Relationship management has taken on a whole new meaning today. And no, we aren’t just talking about personal or professional relationships. Even in the business world, listening to your customers is a necessity today. First and foremost, it can help brands understand how their target audience reacts to their products and services. Apart from finding out how a current product line is doing, customer feedback can also help companies understand what their customers would like to see in future offerings. This can in turn help brands cut down on the R&D they conduct independently.

By allowing customers to provide their feedback on your website, you send a positive message to your entire clientele – that your brand values customer opinions. And this goes a long way in improving customer retention. What about new customers? A study concluded that 70% of consumers believe in customer opinions. So when a brand shares customer feedback on its website, it could directly translate to an increase in sales. Moreover, adding this feedback is also a great way to add content that resonates with your customers.

Here are a few ways that you can use your customers’ opinions to add content to your site.

1. For new content ideas

The ‘review section’ on a website can be a goldmine for new marketing ideas and an easy way to find potential influencers for your brand. Let’s consider the example of a retailer selling a laptop on an e-commerce site. In the customer reviews section, some may praise the battery life, while others may mention how light and portable the laptop is. The laptop manufacturer can create individual stories from each of these anecdotes and turn them into marketing material. The brand also has the opportunity to reach out to customers who have left good reviews, and turn them into brand advocates since word-of-mouth is still one of the best ways to convert a lead.

2. To add multimedia to your page

Most product pages usually have just an image of the product, and a description of it, but barely any videos. Even if you consider adding videos, it may not always be feasible and in some cases may seem like a force fit. This is where video reviews come in. As we advance further into the digital age, consumers have started using videos to unbox, review, and basically share opinions on various products. Look out for such videos and plug them into respective product pages. You can even add a transcript of the video so as to add textual content to your page.

3. Customer feedback to give credibility to your products

A survey by Podium found that online reviews impacted the purchasing decision of 93% of consumers. Instead of having customers leave a review on your website, you can source this content from various other review websites. In fact, displaying the reviews that were left on popular third-party websites can also help to add credibility to your products and services. WorldRemit, for example, sources reviews from Trustpilot and displays them upfront on their homepage.

4. To create and display reports

You can collate the data collected in the form of feedback and create an infographic showing the data in the form of statistics. These statistics can further help you build a strong positive image in the minds of your consumers. For instance, Amazon, the e-commerce giant, revealed a list of the top-selling items on Cyber Monday.

Tip: If you do intend on creating such reports, you can design your feedback form in such a way that it makes it easier for you to pull data.

5. To identify pain points and address them

One of the best ways to identify gaps in your content marketing strategy is to analyse and find out your customers’ pain points. Customer feedback can help a brand figure out just what its customers want to read about, and accordingly, change its content strategy to satisfy these needs. Analysing customer feedback can also help a brand uncover untapped potential in a particular demographic. You can try to understand how consumers are discovering and interacting with your content.

Related: 6 Smart Ways to utilise UGC for your brand

A study conducted by Spiegel showed that a product with five reviews was 270% more likely to be sold than a product with no reviews. So what are you waiting for? Start integrating customer feedback into your website content.