Let's start at the beginning; do you publish your reviews online? Are most of your clients women or men? Do you believe they respond differently to reviews?
I've talked about online reviews on my blog before, and you know how important I think they are. I have analyzed in-depth the reaction to search listing with and without reviews, and I can tell you without hesitation that the number of stars on your listing, and whether you have any, are equally if not more important than the position, provided you're somewhere on the first two pages.
Now, a new variable has been added. Jamie Pitman of BrightLocal has published an article titled “Do Men and Women Value Online Reviews Differently?” and I found it fascinating. If your target demographic is one or the other, you really should read this. If your target demographic is both, you really should read this.
Going into this study, we had no preconceived notions about how different genders might use online reviews, but what we discovered were some very marked differences in behaviors.
To start with, while a similar proportion of men and women said they “regularly” read reviews for online businesses, there’s a large gap between the men and women who “always” read online reviews for businesses.
As you can see above, 37 percent of men said they always read online reviews for businesses, but a comparatively small proportion of women (15 percent) do the same, preferring instead to “occasionally” read online reviews.
This means that if your customer base is skewed to the male side, it’s very important to be investing time and effort into securing high-scoring reviews. Star rating isn’t the only thing to focus on, though, as our original survey reports that a huge 40 percent of consumers don’t pay attention to reviews over two weeks old.
Need more local marketing tips? Check out our entire Guide to Local Marketing for Real Estate Professionals
