4 Strategies to Get More Testimonials and Reviews

Testimonials and reviews are critical to build up your business. Many customers don’t want to visit a business or buy a product with a low rating, or with few reviews. A few of these strategies to get more testimonials and reviews can help build your business’s profile in creative ways.

4 Strategies to Get More Testimonials and Reviews

Let’s walk through each of these strategies to get more testimonials and reviews, step by step. You might use multiple strategies at the same time to maximize your audience, or use different strategies at different times. Some of these might be more effective for your business than others, depending on your business model and how you reach your customers.

First: Set Up Your Landing Page or Links

With each of these strategies, you’ll need to direct your customers to a particular page where they can submit their reviews or testimonials. If you’re using a third-party site, like Google or Yelp, you can direct customers to this website. Make sure you use a direct link to your business’s page on the site, so users don’t have to hunt for it.

If you’re collecting reviews or testimonials to use on your own website, you’ll need a landing page where customers can submit their testimonials. Remember; using reviews from other websites can land you in legal hot water. When you collect your own reviews, you’ll be able to use them on your website, product pages, brochures, emails, social media, and more.

Boast makes it easy to create a landing page, and collect testimonials or reviews with text, images, or videos. You can also import your email list and send automated, testimonial request emails within the platform. Boast also makes it easy to display testimonials on your website, share them on social media, and more.

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1. Email Strategy

Email can present a great strategy to get more testimonials and reviews. Once you have a plan, getting more testimonials and reviews via email can be fast and easy. Let’s take a look at a step-by-step plan, as well as some email templates you can customize to use in your plan.

Step 1: Email Automation Software

Sending testimonial request emails individually to each customer takes too much time, and won’t leave much room for ROI. You’ll need email automation software to send a lot of request emails at one time. You’ll also need a list of customers’ emails, which they have freely given and consented to receiving promotional emails from you.

There are many email automation programs to choose from. However, Boast lets you automate email requests while also streamlining your testimonial gathering process. You can send request emails, review the testimonials you receive, and choose which testimonials you share, and where you share them.

Once you choose your automation software, you’ll need to import your email list. Then, you can draft an email sequence.

Step 2: Draft Your Emails

Sending just one email isn’t likely to get your customers’ attention. Sending dozens of emails will probably result in a lot of unsubscribe actions. In general, three or four emails spaced about a week apart is enough to get your customers’ attention, without annoying them.

Use our testimonial request email templates to customize your emails and send your customers to your review collection landing page or third-party website. It’s helpful to give your customers some prompts, so your customers know what you’re looking for. You might suggest that they talk about their most recent purchase, their favorite item, or an employee that made an impact.

Remember that your customers are busy. It can be helpful to offer gift cards or discounts to incentivize participation. It’s important to disclose this practice when you use these reviews, but this can be a helpful strategy to get more reviews on a faster timeline.

Featured Resource: Testimonial Request Email Templates

Download the Testimonial Request Toolkit

Step 3: Send and Monitor

Once you’ve perfected your emails and they’re ready to send, schedule them about a week apart from each other. As your emails roll out and customers begin responding, monitor the activity on your website and on your landing page.

It’s a good idea to monitor social media and other discussions around your business, too; if something goes wrong, your reviews or testimonials might take a negative turn. If this occurs, you might consider altering your strategy accordingly, or putting it on pause until you can solve the problem.

2. Social Media Strategy

If you don’t have a strong email following, but you have a big audience on social media, this can be a great strategy to get more testimonials and reviews. You can use nearly any social media platform, from Facebook and Instagram to Reddit and YouTube. Let’s take a look at a strategy to get more testimonials and reviews using social media.

Step 1: Social Media Automation Software

Sending individual posts is an option, but requires a lot of time and energy. Just like the previous email campaign, your overall strategy will be much more efficient if you use social media automation software. This will allow you to see each of your posts laid out neatly, and schedule them to appear at the right time. You’ll also be able to more easily post messages to multiple platforms.

Step 2: Draft Posts

Once you have your software ready, it’s time to draft your posts. Consider which platforms you want to use, and how many posts you want to make. On social media, there is even more competition for your customers’ attention than email, so you’ll want to prepare more posts. The right number of posts varies depending on which platform you’re using and how often you usually post.

Our list of testimonial request examples includes social media template posts that you can modify to fit your needs. Keep your posts short and sweet, and remember to post a shortlink to your landing page or third-party webpage. Incentives, such as giveaways, discounts, or gift cards, might also be effective in this strategy to generate more engagement.

Featured Resource: Testimonial Request Email Templates

Download the Testimonial Request Toolkit

Step 3: Schedule and Monitor

Just like your email strategy, it’s important to monitor the reactions to these posts. If responses turn negative, consider putting the strategy on pause while you and your team deal with the issue frustrating customers. Or, if your posts aren’t getting many views or generating much engagement, consider adding other types of media, like videos, to get your customers’ attention. Or, consider posting at a different time of day.

3. Event Strategy

An event can be a great way to get more testimonials or reviews. Your customers are generally excited and in good spirits during the event, and they’ll be more likely to give a positive review. You’ll want to make this process easy and seamless, so customers don’t have to take a lot of time out of their day to give a review.

Step 1: Laptop or Tablet

At your event, set up a laptop or tablet and keep it fixed to one page. An employee might manage or monitor this station, or you might keep the device password-protected, so it can’t be tampered with.

In addition to the instructions on the landing page, consider printing out instructions, so customers at the event can clearly see what the laptop or tablet is for, and how they can leave a review. You might also include any incentives the customer could take advantage of, like discounts or gift cards.

Step 2: Set Up and Engage

As you set up your event, set up your testimonial-gathering station as well. Test your landing page, and make sure the device can’t be tampered with. If any employees are monitoring the station, make sure they know how to operate the device, and how to help customers who are trying to use it.

During the event, engage with customers and encourage them to leave a review at the station. Face-to-face interactions are more likely to make an impact on your customers compared to online interactions, and customers at your event will be more likely to leave a review, especially if you make this process simple and easy.

4. In-Store Strategy

Many of the previously mentioned strategies work for a set period of time. However, an in-store testimonial- or review-gathering strategy can work all year round. There are many different ways to set up this strategy at your store. Whatever strategy you choose, it’s important to draw attention to your strategy, and make sure customers know that you’re looking for reviews and testimonials.

Step 1: Consider Placement

Where you place your testimonial requests inside your store will have a big impact on how effective they are. These placements must be readily apparent, where customers are likely to see them. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes and consider where you’d be most likely to see this message. Maybe on your menu, a receipt, or a message board? If you don’t have a storefront but you mail customers the items they order, you might include a special testimonial or review request message in the box.

Step 2: Craft Messaging

Once you decide where your review requests should appear, you’ll need to choose the right words. Your message should be short and sweet, and it must contain a link to your landing page or third-party review site. Here are a few examples you might customize to suit your business:

Tell us about your favorite menu item! Leave a review at (link)
Thank you so much for your purchase. We’d love to hear about your experience! Tell us here (link)
Reviews help more customers find our business! If you’d like to share your awesome experience, we’d love to hear it! Head to (link) to submit your review.

Step 3: Monitor

Once you place your message, monitor the results for a few weeks. Is your web page getting more traffic? Have you gathered any new reviews on your third-party site? If you haven’t seen much improvement, your message might be too subtle. Consider how you could make your appeal more prominent, or how you might incentivize customers to leave a review or testimonial.

No matter what strategy you use to get more testimonials and reviews, it will probably require a bit of trial and error. Make adjustments, and see what works and what doesn’t. Don’t be afraid to try more than one strategy, or make changes to these frameworks. With the right tools, an organized plan, and a commitment to a great customer experience, your customers are sure to show their love.