Calculating the return on investment (ROI) of online review marketing can be challenging, yet it’s crucial for businesses to understand how effective their review marketing has been so they can optimize and readjust their strategies. In this article, we will explore how to assess the impact of online reviews and calculate their marketing ROI.
How to Calculate the ROI
It can be difficult to tell how review marketing has improved your profits, but these 5 steps will help you calculate how effective your review marketing is:
Step 1: Define Your Objectives
Before calculating ROI, it’s important to define what success looks like. Objectives may include increasing the number of positive reviews, improving overall ratings, or reducing the impact of negative reviews. Setting clear goals will help you measure how effective your strategies are.
Step 2: Track Your Expenses
Calculate all costs associated with managing online reviews. This includes software tools for monitoring reviews, staff time spent responding to reviews, and any marketing campaigns specifically aimed at generating reviews. If you use incentives to encourage reviews, include these costs as well.
Step 3: Measure the Direct Impact
To understand the financial impact of online reviews, start by comparing revenue growth with changes in review scores
- Compare sales data with review trends: Analyze periods of revenue increase against times when your review scores improved. Although correlation doesn’t imply causation, significant correlations can provide insight into the impact of reviews.
- Calculate lifetime value of customers influenced by reviews: Estimate how much repeat business will come from customers who decided to purchase based on positive reviews. You can use surveys and customer data to trace these patterns.
Step 4: Calculate Indirect Benefits
Indirect benefits might be harder to evaluate but are equally important. These include:
- Brand reputation improvements: High ratings can improve your brand’s reputation. Brand tracking studies can help you find out how well this has worked for your brand.
- SEO benefits: Positive reviews can improve your rankings in search engines. Estimate the value by looking at the increase in organic traffic attributed to higher search rankings and the cost equivalence if this traffic were acquired through paid ads.
Step 5: Use the ROI Formula
Once you have all the data, you can calculate the ROI using the following formula:
- Total Benefits: This includes direct sales growth attributable to improved reviews and the estimated value of indirect benefits like increased traffic and improved brand perception.
- Total Costs: This is the sum of all expenses incurred in managing your online reviews.
Example Calculation
Suppose you spent $5,000 on review management over a quarter and noticed a $20,000 increase in sales attributed to improved reviews. Additionally, the SEO and brand reputation improvements brought in an additional $10,000.
This example shows a 500% ROI from online review marketing, indicating a highly effective strategy.
By accurately tracking costs, measuring impacts, and applying the ROI formula, you can gain insights into how effectively you are managing your online reputation through reviews.
Review Marketing can be a daunting task. Luckily, there are lots of resources available to help you change or maintain your brand’s reputation. Starfish Reviews is one such resource, with several tools that can help you improve your ROI. Learn more here!
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