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The truth can hurt. When a business's products receive bad user-generated reviews claiming they have flaws or defects, it can be bad for business -- at least initially. Of course, there are benefits to negative customer feedback. For one, it can help business leaders identify issues with their products, and then fix those problems. 

The only thing that hurts worse than reading the cold, hard truth is reading a review that's negative, but based on false information. Because customers trust the opinions of other customers, inaccurate user-generated content (UGC) can turn into a detriment when those customers spread false information.

Chances are, people are not intentionally lying or being malicious when they share reviews that aren't accurate. More often than not, these mistaken reviews happen when people do not know how to use a certain product. Perhaps they didn't read or misunderstand the item's instructions. Because of this they write a review saying that the product is broken or doesn't work as advertised.

The danger is that other people can read those reviews, grow alarmed, and not buy your product. Someone who has never even tried your product might tell their friends or family not to buy it because they hear it doesn't work.

How Can a Business Respond to Inaccurate Reviews?

It can be tricky for businesses to outline a strategy to respond to inaccurate reviews in a way that builds a positive rapport with those unhappy customers. That said, it's critical that they do respond in some manner.

"Gently inform them (even if they were not gentle with their review) that you believe a bit of confusion may have occurred, and explain the product’s proper function," suggests Revoo, a ratings and reviews services company. "This is important because now, with the correct knowledge, you’ve given the customer a chance to be genuinely and truly satisfied with their purchase, and with your company."

People love to be acknowledged. The result of making someone feel like their opinion or review matters? An increase in positive interactions and ultimately, brand loyalty.

Still, sifting through and responding to user-generated content can be an overwhelming task. According to Bazaarvoice, over two billion active users engage with others on digital and social media outlets each day. Most businesses lack an analytics team that can wrangle relevant information from this mess of UGC content.

Leveraging UGC with Solution as a Service

Tackling UGC -- including comments and reviews riddled with inaccuracies -- benefits businesses. Acknowledging this content can improve customer experience, and help businesses before launching new products, according to Forrester.

For a business that is intent on grappling with UGC but lacks the internal staff to do so, there is an answer. Businesses can work with a vendor that offers a Solution as a Service (SolaaS) approach to analytics. 

SolaaS combines a state-of-the-art analytics engine with the services of the industry's top data scientists. These analysts work in close collaboration with clients to understand business goals, and then identify data to analyze, conduct analysis, and present results in a customized presentation layer. These analysts can specifically target UGC and offer recommendations for how to address inaccurate comments or reviews. 

Summary

User-generated content (UGC) can benefit businesses in many ways, but can have a negative impact when the information being shared by customers is inaccurate. The best way to handle these inaccuracies is to directly address them with customers. Still, sifting through volumes of UGC and finding a strategy to deal with issues can overwhelm some businesses. The answer for these companies is to work with a vendor that offers a Solution as a Service (SolaaS) approach to analytics. SolaaS analysts will work with stakeholders to identify inaccurate UGC and offer recommendations to better manage it.