Not All the Glows is Gold in Business Testimonials

A lot of attention has been paid lately to Internet transparency. While great opportunities to promote small business exist, a door opens to create a little deception when it comes to those "testimonials" or "reviews" posted on company websites.

Business reviews are working, and surfers are flocking to them to help make their buying decisions.

ChannelAdvisor, an e-commerce software company, conducted a study in 2010 on the effectiveness of customer reviews. It was found that more than 80 percent of shoppers (during the holidays) said they were influenced some in the making a purchase from a company. Nielsen Online reported similarly that web surfers trust ratings and recommendations from other "unknown" shoppers more than they trust television, magazine and radio advertising.

HubSpot, an e-marketing research company, reported Email marketing is a powerful channel for driving real business results and achieving measurable return on investment.

So, whom can you trust?

BBB allows individuals to post "business reviews" on company pages in the bureau's website.

"We understand the importance of giving people all the information they can get in order to make a solid educated evaluation of the business," says Paul Shephard, e-marketing specialist at BBB serving the Snake River Region.

BBB offers the following tips when considering reviews and testimonials:

• It is all in the name - Reviewers' names that include two or three numbers at the end are often signs of robotic review-writing software. In addition, some fake reviews can be spotted if the reviewer's name resembles a business or product name.
• Watch out for glowing subject line and verbiage - Most consumers won't use subject lines such as "This product changed my life." Another giveaway is the repeated use of a product's complete name and detailed description, such as "The XYZ Model 443 XZ outperformed all other television sets in its category."
• Unusual sentence structure - If the review is awkwardly worded, vague or praises its maker's company, it may be planted. Cut and paste suspicious sentences into a search engine and see if it comes up on other sites. Does the feedback resemble an ad or review from a real product user? Consumer reviews that read like product descriptions in catalogs and websites probably are.
• The marketing is in the message - If the review exudes blind product loyalty, uses marketing phrases such as "integrates seamlessly," or "this is the kind of product that you've been looking for," it was likely written by someone who is pushing the product.
• Black or white reviews - While a consumer may have strong opinions for or against a company or its products, take a second look at any feedback that is excessively positive or negative. Once you understand how companies and hired reviewers work, you can often detect a feedback piece with a hidden agenda.

Long-winded reviews with "life changing" testimonials tend to raise suspicion, Shephard says.

However, there is no guarantee a short consumer feedback post is legitimate either, he adds.

The best way to get a feeling for a product is to read reviews from a variety of sources, and look for any pattern in feedback on a single site. Friends on social networking sites can be a good source for leads.

Shephard says the more you read about the product and company, the better you will be at judging whether you are reading legitimate comments or meaningless marketing disguised as consumer experience.

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