4 Ways to Encourage Customers to Leave Reviews

Businesses rely on a range of resources to engage with their target audience: product demos, sales rep interactions, landing pages, and drip campaigns. And that’s just to name a few.

Despite these multiple approaches, many SMBs miss a crucial resource in their nurture streams: customer reviews.

“In order for us to keep up with our rising demands for references, quotes, feedback, etc, and also be respectful of our customers’ time and ability to participate in advocacy activities, we need to keep growing our base of advocates. Having a steady stream of reviews coming in has really helped with that.” ~ Sherry Arnold, Customer Advocacy Manager at Workfront

Let’s dive into how and why you should be encouraging customers to leave reviews.

Why Encouraging Customers to Leave Reviews Matters to Your Brand

If you’re not convinced that customer reviews matter, let’s set something straight: authentic reviews may be the most powerful type of content available to you.

According to a recent poll from TrustRadius, as much as 76% of B2B buyers use reviews to discover new brands and technology products. Almost 7 out of 10 buyers use reviews to evaluate products, and 43% use reviews as a primary criterion for selecting which tech product to purchase.

Reviews have an important role to play not only in building your brand but also engaging with your target audience.

The bottom line is you should care about customer reviews because buyers care about customer reviews.

Research from TrustRadius shows that:

• B2B buyers are doing more and more independent research on technology products and brands.
• Reviews have become very influential as an information resource.
• Buyers have an inherent distrust of vendor provided content – they want to hear from actual users.
• Buyers are looking for authentic and balanced reviews.

Convinced yet? Let’s jump into how you can start gathering your first handful of customer reviews.

4 Steps to Encourage Customer Reviews

Successfully incorporating customer reviews into your content strategy may not be as easy as ABC, but there are a few steps you can take to start encouraging your first customer reviews:

#1: Decide on a Platform

You’ll need a specific review platform to send customers to. The simpler and more related to your brand, the better. For example, you can request a custom landing page on TrustRadius.

#2: Build a Diverse List

You’ll likely receive the best response by including all of your customers in the request for reviews. The other benefit is that buyers will be looking for reviewers in similar positions, so you are looking for more varied customer reviews.

#3: Write a Personalized Email

Reach out to your customer list with a simple but straightforward email asking for reviews. Include a link to where customers can leave a review and, if you have the budget for it, offer a small reward for leaving an authentic review (customers should receive the incentive regardless of whether they leave a positive or negative review). Make sure you personalize it to the customer!

#4: Send Reminders & Stay Engaged

Don’t be afraid to send a follow up email. Change up your approach when you send out reminders – simply switching the email subject or the channel of communication can be effective.

You’ll also want to track who leaves feedback and what kind of feedback they provide. Take the time to thank customers for their positive reviews and respond publicly to negative reviews.