All email users have seen them in their inboxes. Maybe it’s after you attended an event, or perhaps after you made a purchase. They tend to go something like this: “Let us know how we did!” or “We want your feedback!” Using email to ask for reviews is just another strategy at a business’ disposal to attempt to bolster a positive online reputation.
Let us paint a picture.
Just so we’re all on board with exactly what we’re talking about—our focus here is using your business’ public-facing email to reach out to people on your email list to encourage them to leave a review for your business.
Some businesses make it a point to do this on a quarterly or semi-annual basis. Others have automated systems in place to prompt an email like this each time after a consumer has made a purchase. We believe the way it will work best in any scenario depends on the business itself and its individual characteristics, clientele and industry.
Why using emails to ask for reviews works
Not overly-invasive.
In this day and age, people are used to getting branded emails in their inboxes. And the beauty of it is, if they don’t like it, they can unsubscribe. Using email to ask for reviews gives customers time to think things over without feeling like they have to act right away. In other words, the choice is theirs to take you up on it and leave a review (either immediately or later), or simply delete the email and move on (which of course, we hope for the former).
Gives a gentle nudge.
We’re all busy, so it’s understandable that leaving a business review may not always be top of mind. An email follow-up to leave a review gives people a gentle reminder to do something that many times, they would be more than happy to do, but they would not have remembered to do otherwise.
Appeals to people already following your brand.
In many cases, the people receiving your emails are doing so willingly. Either they signed manually up to be on your email list, or they haven’t unsubscribed because they in fact like receiving your brand’s content. Asking people who fall into this category to leave a review gives you a higher chance of getting positive response.
Provides people direct access to review resources.
This may be one of our favorite reasons why we support using email to ask for reviews for your business. You can provide reviewers a direct link to the review site (or sites) that you want them to visit, right there in the email itself. Link them to Google Reviews, Facebook Reviews, Yelp Reviews…you get the idea. People are more likely to leave a review when they don’t have to do the work of finding your review pages online. All they have to do is open the email, and click!
Summary
Using email to ask for reviews is a strategy that should not go overlooked when trying to build your online reputation. It’s a quick and convenient process for both the marketer and the consumer with the potential for a big payoff!
Need help setting up your next review request email campaign? We’ve got you!
Speaking of reviews, if you’ve worked with us before, we’d love you to leave us one on Google or Facebook!
McNutt & Partners is a full-service advertising and digital marketing agency. Contact us today for your marketing needs! Call 334-521-1010, or visit our contact page.