How one online startup wins by building trust

"Our Trustpilot reviews speak volumes about our 'trustworthiness' and legitimacy without having to say anything at all! As a relatively new business, this is vital to our continued success and growth." - Vamsi Kumar Kotla, CEO, Rush49

As an up-and-coming online deal site, Rush49 realized they needed a way to prove their legitimacy. As a newer, less-known company, offering incredibly low prices, it was possible consumers thought they were “too good to be true.” In November 2015, they signed up with Trustpilot to collect customer reviews and build their reputation.

After only a year working with Trustpilot to automate review collection, Rush49 amassed nearly 3,000 reviews, 94% of which are 4 and 5 star.

Rush49 uses these customer reviews to build and back their brand, to accelerate their marketing efforts, and to generate actionable insights to improve their business. Here’s how they do it:

Part 1: Increase CTR and conversions for paid search campaigns

Through their Trustpilot reviews, Rush49 achieved the Google Seller Rating ad extension, often referred to as Google stars (image on the right), which increased their click through rate 60% for paid ads. Beyond their CTR increase, they also saw their conversion rate from PPC traffic increase 57%, as well as their cost per conversion drop 21%. The culmination of all of these positive results realized 150% more conversions per 1000 search impressions from PPC, all from activating the Google Seller Ratings ad extension.

Part 2: Improve online reputation in organic search

Rush49 wanted to ensure that when people researched their company online, they found user-generated content that validated their brand as “the real deal.”

Currently, Rush49’s Trustpilot reviews rank 3rd in organic search for “Rush49”. In May, their Trustpilot profile page had 4,600+ search impressions and 300+ clicks. Most significantly, for queries like “Rush49 reviews”, “Is Rush49 reliable”, or “Rush49 legit”, their Trustpilot page had a click through rate of 58%, demonstrating that hesitant consumers want to learn from Rush49’s past customers before making a purchase. Rush49’s 9.3 TrustScore and customer reviews help overcome hesitation and drive completed sales.

Part 3: Optimize website and landing pages to maximize performance

Rush49 wasn't satisfied with just the increase in traffic that reviews brought them through organic and paid search. They also displayed their Trustpilot review score and link to their business profile page all over their website. These reviews have had over 566,000 impressions just for the month of May alone, helping to convert their high traffic into paying customers.

Part 4: Drive email marketing campaigns effectiveness

Rush49 wanted to see if they could improve the effectiveness of their email marketing campaigns - an already highly optimized part of their sales structure.

After adding their Trustpilot rating to an email campaign sent to 126,077 subscribers, Rush49 saw a 2.7% CTR, helping drive and convert 3,404 site visitors.

When sending marketing e-mails, we believe including our Trustpilot Review Star Rating icon in our header speaks volumes about our “trustworthiness” and legitimacy without having to say anything at all!

Part 5: Engage with customers through reviews to increase future sales

Rush49 not only responds to reviews to engage their customers, they also use the opportunity as a chance to upsell. Rush49 replies to reviews with links to other deals that are similar to the customer’s previous purchase. This strategy both rewards customers and incentivizes repeat purchases, creating a loyal customer base.

Part 6: Learn from reviews to improve and grow your business

Customer reviews are a goldmine of valuable customer feedback to improve your business and offering. Rush49 doesn't brush off or get upset by negative reviews, they find trends and learn from them. Below are three examples of how they’ve done this:

A) When Rush49 realized multiple customers had commented on the confusion and frustration of buying a ticket, Rush49 created a tutorial video. The video explained how to easily redeem tickets, helping their customers reduce current and potential frustration.

B) Rush49 also noticed some reviews with complaints about services fees. To resolve the issue, Rush49 decided that customer satisfaction was more important than fees - and removed them from the majority of their deals. The change has made a marked improvement to customer satisfaction, as the “no fee” policy is now a differentiator that customers often comment on.

C) Rush49 works diligently on improving the user experience of their site. When they received a review in the beginning of May stating the site looked “generic,” their CEO was especially bothered. As a result, Rush49 launched a complete overhaul of the site.

If you'd like to learn more about how Trustpilot reviews can help you succeed, request a free demo with one of our review experts!