2018 BENCHMARK REPORT:

THE IMPACT OF REVIEWS

on B2B Buyers and Sellers
 Part 1: Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Key Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Part 2: The Power of Product Reviews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
When Buyers Look at Product Reviews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
How Many Reviews are Enough. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Recency Matters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Where Buyers Find Product Reviews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9
Part 3: Embrace the Negative. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-11
Part 4: Putting Product Reviews to Work. . . . . . . . . . 12-13
The Importance of Reviews Over Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-15
How Reviews are Being Used. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
The Benefits of Product Reviews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Part 5: Your Competitive Advantage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Next Steps for Sales and Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Use Reviews to Improve Your Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Use Reviews Throughout Your Marketing Strategy . . . . . . 21
Implement a Continual Review Strategy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Don’t Silence the Negative Reviews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
About the Authors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

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Part 1:
Introduction
We all know how helpful product reviews can be, especially in
the B2C space. Although this system has been present for at
least a decade, product reviews and star ratings in the modern
B2B landscape aren’t quite as common.
Until recently, selecting business solutions was hard, risky, and inherently biased. Buyers spent
too much time sifting through search results, reading outdated reports, and sitting in on product
demo after product demo, all to no avail. But as B2B product reviews become more regular, the
decision — making process has become much simpler, letting users’ voices be heard, and helping
buyers make smarter, faster, and more impactful decisions.

Methodology
To understand and identify how today’s Are you more likely to purchase a
B2B buyers give, interpret, and use product product or service if you have been
reviews to make decisions, OnTarget
able to read a trusted review about it?
Consulting & Research, in partnership with
G2 Crowd and Heinz Marketing, conducted
a survey over two weeks in late September
2017. The responses came from 548
business professionals from a range of
different industries, ranging from SMB
to large enterprise. 92.4%
YES

7.6%
No/Not Sure

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Key Findings

1. The power of product reviews. 4. Embrace the negative.

Product reviews are powerful assets to Negative reviews might not be as problematic
have in your corner, but just how persuasive as you think. 67% of buyers actually want
are they? Well, when 90% of buyers are more to see a good mix of positive and negative
likely to make a decision after reading a reviews, and 72% say that negative reviews
trusted review, the importance of integrating help provide depth and insight to a product.
them into your marketing mix speaks for itself. As a seller, you obviously want to showcase
your best and brightest reviews, but buyers
2. The entire buyer’s journey. want to see more than that. Seeing glowing
Product reviews play an important role review after glowing review creates
throughout your entire buyer’s journey with skepticism — doubt that your product is
7 out of 10 buyers referencing reviews in the really as perfect as every review states.
consideration phase, and half reporting they Having a few negatives in your reviews
use reviews in the later stages of the buying won’t kill you. In fact, the negatives add
process. B2B sales and marketing teams to your trustworthiness and credibility.
who think that product reviews only have an
impact in the consideration stage are missing 5. Your competitive advantage.
out on valuable, multi-touch opportunities. 90% of buyers are more likely to make a
purchase decision after reading a product
3. Recency and quantity matter. review. However, only 1 in 5 companies
Striking a balance between recency and are even considering using reviews in their
quantity of reviews is essential to maximize marketing efforts. When product reviews
your impact on a prospect. 61% of buyers help establish trust, provide credibility, and
would like to see 11-50 reviews, and 66% demonstrate value, the opportunities they
of buyers would find those reviews more bring are ripe for the picking.
valuable if they were provided in the last three
months. You might have hundreds of glowing
reviews to reference, but if they’re outdated,
it’s time to add some new ones to the roster.

So, just how useful are product reviews to B2B sales and marketing teams?
This report explores how today’s savvy buyers give, interpret, and use reviews to
make better decisions, and what modern B2B sales and marketing teams can do
to leverage the power of their product reviews for continued success in 2018.

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Part 2:
The Power of Product Reviews
Product reviews play a foundational role in today’s buyer’s journey. They assist in
illuminating a product’s benefits, potential problems or shortcomings, and they
give a credible, unfiltered voice to your product’s user.

Reviews are so impactful that 9 out of 10 of buyers are more likely to purchase a
product after reading a positive review. And when only 1 in 5 companies are even
considering introducing reviews to their marketing mix, there’s an opportunity to
close the gap and gain your competitive advantage.

9 out of 10 buyers But

only 1 in 5 companies
are more likely to purchase a product are considering adding reviews
after reading a positive review. to their marketing mix.

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When do buyers look at product reviews?

Through reviews, a buyer is given a fuller picture of your company and your
offerings. They allow the buyer a peek behind the curtain to understand the
product as it functions in practice, helping them make more informed decisions.
So when do buyers look at product reviews? Well, all the time.

Product reviews are not funnel-stage-specific. Though they are more heavily
utilized in the middle of the funnel, half of buyers read them when they begin
their journey, and nearly half when they’re about to make their final decision.

At what stage do buyers look at product reviews?

29% during awareness

44% during consideration

24% during decision

0 10 20 30 40 50

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Percentage of buyers who Percent of buyers

who find reviews very
need to see 11–50 reviews. valuable based on time.
Reviews are important, yes, but it’s important to

22.2
remember that one or two reviews aren’t enough
to deliver value to your prospects. So just how %
many reviews should you aim for? While 1 in 5
buyers are fine seeing around 10 reviews,
66% of buyers prefer to see 11–50.
0–10 reviews

Breakdown of buyers who

need to see 11 - 50 reviews 37.1 %
11–20 reviews

24 %
21–50 reviews

53% 64.8%
of coordinators
or consultants
of managers
8.2 %
51–100 reviews

4%
+100 reviews
68% 60.5%
of VPs of C-Suite
or directors But quantity isn’t
all that matters.

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Recency matters too.

Though you might have 20 reviews so far, if they’re older than three months,
then it’s time to get some new ones posted.

The more recent a review, the more value is delivered. 66% of buyers find product
reviews from the last three months very valuable, but any older than that and a
significant drop-off occurs with only 45% of buyers finding value in three to six
month old reviews, and less than one quarter finding value in the six to twelve
month span.

7 out of 10 of managers
find reviews provided in the last three
months as very valuable.

Percentage of buyers who

find reviews very valuable
45.3%
3–6
based on time. months old

21%
6 – 12
months old

65.7% 11.2%
0 – 3 months old 12+ months old

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Where do buyers find product reviews?

Searching for B2B services isn’t as easy as it is in B2C where you’re given
thousands of options through department stores or other third-party online
retailers, especially when you want the unbiased opinions of real users.

So, where do B2B buyers go for these reviews?

Over the past five years, product review sites have continued to emerge and play
a major role in the B2B buyer’s search for unbiased reviews, so much so that 60%
of buyers use them and 82% find them to be very valuable in their research.

Qualities of a valuable product site website

67% 54% 44% 39%

want want want want

a good mix a site that is easy a site that has a a site that provides
of positive and to navigate and significant amount a ranking of potential
negative reviews understand of data to review companies based
on the reviews

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While wanting a site that

is easy to navigate and
understand is no surprise,
almost half of B2B buyers
also want a site with a
significant amount of data
to review, likely to ensure Another
its credibility and value. interesting
quality from our
findings is the
buyer’s want
for negative
reviews.
Nearly 1/2 of buyers
want a review site that has
a significant amount of data
to review. So, are negative
reviews a
deal-breaker?

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Part 3:
Embrace the Negative
It’s normal for you to be worried when a less-than-stellar

67%
review comes around, but that doesn’t mean all hope is
lost — quite the opposite, actually. Buyers rely on product
reviews to gain depth and insight to your product before of buyers prefer
they make the decision, and that means seeing both the to see a mix of positive
positive and the negative. and negative reviews.

3 out of 4 of buyers
say negative reviews help provide
a depth of insight to make an
informed decision.

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Negative reviews are not deal — breakers.

However disheartening negative reviews may feel at the time, in reality, 67%
of buyers actually prefer to see a mix of positive and negative reviews, with
3 out of 4 buyers saying negative reviews help provide more depth and insight
to make an informed decision.

How do you react when you read negative reviews?

72% 39.5% 33.4%

They provide insight They build I’m less likely
to help me make an credibility for to purchase
informed decision the product

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Part 4:
Putting Product Reviews to Work
Are you using product reviews effectively in your B2B sales and marketing
outreach? Product reviews can do far more than educate your prospects — you
can also use them to improve your messaging, your content, your products, and
your company’s credibility as a whole.

The C-Suite on Product Reviews Does your company currently

utilize product reviews as part
of its marketing mix?

43.2%
YES
3 in 4
find value in product reviews

but 55% don’t use reviews

in their marketing mix

56.8%
No or Don’t Know

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The value of reviews.

Utilizing product reviews can give you a valuable advantage over the competition,
but only 2 in 5 companies currently use them in their marketing mix. This means
that nearly 60% of companies don’t currently use reviews.

How would you rate the current effectiveness and value

of product reviews to your marketing mix on a 1–7 scale?
(7 is very valuable)

70 68.6%
5-7 value
60

50

40

30

22.3%
20 3-4 value

3.4%
10

0 1-2 value

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The importance of reviews over time.

A product review strategy takes time to get up and running. Of the companies
that are currently utilizing reviews, nearly half of them have been doing so for
at least two years, and across the board they reported an increase in their
importance to marketing strategy.

90% of companies
currently using product reviews said the importance of them
has increased or stayed the same in the past one to two years.

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In total, 70% of sellers said the importance of

using product reviews in their marketing has
increased in the last two years, with an additional
19% saying the importance has stayed the same.
Broken down further, over 75% of companies with more
than 5 years of experience and 80% of those with less

70
than one year of experience reported an increase as
well. The companies with more experience understand %
the importance of reviews after refining their strategies,
while the less-experienced companies are likely seeing of all sellers currently
positive results from their newly implemented tactics.
utilizing reviews said the
importance of them has
How long has your company utilized increased.
and/or monitored product reviews
as part of its marketing mix?

75 %
of sellers who have used
17.7 % 0 - 1 year
reviews for more than five
years reported an increase
in importance.

27.4% 1 - 2 years

80 %
of sellers who have used
reviews for one year
27% 2 - 5 years
reported an increase in
importance.

15.6% with more than five years

of experience

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How are reviews being used?

You’d be mistaken to think product reviews have a singular use in your marketing
mix. In fact, reviews have a variety of uses, each of which provides its own value
to your organization.

How do B2B sales and marketing teams use product reviews?

52% 52%
to establish or for testimonials
improve credibility and case studies
and trust

51% 49%
to increase to monitor
brand awareness customer
feedback

49% 43%
for lead to establish and
generation demonstrate
market presence

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The benefits of product reviews.

What benefits have companies seen from actually using
these reviews? Across the board, sellers responded that
they’ve seen improvements in:

Monitoring customer feedback 1 in 2 C-Suite

respondents
Gathering testimonials and saw improvement in
case studies testimonials/case studies.

Increasing brand awareness

Generating leads

Building and establishing credibility

Providing product validation 1 in 3 managers

found improvement in
Establishing market presence monitoring customer
feedback.
Analyzing their competition

1 in 3 consultants/
coordinators
saw improvement across
all areas.

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Part 5:
Your Competitive Advantage
This entire time we’ve explored the ways in which product reviews are used
by buyers to help them make smarter decisions, and we saw that 9 out of 10
buyers are more likely to make that decision after reading a trusted review.
That, along with all the ways reviews add value to your company, makes
introducing product reviews to your marketing strategy seem like a no-brainer.
However, of the companies who don’t currently utilize reviews, only 1 in 5 are
even considering them.

What does this mean? It means that you have the valuable opportunity to get
ahead of the curve and position product reviews as your competitive advantage.

1 in 5 companies
Only

not already using them are

considering adding product
reviews to their marketing mix.

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Next Steps Here are four areas to

help you make the most
for Sales of your reviews.

and Marketing
Use reviews to
How can B2B sales and
marketing teams leverage
1 improve your
product.
product reviews in their own
efforts to accelerate their
pipeline and close more deals?
Use reviews to
2 create content for
every stage of the
sales funnel.

Implement
3 a consistent
strategy to
continually seek
out new reviews.

Don’t silence the

4 negative reviews.

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1 Use reviews to improve your product.

Product reviews are a great way to gauge users’ overall satisfaction and discover
underlying issues, challenges they’re facing, and opportunities to streamline
actions and usability. Utilize your reviews to continually improve your offering,
and show users (and prospects) that you listen to their feedback and actively
work to make your product better.

BEST PRACTICES:

Monitor customer feedback

and respond to issues and
challenges.

Personally reach out and reply

to those providing feedback —
both positive and negative.

When a problem is resolved,

reach out to the customer and
politely ask if they would update
their review.

Encourage long-term
relationships with your
customers to request reviews.

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2 Use reviews throughout your

marketing strategy.
As we saw, product reviews are not restricted to a single phase of the buyer’s
journey; therefore you should utilize reviews throughout your marketing strategy
at every stage of the funnel. A good product review strategy helps foster trust
and credibility, build your brand, establish market presence, and reinforce
a prospect’s decision to buy.

BEST PRACTICES:

Develop testimonials from Use reviews to identify

reviews at various stages of potential references for
the buyer’s journey. customers who have similar
use-case scenarios.
Utilize reviews as call-outs
in early-stage content like Link to your company’s
eBooks and whitepapers as profile on a review site.
well as later-stage materials Refer prospects to these
like testimonials and case reviews for an unbiased, third
studies. party testimonial to close sales.

Draw on your reviews to Utilize products and data

uncover the solutions your offered by review sites to
product addresses and build display testimonials and
new messaging from them for competitive insights.
early-stage communications.

Work with your customer

support team to identify
users and reviews that can
be featured in sales and
marketing collateral.

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3 Implement a continual review strategy.

20 reviews is good, but 20 more that are recent is great. Ensure your reviews
don’t grow stale by consistently prompting users to write a review about your
product through a variety of channels. You can then use these reviews to aid
in your messaging and positioning for future marketing campaigns.

BEST PRACTICES:

Conduct periodic review Seek out reviews through a

campaigns to ensure variety of channels, including
users’ voices are heard. email, phone calls, events, email
signatures, and your website.
Don’t be afraid to ask old
reviewers to update their
reviews.

Once new users have been

onboarded, encourage
reviews from the get-go.

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4 Don’t silence the negative reviews.

Remember, nobody’s perfect. There will be times when a user is unhappy enough
to write a negative review. Don’t let this distract you. Take this opportunity to
follow-up with that user and better understand their problems. Addressing the
issue head-on could also cause that user to update their review and share the
positive experience they just had, which further demonstrates your commitment
to your customers and your value to prospects.

BEST PRACTICES:

Do not try to hide negative Alternatively, share any

reviews. Instead, acknowledge upcoming product updates
the pain point and respond to and their timeline. Demonstrate
all negative reviews with poise you are listening, appreciate the
and honesty. Then do your best feedback and implement changes
to fix the situation. based on it when possible.

Thank the customer. Negative Embrace the negative reviews

reviews give you focus group because it gives an honest view
insights at no charge. Reply of your product — a product that
to negative reviews within 48 looks too perfect on paper is too
hours if possible. good to be true.

Follow up with the customer Share negative reviews with

to make sure their issue has your product and customer
been addressed. success teams for continual
improvement.
When possible, share recent
product updates that may
reverse the negative review.
Show you are dedicated to
making the product better and
more user friendly for everyone.

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Conclusion
Product reviews offer an enormous
opportunity for your organization, not only to
help you get recognized, but to help you grow.
Reviews aren’t just dust in the wind — they
possess tremendous value to you and your
company to help you continually improve
and thrive in the modern B2B landscape.

Where will your reviews take you?

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About the Authors

G2 Crowd Heinz Marketing

G2 Crowd’s mission is to provide the insights Everyday at Heinz Marketing brings a new
business professionals need to gain confidence adventure in the world of B2B sales and
in their buying decisions and become more marketing. We are innovators at heart, and
successful in their jobs. Our model brings not afraid to challenge convention in order
transparency to B2B buying — changing the to deliver the results our customers need.
way decisions are made. We are passionate about what we do and
strive to promote outcomes rather than just
We provide B2B Marketers with powerful data focus on activities.
and insights by leveraging over 250,000 verified
user reviews read by nearly read by 1 million Visit Heinz Marketing on the web at
buyers buyers each month. Our marketing
solutions give you effective tools to improve
www.heinzmarketing.com and follow
awareness, build trustworthiness and get a true us on Twitter @HeinzMarketing
understanding of your product’s effectiveness.

G2 Crowd products include widgets, research

data, reports and upgraded profiles, and give
you competitive analysis, content, quality leads,
testimonials, and a connection with your actual,
verified customers.

Visit G2 Crowd on the web at

www.g2crowd.com and follow
us on Twitter @G2Crowd

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