
2
Measure the results,
optimize the collection
rate, & iterate3
Identify your org’s
goals for a proactive
review strategy
NEVER STOP ASKING!

38. 2. Respond To & Resolve
Reviews

39. • Resolving issues for unhappy customers to win them back
• Encouraging happy customers to be return customers
• Promoting customer advocacy among brand champions
• Showing that your company cares & takes reviews seriously
• Giving your company a chance to build a brand voice
Benefits of Responding to Reviews
= REVENUE
(provided you ACT on the insights you uncover)

40. Content of Responses Always apologize
Address customer concerns
directly
Give the customer a forum to
follow-up
If the situation warrants, also
reach out privately – not
everything should be discussed
in a public forum
PRO TIP: Ask the reviewer to
update their review if resolved

41. A
Example:

42. 1 Positive
Tone of Review Responses
2 Personal
3 Professional
4 In line with your brand
PRO TIP: For any 3rd party platform that is actively receiving customer feedback,
CURATION & RESPONSE is crucial!

43. 3. Leverage Reviews for
Conversion

44. Need
recognition
Product
specification
Evaluation
of options
Purchase
decision
Post-purchase
How Consumers Purchase
Insert TRUST SIGNALS on every step of your
acquisition funnel to give prospects the verification they
need to move forward until CONVERSION

45. SEARCH
Paid Search
(via Seller Ratings Ad Extension)
Organic Search
(via 3rd party sites & rich snippets)

46. SEARCH TIPS:
• Enable & test all PPC review extensions
• Utilize reviews for Google Seller Ratings in
PPC, as well as product reviews in Google
Shopping & PLAs
• Optimize response rate, ask consumers to
update reviews if resolved, & keep collecting
proactively to improve ratings over time
• Don’t forget landing pages!

47. DISPLAY
Banner, Re-Targeting, Social Media Ads…

48. DISPLAY TIPS:
• A/B test trust signals in any type of visual ad
– retargeting, banner ads, etc.
• Try including actual snippets from real
reviews – these tend to out-perform just
ratings alone
• Try including third-party validation with
ratings & reviews – these tend to win
• Again, don’t forget landing pages!

49. SOCIAL

50. SOCIAL TIPS:
• Use real customer reviews with third-party
validation in organic & paid social posts
• Test text posts vs. image versions of reviews
– images tend to win
• Celebrate review milestones on social for
internal morale-boosting & community-
building among customers/advocates
• Encourage customer participation &
sharing of reviews with contests, referral
programs, etc.

51. EMAILS

52. EMAIL TIPS:
• Test using reviews in email marketing with
strong calls-to-action – put trust signals near
the primary CTA
• Target prospects/customers with review
content that relates to them
• Use reviews to inspire & target your best
customers with referral & advocacy email
campaigns to drive return business & new
customers

53. WEBSITE

54. WEBSITE TIPS:
• Test reviews with third-party validation
EVERYWHERE – home page, category
pages, product pages, form pages,
landing pages, shopping cart (start on
pages with highest bounce rate)
• Build a review page with strong SEO
signals to rank for branded reputation-
related terms
• Include Schema.org markup to be eligible
for rich snippets in organic search

55. Measurement
A/B & MVT
USER
TESTING
DYNAMIC
CONTENT
• Hotjar is a tool that 3Q provides to clients
• Analyze on-site behavior and improve
conversion rates
• Pre and post-conversion surveys allow
businesses to determine how important trust is
to their users
• Heat Maps feature allows us to analyze clicks
and mouse hovers
• Conversion Funnels show typical conversion
pathways and drop-off points where a display
of positive reviews may be most needed

56. Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
INCREASE CONVERSIONS
On-site elements including reviews and trust
signals should be A/B tested in order to drive up
landing page & site conversion rates.
CRO is a central component of a well-rounded
digital media and growth strategy.
UX
DESIGN
A B
A/B & MVT
USER
TESTING
DYNAMIC
CONTENT

57. A/B & MVT
USER
TESTING
DYNAMIC
CONTENT
Real-life scenarios that saw BIG results using trust signals & reviews on-site:
• The business had previously performed intercept polling and uncovered many
complaints related to trust
• The business consistently saw a high volume of on-site chat interaction, with
questions around product details, remaining objections, or unanswered
questions
• The business’ main product is a commodity or has a low level of cognitive
thinking involved (a purchase is typically completed in one session without
leaving the site)
CRO Testing Results with Reviews

58. A/B & MVT
USER
TESTING
DYNAMIC
CONTENT
Driving Conversion Success with Reviews

59. Dashlane’s Results:

60. To-Do List
1. Proactively collect reviews from all of your
customers in a central location
2. Respond & resolve ALL reviews
3. Leverage your reviews to grow traffic, increase
conversion, & improve your business
- share reviews EVERYWHERE
- encourage customer advocacy
- mine reviews for insights
4. Test, optimize, & measure your success!

61. Q&A