Everyone's a Critic

August 18, 2014
Tancer (Click), general manager of global research at Experian Marketing Services, makes a convincing argument that online reviews offer savvy businesses and marketers an exciting opportunity: the chance to get in front of prospective customers at a point when they are making purchase decisions. The average consumer’s online review history, as the book points out, represents a wealth of information. Companies can look at their own reviews and learn what resonates most with customers and where complaints consistently crop up. Alternately, businesses can see what customers like or dislike about their competitors’ services. Tancer identifies the attributes—such as transparency and passion—that will win a company more and better reviews. He also advances an array of suggestions for improving and drawing on this treasure trove of data—one which he believes is currently underused by most companies. The book’s takeaway is that, if marketers are willing to tackle the complexity of the online consumer report world, they can better serve both businesses and consumers.