A Few Ways to Request Reviews from Your Customers
How to get better-quality reviews from your customers.
Many of today’s consumers are quite savvy. Before they do business with a company they’re not too familiar with, they’ll check online reviews to make sure that the company is going to treat them right.
Instead of sitting around and hoping that customers will randomly decide to leave your business an online review, you should be trying to cultivate them. And the best way to do that is with the help of an experienced marketing agency.
How a Marketing Agency Will Help You Get More Online Reviews
If you’re serious about getting more online reviews—which you definitely should be in today’s business environment—then you should hire a marketing company for the job. Here are a few ways that their review and reputation management services will increase the number of reviews you’re receiving:
Create a Review Page for Social Proof
In some cases, the marketing agency may consider creating a review page as part of your website design. This is basically a page where a business can show off their best reviews and testimonials. This can be either a Google review page or one that’s put together separately. If a full review page isn’t needed, then reviews can be placed on the homepage.
Send Follow-Up Emails
One of the best ways to encourage a customer to post an online review is with a follow-up email after a sale has been made. A marketing agency will create an email designed to obtain such a review. This email will be very casual in its conversation and tone in order to improve the chances of eliciting a review.
Turn to Social Media
An experienced marketing agency will be extremely adept at using social media to interact with a company’s potential and existing clients. They can manage your entire social media presence, including posting links to each blog, responding to customer feedback, and, as you might expect, asking for reviews. By monitoring your social media channels and responding as needed, you will increase the possibility of receiving online reviews.
What Your Business Can Do To Help Get More Online Reviews
A marketing agency will be instrumental in increasing the number of online reviews you’re receiving, but there are definitely ways you can help. Here are some simple ways you can do your part:
Ask for Reviews in Person
Dealing with customers face-to-face is one of the best ways to ask for a review of your company. If you have a brick-and-mortar store and you have a healthy interaction with someone, invite them to visit your website and leave a review if they’re so inclined. The same goes for going to a trade show or other type of physical event where you can talk to your customers in person.
Offer Incentives
It never hurts to offer up a little trade to get someone to leave a review for your company. Fast food companies do it all the time on receipts, where you fill out a survey and they’ll give you a discount on a future food item. Just make sure that you’re not incentivizing only positive reviews, because that will quickly ruin your reputation.
Use Your Email Signature
Here’s a convenient way to ask for an online review: your email signature. Simply add the request to your business email signature. Then, every time you email a customer, no matter what the email is about, the request will be automatically sent at the bottom. This is a low-key, non-intrusive strategy to achieve more online reviews.
Benefits of Hiring a Marketing Agency to Manage Online Reviews
Hiring a marketing agency can help you with everything from branding to web design. Here are just a few of the benefits you’ll receive in regards to letting an agency manage your online reviews:
Online Reputation Management
Marketing agencies have years of experience dealing with a company’s reputation. They know the ins and outs of navigating social media and cultivating online reviews that will matter to other consumers. They can also use positive reviews as damage control in case your business is ever cast in a bad light. No matter your reputation, it’s a good idea to employ an experienced marketing agency.
Improves Customer Trust
With so much information available at a customer’s fingertips, a business is hard-pressed to keep anything private or quiet these days. This means that trust can be hard to come by. Online reviews can help build that trust, and a good marketing agency will be at the forefront of making sure that happens. And if consumers have lost faith in you, they can help you get that trust back again.
Provides Valuable Feedback
Positive reviews will obviously indicate that you’re doing something right, but negative reviews will tell you when you’re doing something wrong. They allow you to take in the good and the bad, make changes where they’re needed, and then improve based on that feedback. If you receive any negative reviews, then you’ll have an opportunity to fix the mistakes you’ve made. This can give you a lot of goodwill toward potential and existing customers.
Improves Search Rankings
One of the best reasons to have a marketing agency handle your online reviews is because they can improve your search rankings. As the number of positive reviews increases, Google will pick them up and see you as a more legitimate authority in your industry. This will help you rank higher in search results, which will bring more people to your website.
Creates a Competitive Edge
In this day and age, consumers can easily find out which businesses have better reviews. Whether they check Google or another review site, they can quickly figure out if your company or another seems to be the more reputable one.
Contact P3 Agency for Review and Reputation Management Services
P3 Agency provides review and reputation management services, graphic design, digital marketing, search engine optimization, and web design in Clearwater, in addition to many other marketing-related services. If you’d like additional information on how to get more online reviews or are interested in a free marketing evaluation of your business, give us a call at (727) 474-9064 today!