How to Get Small Business Reviews and Testimonials with Email Marketing

“If you build it, they will come.”

That doesn’t always work for small businesses.

In this day and age of social networks and viral marketing, positive reviews and testimonials can mean the difference between surviving and thriving.

Take a look at the popularity of online review sites such as Angie’s List. They understand – and have capitalized on – the power of customer reviews.

Email marketing is the perfect channel to capture – and share – glowing reviews. Whether your business is B2B or B2C, it can benefit from third-party endorsements.

Customer reviews are often more well received/perceived than internal marketing messages. Like PR placements, they are viewed as more authentic by your customers and prospects. It doesn’t matter how you obtained the reviews (other than outright paying for them, that is!). What matters is that you get them – and use them.

Small Business Reviews: Social Sharing

One way to get reviews is to offer something in return. The following emails entice customers with a contest. Urban Decay takes it a step further, by increasing the number of entries for social sharing.

Murad also encourages multiple reviews, but misses the mark on social sharing:

What used to be known in the business world as WOM – word of mouth – could now be called “word of mouse.” That is, sharing customer experiences on social networks multiplies the exposure for your business. Of course, this also multiplies the possibility of negative comments. That comes with the territory.

More Small Business Reviews Ideas for Email

Not all businesses have big budgets to run contests encouraging customers to write reviews. Here are several ideas on how you can use email to get your customers talking:

• Include a link to a customer survey, and allow for comments. Sites such as Survey Monkey and Zoomerang offer free basic online survey creation tools.
• Along with the BUY NOW button, feature a REVIEW IT call to action in your emails next to product images.
• Offer a product or service discount in exchange for a review – and promote it in the subject line of the email. Better yet, do an A/B email test: one with the offer up front and one as a surprise goodwill gesture after the review.
• Encourage reviews with a free sample, free product, free trial, free upgrade. A word of warning: Be careful how you craft your offer; it could come back to bite you if customers think you’re paying for reviews. Think more in terms of a thank-you than an enticement.
• Use a post-purchase trigger email asking for a review. See the example from Angie’s List below.
• Link to external reviews of your product or service. Seeing other reviews might encourage your current customers to jump on the bandwagon.
• Don’t forget to link to your social media sites so that customers can rave about you there as well.

Post-Purchase Trigger Email

The same logic that applies to sales also applies to reviews and testimonials. If you don’t ask for the sale, you won’t get it. If you don’t ask for the review or testimonial, you probably won’t get it.

Don’t be afraid to ask your best customers for a review or testimonial. There’s a reason they are your top customers, so ask them to share this with others. When you ask for a testimonial, make sure you have permission to use it – along with the customer’s name and, if possible, photo – in various marketing materials. Ask for first and last name (or, for B2B, the person’s name, title and business) and city. At the very least, ask for a first name and initial of last name. Anonymous testimonials can be misconstrued as marketing ploys. And it goes without saying (but we’ll say it anyway): NEVER make up a review. Ever.

Once you get the positive feedback, you’ve got to use it to create value. Include product reviews on your website, customer service reviews in your emails, on your website, your blogs, your social media sites.

So what’s the best way to garner customer positive customer testimonials and reviews? By providing stellar customer service and quality products/services.

Tagged in: Reviews, Small Business, Testimonials