For small business owners, business reviews and complaints are extremely influential for potential customers. A small business is nearly dependent on receiving an abundance of good business reviews. That way, when the target audience stumbles upon a brand’s online platforms, they can see what others think of it and its services/products. Reviews also help with universal optimization for a business, which adds to the overall benefit of receiving as many reviews as possible.
As a locally owned digital marketing company, Succeeding Small understands the importance of getting online reviews for your business and the importance behind them. We know how frustrating it can be to not obtain the reviews you need from your customer base. Due to this frustration, we have come up with the best ways to get reviews for your small business. Our goal is to create less stress for you behind the scenes.
Make Sure You’re Listed On Multiple Review Sites
Some business owners don’t take advantage of the multitude of business review platforms available for their listings. Aside from the classic business reviews on Google My Business or Yelp listing, you have things like Angi, LinkedIn, Trip Advisor (if applicable) and CitySearch. The list goes on and you can even find review platforms for specific industries. Ultimately, this helps make sure anyone and everyone has access to your listings to leave your business reviews when they want to.
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Reviews
The best and easiest way to gain more business reviews is to ask your customers to. Customers understand how important reviews are for a growing business, so they normally don’t hesitate to leave a good review when they’ve had a great experience! Your time does matter, however, since waiting too long can hurt the possibility of receiving online customer reviews. Make sure you ask them shortly after their service and give them easy access to either Google reviews or any other preferred platform.
The Easier to Leave Customer Reviews, The Better
Asking a customer to leave an online review for your business is the first step, now make it easy for them to do so. Make sure your review listings are linked in multiple places, such as your website, follow-up emails you may send, and even your newsletters. Most website builders provide easy to insert icons that can link your listings, which are best to put in the header and/or footer on every page of your site.
Thank Customers for Leaving Reviews
Just like engaging on social media is important, engaging with your customers who leave your business a review is just as vital. This could include dropping in and giving them a simple thank you. Or, sending every so many customers a discount code for their kind words. You have so many options to show your appreciation. It also helps show potential customers that you care about the people who choose your business.
Prioritize Giving Your Customers a Positive Customer Service Experience
Putting your customers at the forefront of everything you do is critical. This step has a big role to play in creating positive customer experiences. Oftentimes, it’s easy for businesses to focus on their goals and neglect their customers’ needs. Yet, customers notice and appreciate when it’s clear to them that their desires truly matter to a company. As a business, have the mindset of “how is this goal/action going to serve our customer’s needs?” This creates a culture where the company focuses on serving their customers rather than how their customers can serve them. Positive customer service experiences have become more and more rare for consumers in this day and age. In a highly digital world where convenience is prioritized, human interaction and quality customer service are highly valued. Prioritizing excellent customer service may not guarantee more reviews. Yet, it’s a reliable way for a business to gain more positive reviews and build a good reputation.
Send Automated Emails Requesting Reviews
Automated emails are a great and easy way for businesses to stay in the minds of their consumers. They serve as a reminder for their customers to leave a review. Email marketing, in general, is a great tool for businesses to grow their audience and connect with their customers. Offering your customers valuable resources or offers via email marketing is a good way to get their attention. This shows them that you appreciate their business! Send an automated email to tell your customers that their business means a lot to you. Or, a special offering is a great way to also request that they leave a review. Another way to get more reviews through automated emails is to send customers valuable freebies. Be sure to link a button in the email that will lead them to your review platform.
Offer Incentives
For product-based businesses such as boutiques, incentivizing reviews is a handy way to get customers to leave reviews. Including pop-ups on your site for returning customers is an easy way to achieve this. For example, you can offer them 20% off their next purchase if they leave a review for their last order. Automated emails with this same offer are an easy way to offer incentives for reviews. You can also offer incentives such as a gift card. Other offerings include discount codes or shipping cost reimbursement for positive reviews.
Reply to Previous Reviews
Replying to previous reviews shows customers that your company values their feedback. Customers feel acknowledged when a brand offers them feedback or solutions. When other customers see replies, they will be more inclined to leave a review of their own. It’s also important to ensure that you respond to every positive and negative review alike. This helps to enhance your brand image. It also displays that you’re a company aiming to serve your customers rather than one that is looking to be served. Customers appreciate companies that don’t ignore feedback. Replying to customers builds a positive brand image and, in return, leads customers to feel inclined to leave reviews. This is a great opportunity to display your brand values. Taking the initiative to do so shows that you care about giving your customers a voice.
Feature Reviews
Featuring customer reviews on your company’s website or social media page is a great way to earn more reviews! Marketing the reviews you receive on social media platforms not only will help you earn new customers. It will also make previous customers want to leave a review for a chance to be featured. Reviews are a highly valuable marketing tool that no company can afford to miss out on. 98% of consumers read online reviews before visiting a local business, according to a 2023 Bright Local survey. Featuring reviews is a great way to establish trust with your customers. Get the word out that when a customer’s review is chosen to be featured, you’ll send them a gift card or offer some other form of appealing incentive!
Send Personalized Requests
Whether it’s through email, a dm on social media, or through the mail, a personalized request for reviews will likely catch a customer’s eye. An email that greets the customer by name and mentions the specific product they purchased or a custom thank you card sent to a customer is a great opportunity for a company to request a review. Personalizing all content that you send out to customers creates a positive brand image for your company. It also makes customers feel seen and appreciated. Using automated emails, as previously discussed, is a convenient way for brands to personalize content without it being time-consuming.
Ensure Your Business Is Claimed Online
Make sure you don’t forget to claim your business online! If you have a new business, this may be something you’ve forgotten to do. Or, as an existing one, you can add your business to even more third-party review sites. One of the main reasons your company may not get reviews is that you aren’t giving customers a space to leave reviews. Creat pages on Google, Yelp, or Facebook to give users plenty of platforms to leave a review on. Claiming your business on third-party sites makes the process of searching and identifying your business easier for customers. Taking this action helps encourage them to leave reviews.
Follow Up On Your Requests
While this may not be the most conventional way to get more reviews, following up on your previous request for reviews doesn’t hurt! This can also be achieved through an email campaign. Creating automated emails that follow up with previous requests that receive no response can be a great way to remind customers to leave a review. With this in mind, don’t overdo it. You should only send one follow-up in addition to the original review request. Be sure not to overwhelm or pressure your customers. It’s important to maintain a healthy balance of requesting reviews and knowing when to stop. This will prevent customers from unsubscribing from your email list.
Create Appealing Templates
Creating eye-catching email templates or pop-ups requesting reviews is a simple way to gain more reviews. Using appealing graphics or images could help catch the attention of your customers. It’s also a great opportunity to offer something of value in exchange for a positive review. In addition to this, creating buttons that make it accessible to leave reviews could make or break whether a customer leaves a review. Making the process as quick and easy as possible for your customers is crucial. Accessibility combined with an appealing deliverable gives you a greater chance of getting more reviews!
Review Resources | Succeeding Small
As a small business ourselves, Succeeding Small understands the need for local business reviews so businesses can continue thriving and branching out to more potential customers. Our team has learned the ins and outs of review platforms, the best way to contact your customers for reviews and how to link them properly throughout your online platforms. Contact us today if you want help with your review resources!
