How to use customer reviews to convert more first and second-time buyers

Does your brand rely a lot on discounts to acquire new customers? If so, you can start to wean yourself off them with customer reviews.

This is especially true for restaurant, hotel, and wellness brands—Klaviyo’s future of consumer marketing report found that, for these industries, reviews are a more powerful motivating factor for first-time buyers than discounts. For ecommerce brands, customer reviews are on par with discounts.

To increase your brand’s perceived value, your brand needs to, well, be perceived. And since you can’t perceive your own brand with much credibility, the best thing you can do is outsource the job to your satisfied customers. (Real ones, not fake ones—which are easy to spot.)

You create perceived value through social proof. When making decisions, it’s natural for us social creatures to check with each other for signs that those decisions are okay.

Reviews “help build trust with new buyers based on the experiences of other customers,” says Lindsay Kolinsky, director of marketing at Okendo.

The deeper your well of social proof demonstrates your product is worth full price, the less you need to rely on discounts as a primary marketing strategy.

Not every review you get will be a glowing one, and that’s okay. While you want your product to delight most of your customers, honest reviews require shades of gray to seem authentic.

“When UGC content is embedded in product description pages and woven into the brand story, it can help support a buying decision within that session—without the shopper leaving the website,” says Ben Zettler, founder of Zettler Digital.

Why? Unbiased opinions offer real insights about quality, performance, and value. When customers simply know what to expect, they’re more likely to buy.

This is especially true for Gen Zers and millennials, who are the most likely to consider customer reviews and feedback as the most important aspects of the shopping experience across all categories, according to Klaviyo’s aforementioned report.

And when they’re satisfied beyond their expectations, they’re more likely to leave a positive and honest review—and the cycle becomes self-perpetuating.

You can spend a lot of time on your product descriptions and still never describe your product more accurately than your customers.

UGC and customer reviews “help customers relate the product to their own needs when your product photos can’t,” says Kathryn Browning, marketing director at Justuno.

“It also provides answers to questions about your product that you didn’t even think of having an answer to yet,” Browning adds.

Detailed customer reviews tell potential buyers how your product meets specific needs and use cases. When buyers understand how well products fit their needs without the sales filter marketers can’t help but use, they make more informed decisions—which translates to fewer product returns on your end.

Turning positive reviews into detailed customer stories can make all the difference for a sale, especially for high-consideration purchases where customers need more reassurance before buying. Think wellness services, specialized healthcare products, or premium consumer goods for which the investment is significant.

For these types of purchases, customers want to see themselves in the stories of others who have made similar decisions. A detailed customer story can help people understand:

The specific problems other customers facedWhy they chose your product or serviceTheir experience using itThe concrete results they achieved

To find the right stories to tell, start by identifying your most compelling customer reviews. Look for reviews that:

Share specific details about the customer’s journey.Include measurable results or clear benefits.Come from customers who match your target audience.Demonstrate the unique value of your product.

Check these customers’ profiles in your B2C CRM. Look for signs of high engagement, like multiple purchases, active product usage, positive interactions with customer service, and social media engagement with your brand. These engaged customers are more likely to share their detailed experiences.

Great customer stories are a combination of high-quality anecdotes that address pain points and quantitative data points that demonstrate impact. This example from fertility brand Mira shows how you can capture attention with a headline that condenses a review as a teaser.

To create a compelling customer story, aim to:

Lead with a powerful headline focused on results.Open with a strong customer quote that captures emotion.Include specific details about a customer’s experience.Back up success claims with real numbers or timelines, where possible.Use visuals to show the product in action.

When you build a library of these stories, you create a powerful resource that addresses different customer needs, use cases, and pain points. Each story serves as both social proof and detailed product information, helping future customers see themselves in your existing customers’ successes.

One of the main benefits of including customer reviews in your marketing emails is that they can increase your click rates.

In addition to social proof, customer reviews create curiosity and relevance. When placed in close proximity to an effective CTA, reviews are the positive nudge some recipients need to click—especially if the review has been well-matched to their needs as a potential customer.

Here are 3 email automations that can benefit from customer reviews:

Your welcome emails go out to new subscribers after they join your email list. They introduce new people to your brand and warm them toward an eventual purchase.

While some brands might choose to introduce themselves to subscribers in their own words, other brands might opt to tell that story with customer reviews.

Take a look at this simple, beautiful example from Furtuna Skin, which features great design, customer photos, and strong review copy from industry folks who have clout.

Abandoned cart emails reel potential buyers back into the purchase process after they’ve placed an item in their cart but didn’t complete an order. While some brands rely on discounts to nudge people toward a sale, this isn’t always feasible for brands with a smaller budget.

Remember “perceived brand value”? Your abandoned cart emails are a perfect testing ground for customer reviews. When you’d rather show why someone should complete their purchase, reviews are a great way to demonstrate value.

This example from THC seltzer brand Rebel Rabbit includes 2 CTAs: one to pick up the purchase, and a backup to learn more about the brand and their products. This respects the mindset of the customer, who may need to do more research before deciding to purchase.

Post-purchase emails fall into several categories:

• Transactional: shipping, order confirmations, etc.

• Educational: product maintenance and use

• Promotional: retention and loyalty

Social proof isn’t only great for finalizing purchase decisions—it’s also effective at confirming that the decisions your customers already made were good ones. This reinforcement mechanism can lead to future purchases and long-term customer loyalty.

Check out this example from Sundays for Dogs. The dog food brand includes reviews that highlight the product’s benefits, making buyers feel good about their choice and reducing the risk of buyer’s remorse.

When we talk about paid ads for ecommerce, we’re typically referring to:

Google ads (including Google Shopping ads)Social media ads, like Meta adsRemarketing adsInfluencer marketingAffiliate marketing

Check out this Meta Ads example from Leonisa, which includes a video and quote from a customer as ad copy. Note that Leonisa has rightfully resisted the urge to “clean up the copy,” choosing instead to showcase the actual words of the customer.

Here’s another example from Google Seller Ratings—a Google Ads extension that pulls up a star rating for your brand as a top result when people search for you. The rating is calculated by aggregating customer reviews from sources Google trusts.

To qualify for seller ratings, you need:

An average rating of 3.5 or more stars for text adsA Google search ad whose visible URL domain matches the domain for which Google has the ratings

Also note that the reviews from customers within a given country only contribute to your rating in that country, not in others.

Video marketing is all the more powerful when the content feels like case studies. Some brands produce video case studies themselves, but others choose to leverage the videos customers create instead.

Check out this example about PrettyLitter, maker of health-monitoring cat litter.

The video wasn’t made by PrettyLitter at all—it was made by a reviewer on YouTube. When user-generated content is produced by people with a high follower count especially, this presents opportunities for further collaborations with influencers or an ask to showcase the content on your own channels so they see more branded reach.

Last but not least, the most important channel for customer reviews is your own website.

“Especially in the modern world of influencers and Instagram filters, including UGC throughout your website adds a layer of authenticity that helps validate any concerns shoppers may have about purchasing your products,” says Lindsay Kolinsky, director of marketing at Okendo.

When people shop, one of the first things they check on product description pages are reviews—and you need to show a lot of them to instill trust that any accompanying ratings are valid.

Here are 2 primary ways customer reviews can make your website more effective at selling products.

One of the most important introductions to your brand is your website—and who better to introduce you than your customers?

Customer reviews enhance your website’s overall user experience by offering relevant information upfront. Not only that, but reviews can also benefit your SEO efforts as a constant source of fresh, relevant content, which signals to search engines that your website is updated often.

If you’re a new-ish brand without a ton of reviews for some of your products, homepage reviews can help compensate. Check out this example from Cargo Crew, which features reviews on their homepage that aren’t associated with any one product but still illustrate how their brand solves real customer problems.

Start collecting reviews with built-in flow automations across email and SMS. Klaviyo has several pre-built templates, including:

Review request (email only)Review request across email and SMS Product review and cross sell Review follow-up flow Review follow-up flow with discount

Be strategic about what you put into those review request messages and use customer review questions to get more detail. These questions can be optional, and help build your customer profile so you can better segment your audience and get to know the customers for whom your products work best.

Getting customers to leave a review can be a challenge, but a little guidance goes a long way. AI-suggested headlines make the process easier by giving customers a starting point, helping them craft their feedback quickly and confidently. Instead of staring at a blank text box, they can choose from relevant, engaging prompts that reflect their experience—whether it’s raving about a favorite feature or sharing how a product solved a problem. By removing friction and making reviews effortless, AI-driven suggestions can boost response rates and provide more valuable insights for your business.

When a customer leaves a review, their sentiment can guide your next move. A glowing 5-star rating is the perfect opportunity to express gratitude—whether with a simple thank-you message or a surprise promo code to keep the positive momentum going.

On the other hand, a lower rating (three stars or less) signals a chance to step in and improve their experience. By automatically creating a support ticket, you can address concerns quickly and show customers that their feedback matters. Thoughtful follow-ups like these turn reviews into real relationship-building moments.

Expanding your reviews across multiple channels ensures potential customers see real feedback right when it matters most. By pushing your reviews to platforms like Google, you can reach shoppers actively searching for products like yours, building trust and credibility before they even land on your site.