Surveys have always been a traditional tool that’s used for gathering data on customers. What are you trying to measure when you send out a customer survey? Customer satisfaction? Service? Experience? Those were certainly some of my top options when I searched Google. What quickly comes to mind are the Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) score or Net Promoter Score (NPS). Brands also conduct surveys to measure customer intent. They want to learn whether a consumer will purchase X or Y products which are under development. 

Surveys can be labor intensive

Cost is a big factor when it comes to surveys, especially if you’re using an outside firm to conduct it. To start, there’s the search for the right firm to create the survey. Even if you don’t engage a firm, you have to construct the survey and ensure there are no leading questions that create data biases. Plus you have to consider the types of questions, meaning you have to ensure there’s a balance between quantitative and qualitative questions. An audience needs to be identified and sent the survey. Let’s face it, not everyone will complete the survey either.  You’re lucky if you get a 20% or 30% response rate. Upon collecting the data, the analytics team processes it all to distill consumer insights. It’s a very long and involved process. It can literally take months.

Guess what? There is already a better data source for answering all these burning questions—online consumer reviews. You may be surprised to learn that many of the answers that brands need can actually be found online through consumer reviews. Think about it! These are consumers who have already purchased your product. It goes beyond intent, it’s a done deal. They are ranting and/or raving about your brand and products. They are sharing opinions on a range of topics. Some of the topics you probably wouldn’t have considered. At Revuze, we see interesting topics emerge thanks to our Generative AI engine. For instance, would you have thought of hot sauce as a gift? It is a trend that we identified based on the review data.

The Benefits of Online Consumer Review Data

Consumer reviews from verified buyers is a treasure trove of information that already exists. That means there’s no need to create a survey, identify an audience, send it out, and process the data. It’s also a bigger audience than what you would have identified to begin with. Perhaps your survey was going to be sent to hundreds or thousands of potential consumers. The online review audience can be in the millions! The large data set ensures more statistical accuracy to help brands make better data-driven decisions.

1. Real-Time Feedback:
   Everyone is on a deadline and the sooner you have consumer data, the sooner you can make the informed decisions for your business. Online consumer reviews provide real-time feedback from customers who have already purchased and experienced the product. This feedback is given shortly after the purchases and doesn’t require long waiting periods  for responses like with surveys, allowing brands to quickly understand consumer sentiments and respond accordingly.
2. Unbiased Opinions:
   Surveys can be susceptible to leading questions and biases, which may influence the responses. In contrast, verified online consumer reviews offer unbiased opinions directly from customers, expressing their genuine thoughts and experiences without external influence. If they are not incentivized, their opinions were unsolicited by the brand and demonstrate the genuine desire to share what they think about the product. Incentivized reviews are still authentic, but tend to lean more positive.
3. Comprehensive Coverage:
   Surveys often struggle to capture a wide range of topics that consumers might have strong opinions about. Thanks to generative AI, Revuze’s consumer insights from online reviews, on the other hand, cover diverse product aspects that arose from the data set. The topics around products are not predetermined or pre-defined but are automatically determined by the generative AI based on consumer feedback.
4. Larger Sample Size: Surveys typically target a specific audience, limiting the number of responses. In contrast, online consumer reviews can reach millions of customers, providing a much larger sample size that ensures greater statistical accuracy for data-driven decision-making.
   
5. Reduced Time and Effort: Constructing and conducting surveys, as well as processing the collected data, can be time-consuming and resource-intensive. By leveraging existing online consumer reviews, brands eliminate the need to create and distribute surveys, saving valuable time and effort in the data collection process.

Conclusion

Overall, online consumer reviews present a valuable and efficient alternative to traditional surveys, offering rich insights directly from real customers without the complexities associated with conducting surveys. Intent is out of the equation and the insights from consumer reviews allow you to adapt and be responsive to the current market trends. In addition, when you use a platform like Revuze, which is powered by generative AI, the topics generated for products are unlimited. Consumer insights allow brands to be agile amid the changing market. Learn more about how Revuze’s generative AI solution can help.

Florence Broder