It’s easy to understand why you like to receive great write-ups at online review sites. It’s harder to understand why customers take the time to write them.
Obviously, the first requirement is that they are satisfied with your service. If customers don’t like your product or service, they don’t write reviews.
But only a few of your satisfied customers bother to write reviews. Great service isn’t enough. More often than not, you need to nudge your customers – ask them nicely for a review and hope they don’t forget.
There’s nothing wrong with telling customers that you would appreciate it if they left a positive review. Be sincere. Explain why their feedback matters and how a minute of their time could help you improve your products and services. People are more likely to respond if they understand that they are having a positive impact.
So when the time is right, don’t hesitate. Just ask. It can be in person, over email, in your customer-support chat line, wherever. The important thing is to be honest and genuine.
Now let’s take a look at some actionable advice on how to get as many positive reviews as possible.
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1. Set up a reviews generation funnel
To maximize results, start by establishing a practical workflow. The goal is to invite your customers to leave you a review – and to make it really convenient for them to do so. Since this is Reviewshake’s bread and butter, we have some insights into how successful companies organize the process to generate more reviews.
Collect customer email addresses
Your collection process will be different depending on whether your business is online, brick-and-mortar, or both. In any case, you need to determine who the satisfied customers are and reach out to them.
This simplest scenario is talking to them face-to-face in your store, but of course that’s not always possible. When you do most of your business online, you need to use different indicators to determine which customers qualify. Most companies use NPS scores or rely on support data to narrow down the list to customers who had positive experiences.
Create a reminder campaign
Once you start collecting emails, don’t squander it with a one-and-done email blast. It’s better to create a drip campaign. Start with a compelling invitation to write a review. Wait a couple days before sending a reminder to those who didn’t respond by posting their experiences.
Try experimenting with different subject lines and email copy until you figure out the winning combination. It’s not a one-size-fits-all situation. Different approaches work with different customer bases.
You can also send review invitations via SMS. Similar rules apply here: Reach out to customers and ask politely for a review.
Set up a landing page
Acknowledge that people are busy. That’s why you need to remove all the obstacles between customers and online reviews. The more you make the whole experience of leaving a review frictionless, the better results you’ll achieve.
Offering users multiple review websites means they can choose the one they prefer or already have an account on, minimizing their effort. A great way to do this is by setting up a landing page where you can list all the review websites that accept evaluations of your business.
The landing page can also be a great way to let customers leave you direct feedback.
If you are looking to automate this process, jump over to the Reviewshake signup page and start a free trial to set up and monitor your campaign.
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People are accustomed to voicing their opinions on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other platforms. That’s why you should invite users to leave reviews there. Most of your customers already have accounts, so it’s easy for them to share their experiences.
Don’t forget to show off your best reviews on your social media. Share the best customer reviews on your profile page to show that you value their opinions.
Social media is a great place to request and post reviews. It’s also a forum for starting conversations with customers, sharing news, and encouraging engagement. If your customers see that there are real people behind the brand, they will be more inclined to leave a positive review.
If you communicate with customers over email, add a review invitation to your signature: a quick call to action and a link to a review website. Add this subtle reminder to every email and you will surely see results.
3. Ask for reviews on your website
Your website spells out your company’s important features and benefits – why not add a call to action for reviews?
Be sincere. Explain why you need and value reviews, and leave your customers multiple choices so they can select the review website they prefer.
Displaying user reviews on your website can have a positive impact on your online reputation – and it can encourage other users to follow suit. That’s why you should keep user reviews prominent on your homepage.
4. Place review reminders in your store
If you have a brick-and-mortar store, you can use offline tactics to get online reviews. Post creative signs to inform customers where and how they can leave a review.
Be creative – design cards, posters, and flyers that encourage feedback. Make sure to provide necessary information: review website profiles, Twitter handles, Facebook pages, and all that.
You can even print a QR code that your customers can scan to jump directly to a review website or the review landing page on your website.
5. Incentivize online reviews
It’s reasonable to offer a small token of appreciation to customers who post reviews. The incentive might be a coupon code or some kind of discount. It could be something intangible like membership to a closed community or early access to a new feature.
You don’t have to break the bank to get more online reviews. If users think you are buying positive reviews, your reputation strategy could backfire. But there’s nothing wrong with offering a small incentive that your customers will find valuable.
6. Respond to all reviews
If you want a constant influx of positive reviews, your efforts must be continuous. Show customers that you care about their opinions by responding to each and every review. This is an easy, reliable way to make them feel heard.
It’s okay to use templates. You don’t have to respond to every review with a lengthy essay. Just take a bit of time to address the points the customer brings up. Be grateful for praise and criticism alike – you have nothing to gain by being defensive.
Demonstrating that you value feedback can go a long way toward boosting your online reputation.
