Marketing Tip: Collecting Google Customer Reviews
Marketing Skill level: Easy
Effort Required: Less than 15 minutes
Reward: Customer reviews make it easier for potential customers to learn about your business before they commit to you, and reviews help contribute to positive search engine results.
An easy way to get happy customers working for you is to add their reviews and testimonials to your website. Reviews are important and they work. Did you know reviews can increase conversion rates by as much as 270% (Spiegel Research Center, 2017)? They are worth the time and effort to collect and use.
You may already have testimonials on your site. If you do, that’s great! Keep up the good work and ask yourself “How am I putting these reviews to work for my business?” If you are not actively collecting reviews on your Google My Business, Facebook and other social platforms, you’re missing out on easy opportunities to help elevate your business with search engine results and to help potential customers learn more about your business in the awareness and evaluation stages of the purchase process. If you are not yet taking this action, the good news it is never too late to start.
Here’s three simple steps to take to start collecting more customer reviews using your free Google My Business account.
- Make a list of 3-5 recent happy customers. This is probably the easiest thing you do all day.
- Go to your Google My Business account and click on Reviews or from your home page or click on the Share review form button. If you don’t yet have your Google My Business account, call us today and we’ll help you set it up. You can set it up in about 5 minutes and it’s free.
3. Create a personalized email requesting a review of your business. Include a link to the review from your Google My Business account. This is what it looks like from your account.Keep your message short, casual, and personalized to their business.
4. Send the email. As customers review your business make sure to respond to their reviews and thank them for the business. It usually takes a few days for reviews to show up on your profile. Got a bad review? It’s even more important to respond to these negative messages with positive helpful messages…it could also be a great time to pick up the phone and get direct feedback from your customer, so you can make improvements to future products or services. Never argue with a customer online. Take the conversation offline.
Want help? Have a question? Call us today at 206-487-4530. We’re here to help you get more customers. Want helpful and actionable Marketing Tips delivered to your inbox? Sign up today.
