First things first, the key to a successful review generation campaign is to nail the quality of your offerings, be they products or services. This alone enables an organic flow of favorable reviews for your business.
However, this isn’t to undermine the value of proactively asking for reviews. An extra push to increase reviews makes a lot of difference, especially when done right.
So, in this blog, we help you do exactly that — get more reviews the right way. But before we show you how to ask for reviews through email campaigns, let’s go over the benefits you can expect when you collect reviews.
Here, we cover the topics as follows:
- Why Asking for Reviews Is Important
- The Dos and Don’ts of Review Request Email Marketing Campaigns: How To Ask for Reviews the Right Way
- A Warning on Fake Reviews
- Review Request Email Example
Why Asking for Reviews Is Important
Reviews are user-generated content; there’s no one better to speak to your prospects’ doubts than a fellow consumer. They establish trust by showcasing transparency and credibility, instilling confidence in potential customers regarding your products or services.
When you purposefully increase reviews, you can look forward to the following:
Better Search Ranking
As you collect reviews, you not only foster trust through transparency and reliability but also catapult your products or services into the spotlight, a.k.a search engines. Think of adding a review section on your website as weaving a web of relevant keywords. This infusion of organic, keyword-dense, customer-derived content supercharges your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.
Show Customers That You Care
When you proactively get more reviews, you highlight your business’s transparency and commitment to customer satisfaction. This openness to feedback shows that customer experiences are valued, and improvements to products or services are continually made based on this input. Such a practice encourages trust and strengthens long-term customer relationships and, thus, business growth.
Inform Business Decisions
Reviews are actionable insights that shape business strategies across departments.
They offer first-hand consumer feedback, often highlighting your strengths and areas for improvement. For instance, your production team can leverage product review emails to fine-tune features or address quality issues.
Similarly, your marketing team can employ reviews for local SEO. Lastly, customer service can utilize reviews to identify common customer pain points.
This all means when you collect customer reviews, you open a goldmine of insights that, when rightly leveraged, can inform and guide the strategic direction of every facet of your business.
The Do’s and Don’ts of Review Request Email Marketing Campaigns: How To Ask for Reviews the Right Way
No matter how good your campaign strategy is, there’s a right and wrong way to implement it.
Here’s our expert guide to help you get more reviews:
The Do’s of Asking for Reviews Through Email Campaigns
#1 Do Personalize
By addressing the recipient by name and referencing specific details of their experience, such as the product they purchased or the branch they visited, you demonstrate to the recipient that their opinion is valued and that the email is not just a generic mass message. Taking the extra step to personalize emails increases the likelihood that customers will take the time to provide a review.
#2 Do Be Conversational
A subject line that captures attention and initiates dialogue is crucial, ideally within a 30-character limit for optimal push notification display. Ditch generic subject lines such as “feedback request” instead, opt for conversational prompts such as “What did you think?” or “Enjoying your X?”. This approach extends to the body of your email, creating a sense of friendliness.
#3 Do Reduce the Friction
Decrease the effort required by the customer to leave a review. For instance, incorporate a rating meter or quick feedback questions directly onto your landing page. A targeted question like “What did you love most about the product?” allows customers to express their opinions without much hassle.
#4 Do Check Your Links
It’s crucial to double-check that all the links in your email are working correctly before sending. A simple mistake like a broken link to your landing page or Google Business Profile can frustrate recipients, causing them to lose interest. By ensuring a seamless review process, you maintain the recipient’s engagement until they successfully leave you a review.
#5 Do Analyze Customer Sentiment
Analyzing customer sentiment in surveys allows for better business decisions. By gauging the sentiment behind their responses, you can identify patterns and trends in how your offerings are fairing with your market. For instance, if you notice customers are raving about a particular product, you can run a marketing campaign to further push that product into the spotlight.
The Don’ts of Asking for Reviews Through Email Campaigns
#6 Don’t Engage in Review-Gating
Per Google, review-gating is where businesses assess customer experience first and only provide the link to leave a Google review with those with a positive experience. Selectively distributing the link is manipulating your efforts to get more Google reviews, positive ones. Others may say review-gating is where you “gatekeep” authentic, less favorable reviews, only displaying positive ones on your website.
#7 Don’t Ask for Reviews in Bulk
While Google permits companies to solicit reviews and even provides a handy function to generate a direct link to your Google Business Page, proceed with caution and refrain from asking for reviews en masse. Google’s systems may perceive the sudden influx of reviews as suspicious and delete them. Instead of sending service or product review emails all at once, stagger these emails to make the process more organic.
#8 Don’t Ask Immediately After Purchase
Enough time should be allowed for customers to experience your product. This ensures that any feedback you may request from a proper understanding of your product’s functionality and benefits. However, don’t wait too long. You want to re-engage your customers while your product is still fresh in their minds, striking a balance between giving them sufficient time and maintaining connection.
#9 Don’t Be Afraid of Less-Than-Perfect Star Ratings
While the goal is to get as many 5-star ratings as possible, you also want to celebrate less-than-perfect star ratings. Such ratings convey that your reviews are not just artificial praise, so you resonate well with potential customers. Apart from that, such reviews help set realistic expectations for curious consumers since they highlight strengths and weaknesses alike. Let’s face it; you can’t please everyone.
#10 Don’t Forget To Showcase Your Reviews
In addition to having a dedicated review page or section on your website, consider leveraging other platforms to highlight customer feedback. This can include displaying reviews in-store, on social media and across various online and offline marketing materials. For example, you can create visually appealing image posts on social media featuring excerpts from ringing reviews.
A Warning on Fake Reviews
It’s safe to say that you’re steering clear from fake reviews since you’re looking to collect customer reviews via email marketing campaigns. But just in case someone entices you, here’s a reminder.
It might be tempting to consider short-term gains from fake reviews, but note that they will eventually backfire. Fake reviews destroy brand credibility and customer trust, two factors that, once lost, are incredibly tough to regain. More so, they can attract regulatory scrutiny and penalties. Besides, customers are becoming more proficient in identifying fake reviews, and being caught can substantially damage your brand image.
So, while genuine customer feedback might take more effort and time, it’s the only route to real, long-term success.
Review Request Email Example
Here’s a review request email example to further help you.
Dear [Recipient’s Name],
My name is [Your Name], and I am the [Your Position] at [Your Company Name]. I wanted to personally reach out to you regarding your recent purchase of our [Product/Service Name].
We strive to provide our customers with the best offerings, and your feedback helps us improve. Could you spare a few minutes to write a review for the [Product/Service Name] on our website?
Please click [website link] to leave your review. If you have any questions or run into any issues, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly.
Thank you for your time and support.
Best regards,
[Your Name]
[Your Contact Information]
You can copy the example as is and tweak it to make it more suitable and help you better collect reviews from your customers via email.
Get More Google Reviews With Rize
If you need further assistance applying the tips above to increase reviews, Rize is at your service. Our team capitalizes on automation with our custom reputation tool without forgoing the human touch.
Talk to our team — start sending compelling review request emails!
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