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Stop Waiting, Start Getting Reviews & UGC: 2 Simple Plans Inside

In “Get More 5-Star Reviews”, we show everything you need to know about getting more Online Reviews and Social Media Love (UGC) from your customers.

We did our best to simplify it, and we know it might still feel overwhelming.

So we’ve created two simple Quick Start Action Plans designed to get you going quickly, whether you need Business Reviews for your service or location, or Product Reviews for items you sell online. 

You may be able to get either plan in place in as little as a couple of hours, and then quickly start getting results!

Business Reviews Quick Start Plan

Our Business Review Quick Start Plan is a great way to start getting Business Reviews quickly, for free or very affordably, and you may be able to get it set up in just a couple of hours:

  1. Get Ready: a few preparation steps.
  2. Choose DIY or affordable options for each way you will ask for reviews.
  3. Consider some options now to future-proof this plan.
  4. Help is available to implement this plan! 

1. Get Ready: Your Business Review Foundation

Pick Your Main Review Site

Choose the most important review website for your business right now. For most local businesses, this should be using Google Reviews. (Need help deciding? Check Step 2 of our Book or Workshop, and you can use the link to our AI Review Expert at the end of this plan).

Set Up Your Profile

Sign up on the review site if you don’t already have a profile there, and set up your profile. (For Google, see https://business.google.com/us/business-profile/).

Turn On Notifications

Go into the site’s settings and turn on email or app alerts. This way, you’ll know instantly when a new review comes in so you can respond fast. Where possible, have the notification go to more than one person so they are never missed. (For Google, see https://support.google.com/business/answer/7198436)

Get Your Review Request Link

Find the exact web address (URL) that sends customers straight to the page where they can write a review for you on your profile. Copy this link and save it somewhere handy (like a notes app) (For Google, see https://support.google.com/business/thread/261136474/).

(Optional but You Really Should): Prepare a QR Code with your Review Request Link

The thing about Review Request Links is that they can be a pain to type, and easy to mis-type. So it’s worth the extra step to set up a QR Code for customers so they can simply “snap” with their smartphone camera and be taken to the review page. 

Google now automatically creates a QR Code for your profile! https://support.google.com/business/thread/329016587/just-launched-create-qr-codes-for-reviews-directly-within-your-gbp?hl=en .

And we have a blog post that shows you a few ways to create the QR Code: Easy Guide: Create Free QR Codes to Get More Online Reviews for Your Small Business.

2. How To Ask Customers for Business Reviews

Via Email / SMS Text: 

DIY/Free: 

  • Simply add your Review Request Link to emails (like appointment follow-ups, order confirmations, email signatures) and SMS text messages. This is free, easy and fast.

In Person: 

When you (or your team) asks your customer in person for a review, here are some ways to make it super easy for the customer.

DIY/Free: 

  • Print the Review Request Link (and QR Code is even better) on a sheet, flyer or card that you show or give to the customer.

Order a Review Request aid:

  • Review Request Cards with QR Code and NFC tap
    • $10-$30 one time from Amazon or Results Pathfinder. 
    • Most of these cards show Google or Instagram on them, but you can provide any link, and you can ask the vendor to change the link anytime.
    • To set up the card, you will need to provide your Review Request Link or a way for the vendor to find your profile. In some cases the vendor will provide you with a web page where you can add your Review Request Link yourself.
  • Get business cards printed with the Review Request Link and QR Code eg. by your local printer or a printing service such as Canva and VistaPrint.

Display At Your Location 

Display a QR Code or Review Request Link on a Review Request Stand or Printed Media (eg. signs, flyers, table tents, menus, receipts, etc.) for customers to see and use on their own.

DIY:

  • If you or your team have software, time and experience, this is easy to do using software such as Canva.

Order Review Request Stand(s):

  • $20-$50 from Results Pathfinder, Amazon and possibly your local print shop

Order Printed Media (signs, flyers, table tents, menus, receipts, etc.):

  • Your local printer, VistaPrint, etc.  

Inside Shipped Packages

Include a thank you card or note or flyer with your QR code in packages you mail to customers.

DIY:

  • If you or your team have graphic design software, time and experience, this is easy to do using software such as Canva.

Get Them Printed For You:

  • Your local printer, VistaPrint, etc.

Ask Your Previous Customers

  • Consider contacting your previous customers.. It’s a great opportunity to reconnect, remind them about you.
  • Try to space this out so that the review site doesn’t suddenly see a suspicious surge and then a trickle. 

Reply Quickly 

Watch for notifications of reviews, and reply within a day, preferably within a few hours!

3. Consider Some Options Before You Start

We made this Action Plan as easy as possible so that you don’t get discouraged, and can start getting results quickly.

However, take a minute to consider that:

  • As soon as you are ready to get reviews on additonal sites (which we recommend), and make it easy for your customers to post about you on social media (which we also recommend), then you will have to replace and or redo some of the items on the plan. Avoid this by future-proofing the plan using a “Redirect Link” that we describe below.
  • Finding out that a customer was unhappy in a public review, and seeing your star rating drop, can be devastating and cost you sales. If you ask for feedback before asking for a review, then you have an opportunity to find out privately, show the customer that you care and do something to improve the situation. This also gives you the opportunity to learn where you can make improvements in your business. We show you how below.

So see which of the following options you can consider doing now.  Especially the Redirect Link.

Redirect Link 

Let’s say that you follow this Quick Start plan and send customers to Google using Review Request cards or stands, or printed QR codes on signs or menus.  Then the time comes when you want to get reviews on an additional site, such as Yelp, Facebook, Trustpilot or others. Or you want to ask customers to post about you on social media.  The Request Link you used only goes to one site. 

This is where a Redirect Link comes to the rescue, because you can change it’s destination anytime. 

For example, you create a Redirect Link (it’s easy and we show you how), and point it to your Google profile to start. You then use this Redirect Link instead of the Review Request Link everywhere (QR Codes, emails, SMS texts, flyers, etc.).  Once you have a competitive number of reviews and a good rating on Google, you can change the Redirect Link to point to another review site, or your main social media site, or Facebook or Instagram page. And keep switching it up every few weeks so you are build up reviews and social media love everywhere.

And when you are ready to ask for Feedback before asking for a review, you can just change the Redirect Link to point to the Feedback Request page or app.

Learn how in our blog post: Stop Updating Review Links! Use One Link for Google, Facebook, UGC & More

Show Customers All Your Review Sites and all Social Media Sites

The Redirect Link described above is great, but it is still a hassle to keep switching where it directs your customers to. And some customers don’t have a Google account so they won’t write a review for you there, others much prefer social media and so on. 

Here are two ways to set up a simple web page that shows all of these options to your customers. Just point your Review Request Link or Redirect Link (preferred so you are not locked in) to this page instead of to a single review or social media site.

  • Create a Review Request page on your website
    • You can create a simple page on your website that has links to *all* of your review sites, and also has links to all of the major social media sites. Have a look at our video in the next point for a great example. 
  • Create a Review Request page in Canva

Ask for Feedback First

It’s far better to find out about an unhappy customer privately than on a public review. And the way to do this is to ask your customer for feedback about their purchase or the service you did for them before you ask them for a review. 

There are two ways you can do this:

DIY:

  • Ask your customers in person, by email and/or by SMS text.

Use a Business Review App that asks for feedback before asking for a review:

  • Check our Book and Workshop for more details. Here are some options:

4. Questions? Want some help?

If you have any questions, you can ask our AI Review Expert 24/7

If you would like help with any part of this plan (super affordably), reach out to us. 

Product Reviews Quick Start Plan

Our Product Review Quick Start Plan is a great way to start getting Product reviews quickly very affordably, and you may be able to get it set up in just a couple of hours:

  1. Get Ready: A few preparation steps.
  2. How To Ask Customers For Product Reviews
  3. Help is available to implement this plan!

1. Get Ready: Your Product Review Foundation

Pick Your Main Focus

If you sell online in more than one place, pick the most important one to start building up product reviews. This might be your online store (eg. Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, BigCommerce) or a Marketplace (eg. Amazon, Etsy, eBay, Walmart). 

Choose a Product Review App

If you picked your online store, you need to choose a Product Review app.

  • Product Review apps automatically send review requests to customers by email after each purchase (and a lot more).
  • You can learn more about how to choose the right one for your situation in Step 5 of our Book and Workshop.
  • Our favorite is judge.me, and others include Loox, Yotpo and Stamped.io.

If you picked a Marketplace, you don’t need a Product Review app because the marketplaces send review requests automatically. 

Print Package Inserts

Most customers, even the happiest, will not write a review when they receive a review request.

You might improve the impression you make, and the number of reviews you get, by inserting a printed card or flyer in every package you ship.  Start with a genuine warm appreciation for their order, then an easy way to contact you with any questions or problems, and a QR code to the product page where they can write a review. You can even include some promo or info on other products. 

Set Up Notifications

  • Sometimes the Marketplaces or Product Review Apps only notify you in their dashboards when a customer has written a review for you. 
  • Where possible, set up the notifications so that you and your team or backup also receives notifications by email.

2. How To Ask Customers For Product Reviews

Ongoing

  • Automatic Review requests after purchase
    • These are automatic on Marketplaces and with Product Review Apps. 
  • Automatic Reminder requests
    • Not everyone will take you up on the initial review request
    • If you are using a Marketplace,
      • Use the marketplace to send a nice “what did you think of our product?” message
      • Note that most marketplaces only allow you to contact customers for a short period of time after the purchase, and only about the purchase
      • ** Check the Marketplace rules!  Most do not allow you to ask only for good or 5-star reviews, or to offer incentives. 
    • If you are using an Online Store,
      • Product Review Apps automatically send a reminder to everyone that did not write a review.
  • Include printed Package Inserts that show a QR code to where they can write a review (we share more about this earlier in this plan).

Previous Customers

  • Consider contacting your previous customers… it’s a *great* opportunity to reconnect, and remind them about you.
  • Try to space this out so that the review site doesn’t suddenly see a suspicious surge and then a trickle 

Reply Quickly 

Watch for notifications of reviews, and reply within a day, preferably within a few hours!

3. Questions? Want some help?

If you have any questions, you can ask our AI Review Expert 24/7

If you would like help with any part of this plan (super affordably), reach out to us.

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