how to get google reviews for local businesses

How to Get Google Reviews: The Complete Guide for Local Businesses

by Reviews

How to Get Google Reviews: The Complete Guide for Local Businesses

In 2019, Bright Local conducted a study that states 82% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses, with the average customer reading at least 10 reviews before feeling they can trust a business. Another relevant statistic states, “Research shows that Google is the fastest growing online reviews platform in the world and is acquiring new reviews at a much quicker rate than its closest rival, Facebook.”

To put it simply, online reviews are influencing how and where consumers decide to spend their money and Google is where most people find these reviews.  

Table of Contents

How Do You Search for Service Providers?

If you think about it, I’m sure you have been through the process yourself. You need someone to fix a leak in the kitchen sink, so what do you do? Most likely, you head to Google and in the search bar type something like “plumber las vegas”. Then you find yourself scrolling through the Google search results in the map pack and instinctively start assessing the best candidates for your job. Looking through average star ratings, good reviews and bad reviews you finally come to a decision. How many of you can relate?

Jamie Pitman, Head of Bright Local’s content team, writes, “Online reviews are as powerful as word of mouth recommendations that add credibility and trust to your brand.”

Important Questions to Keep in Mind

Understanding the importance of online reviews, here are a few questions you should be able to answer:

    • What are people saying about your business online?
    • How can you prompt someone to leave a review on their experience with your business?
    • How can you get more reviews?
    • How can you increase the number of positive reviews while reducing negative reviews?

If you’re looking for the answer to any of these questions, read on to learn more and find out how to address these pressing questions for your business. 

How to Get Google Reviews from Customers in 3 Simple Steps

Now that we know that reviews play a critical role in consumer decisions, and that Google is where most people find reviews, let’s discuss how to get a Google review for your business.

Step One: Have Happy Customers

First things first. You need happy customers!

We cannot stress that enough.

While that may not be surprising to you, if you spend enough time reading reviews online, you’ll find businesses that don’t seem to understand this. Now is a good time to acknowledge a simple fact: most consumers only feel compelled to leave reviews when they have a negative experience. This means they are more likely to go out of their way to leave a negative review, rather than a positive review. So, if your customers are not happy, you’re going to get a large number of negative reviews, and very few positive reviews. Not only will a bad experience most likely lead a customer to leave a bad review, that bad review could deter potential customers from choosing your services.

But you’re reading this article to learn how to get positive Google reviews, so let’s get back to that!

You need happy customers because happy customers will leave positive reviews about their experience with your business. These reviews are the kind that you need, and that consumers love. However, getting these reviews depends on the quality of service that the consumer experiences. The better the service, the more likely your customer will be to leave a review and mention something positive about their experience with your business. It’s not just about getting the review; it matters what they say in the review.  Remember, consumers do not just look at overall star ratings, they read online reviews.

Step Two: Ask Customers to Leave a Review

In a perfect world, a customer would leave a review with no prompt or request on your end; but as discussed above, this is most likely to happen for negative reviews, not positive reviews. The best way to get positive, 5-star reviews is to simply ask for them.

There are plenty of ways to ask for reviews. Asking customers in person while still on-site along with reminders through email, calling and text messaging are some of the most effective ways to prompt a customer to leave a review and provide feedback in general. Do not rely on just one method of reaching out to your customers; take advantage of a variety of communication channels to ensure you are reaching as many of your happy customers as possible. 

Step Three: Show Customers How to Leave a Google Review

When asking happy customers to leave a Google review, don’t assume they know how to do it. Rather, provide an easy step-by-step guide with screenshots that they can follow.

If you are asking for reviews in person, you could have the step-by-step instructions printed on the backside of a business card for customers to refer to. That same information can be included in an email, text message or be explained in a conversation over the phone. Once you document out the process the first time, you can use it in a variety of ways to help improve the chances of receiving positive, 5-star reviews from your happy customers.

Here’s step-by-step instructions on how to leave a Google Review for your business to use:

    1. Open your internet browser.
    2. Search Google for “[Insert Your Business Name Here]” (or provide them the link to your business listing on Google).
    3. Click on the “Write a Review” button, found by scrolling down to the review section on a business’s listing, or by clicking on their reviews in Google Maps.
    4. You will need to be signed into your Google account to leave a review. If you’re not signed in, Google will ask you to sign in via a pop-up.
    5. After signing in, you will have the option to select the number of stars to rate your experience with our business and write out details of your experience(s). Five stars is considered “excellent” and one star is considered “poor”.
    6. Click “Post” after selecting a star rating (and leaving a written review, if you choose).

[BONUS] Step Four: Respond to All Customer Reviews

Ready to take your Google reviews to the next level? Respond to every Google review your customers leave, good or bad. It’s a simple step that takes only a few minutes and shows potential customers you take your business seriously.

What’s worse than a negative Google review? A negative Google review with no response from the business. When a potential customer sees a negative review with no response, it signals to them that the business doesn’t care, or doesn’t take customer feedback seriously.

Other Considerations on How to Get Google Reviews

Even with everything discussed above, there are still a few more considerations you will want to make when it comes to getting Google reviews. Here are two important things to keep in mind:

Request Reviews in a Timely Manner

Strive to prompt customers to leave reviews right away with a maximum of three to four days after the customer utilizes your business. If you fail to reach out in a timely manner, you run the risk of customers losing enthusiasm around their experience with your business.

Be Aware of Other Review Platforms 

While Google is the fastest growing review platform out there, it is very important to maintain a well-balanced review profile by also encouraging customers to leave reviews on other review platforms that are pertinent to your business. According to the study referenced earlier, 70% of consumers look at multiple review sites before choosing a business to contact.

What Should You Do Now?

Now you know how to get your happiest customers to leave amazing 5-star Google reviews for your business, and drastically increase your average star rating and review count. However, the most important step is to implement this process in your business today!

If this process sounds overwhelming, we understand! If you don’t have the right tools and processes in place, then this can feel like a lot. Fortunately, at KAHA, we are a team of digital marketing experts. We have 15+ years of experience helping businesses grow through meaningful digital marketing. We have the system and tools already assembled, ready to be implemented in your business today!

Why Partner with KAHA to Get More Google Reviews?

At KAHA, we understand the importance and need for businesses to have first-rate reviews in order to be competitive. Online reviews are becoming much more significant in influencing consumers of where to spend their hard-earned dollar. Building credibility and a reputation of trust through online reviews, such as Google, is more important now than ever.

We provide an online review service that effectively prompts customers to leave reviews and educates them through an easy-to-follow guide. Our process is fast, simple, and can be done from a phone. It can also be leveraged to get 5-star reviews on every review platform that is relevant to your business.

Our online reviews service gives you the process and tools to:

    • Ask customers to leave reviews, while in person or via your website, email or text message
    • Educate customers on how to leave reviews, with step by step instructions for each review platform (not just Google)
    • Monitor your reviews in real-time, so you can respond to all customer reviews
    • Let your customers choose which platform they review your business on
    • Help you request reviews in a timely manner, and automates follow up to help get more reviews
    • Help reduce the number of negative reviews by helping customers contact the business first to resolve the issue
    • Automatically share your best reviews to your website or Facebook to build social proof

Interested in Working with KAHA to Get More Google Reviews?

Let us help you generate, monitor, and showcase online reviews in a smooth, simple, and effective way. Our services are competitively priced and easy to use. Learn how to transform your online reviews with KAHA and book your FREE strategy session ($1,000 value) today!

SPEAK WITH A strategist
review websites list

The Top Review Websites for Small Businesses

by Reviews

The Top Review Websites for Small Businesses

Online reviews are a key driver of online and in-person traffic for small businesses. In fact, a con-sumer tracking study from BIA/Kelsey’s found that 97 percent of consumers conduct online re-search when trying to find local products or services.

While a quality website is certainly a good start for building your online presence, many web users will be most influenced by online reviews from previous customers. Taking advantage of the many review websites that are available will ensure that customers get the right impression of your busi-ness.

Here are some of the most important review websites your small business should focus on when gathering reviews to establish your reputation with potential customers.

Table of Contents

Why Do Online Reviews Matter So Much?

As previously noted, a lot of people use online reviews as part of their process for finding local businesses. Reviews are an extremely influential part of the buying process. In fact, a study from Spiegel Research Center found that online reviews can increase conversion rates by as much as 270 percent. This is especially true of more expensive items, as well as “high-consideration” purchases that typically involve more research and evaluation.

In fact, as many as 84 percent of consumers say they trust online reviews just as much as a personal recommendation from a friend or family member. However, research from BrightLocal found that the average customer needs to read 10 reviews before they feel like they can trust a business. At the same time, 68 percent of customers say they are willing to leave a review if a small business asks them to.

So what makes online reviews so powerful? Quite simply, it’s the fact that these reviews are perceived as coming from living, breathing people who have tried your products or services for themselves. They’re not part of traditional advertising campaign.

Increasing the number of reviews you have on review websites builds trust in your brand, and gives potential customers the confidence they need to buy from you.

Top Review Websites for Your Small Business

Google

As the biggest search engine in the world, it should come as no surprise that Google will be one of the most important review websites for any small business. For many people, Google is the starting point when trying to find a local business. You’ve likely used Google many times yourself to search for small business providers — think of searches like “plumber near me” or “landscapers in Orlando.”

To get Google reviews for your own business, you must start by claiming your My Google Business profile. This allows you to verify your address and contact information, which will help you appear in local search results and on Google Maps. Your reviews will show up alongside this information when your business appears in Google search results.

Google allows businesses to respond to reviews, as well as flag reviews that appear to be fake or spam. However, fake reviews may not always be deleted. Google is also fine with you asking customers to submit reviews, as long as you don’t ask for reviews “in bulk.”

Facebook

While social media may not be the starting point of someone’s small business search, Facebook serves as an important form of social proof when someone is trying to decide if they should do business with you. An active, regularly updated Facebook profile helps you connect with your target audience, especially after reaching them with a Facebook ad targeted to their demographic.

One unique element of Facebook reviews is that the business has the ability to respond to users through private messaging. While it is still a good idea to leave a public reply, direct messaging offers an avenue to better resolve a customer complaint or question. This approach to customer service could even lead a dissatisfied customer to change their review later thanks to your efforts to solve their problem.

As the biggest social media platform, Facebook is where many people will go to talk about your brand. Ensuring that their conversation includes leaving a review on your profile will build valuable social proof for the future.

Yelp

Research from Statista places Yelp as the second-most popular review website, landing only behind Google when it comes to researching local businesses. While Yelp initially focused on restaurants, it has expanded to cover just about every type of business, with a focus on hyper-local listings.

Because Yelp is so widely used, information drawn from its listings is sometimes even featured in national news outlets. For example, Yelp’s list of 2020’s top “glamping” destinations was highlighted in USA Today. If your business generates a lot of positive reviews on Yelp, you might be able to get additional press coverage that helps you gain even more customers.

Customers can leave reviews for your business on Yelp even if you haven’t claimed your profile, so all small businesses should do this as quickly as possible. No matter what your company sells, a Yelp profile should be a key part of your strategy for getting customer reviews.

TripAdvisor

Though it is primarily geared toward travelers, TripAdvisor can still be a powerful platform for certain local businesses. TripAdvisor reviews will often help them decide what activities to participate in and where to eat during their next adventure — even for a day trip.

Popular categories on TripAdvisor include hotels, restaurants and “things to do,” with highlighted activities often customized based on the location. For example, a listing for the city of Flagstaff, Arizona features a list of rafting & tubing businesses thanks to the city’s proximity to the Grand Canyon.

Top-rated businesses are often highlighted on city pages, and are even ranked by review score in TripAdvisor search results. Positive TripAdvisor reviews could help people looking for local activities discover your business even when you don’t have a strong SEO presence.

Angie's List

Angie’s List has become one of the go-to review websites for home and landscaping businesses. Service providers in industries ranging from plumbing and HVAC to roofing and housecleaning use their Angie’s List profiles to gain reviews and build their reputation.

As with other review websites on this list, Angie’s List is designed to help customers connect with businesses in their area, making this a powerful listing resource for gaining new clients.

Reviews on Angie’s List grade businesses on several criteria, including price, responsiveness, professionalism and the quality of the work. Top-rated providers are awarded with the Angie’s List Super Service Award on an annual basis, potentially offering some great marketing materials and social proof for your brand.

Bing Places

While Google My Business may get most of the focus in the world of SEO, your company shouldn’t overlook Bing Places. Over 500 million searches are conducted on Bing each month, with much of the platform’s stateside audience comprised of households with annual incomes of over $100,000.

Though Bing Places might target a slightly older, higher-income audience than Google, a Bing Places profile is still completely free. Claiming or adding your listing will allow you to add business hours, photos and other vital information.

While Bing itself does not allow users to leave reviews, it can provide social proof by drawing review information from your Facebook or Yelp account. Connecting these review websites with your Bing Places listing enables you to provide social proof to anyone using this search engine.

Foursquare

Foursquare is a unique social networking app that allows users to “check in” when they visit a local business. After a user has visited a location, the app lets them leave a review. This can be especially helpful for restaurants or other businesses that primarily rely on foot traffic. You can have confidence that reviews left on your Foursquare profile come from people who actually visited your business.

The reviews that customers leave in Foursquare will increase your store’s discoverability for future patrons. When users conduct a search for places to eat or things to do near their current location, your listing will appear, complete with review information.

While Facebook’s addition of a “check in” feature led to a slump in Foursquare’s user numbers, it is still a relatively popular review platform for finding local businesses. Foursquare reports that it has over 50 million users, and millions of businesses already have listings thanks to these users wanting to promote their favorite spots. Simply claim your profile to start taking full advantage of this app.

Which Review Websites Should You Use?

As you can see, there are many websites that small businesses can use to build their online reputation. Ideally, you should have active profiles on as many of these platforms as are applicable to your business. Focus on the websites that will be most relevant to your target audience — after all, while Angie’s List is great for home remodelers, it’s not the right fit for a restaurant.

Of course, the process of getting reviews across so many different websites can feel a bit overwhelming. This is where KAHA comes in. Our team of digital marketing experts draws on over 15 years of industry experience as well as efficient tools and processes to help you get quality reviews that will drive new customers to your business.

Interested in Working with KAHA to Get More Online Reviews?

Let us help you generate, monitor, and showcase online reviews in a smooth, simple, and effective way. Our services are competitively priced and easy to use. Learn how to transform your online reviews with KAHA and book your FREE strategy session ($1,000 value) today!

SPEAK WITH A strategist
get reviews for google my business

Get Reviews on Google My Business, Especially During a Pandemic

by Reviews

Get Reviews on Google My Business, Especially During a Pandemic

Reviews on Google My Business can be a great asset to local businesses, especially during a worldwide pandemic. We haven’t met a single business owner that was ready for something like the fallout from the current events the world is experiencing.

Think about it. Many businesses were caught so off guard by their local civic leaders imposing harsh regulations and mandates. They were left scrambling to make sense of it. Not only were businesses trying to adapt on the fly, they had to make the numbers and finances work while trying to figure it all out. For many businesses, many of which were in sheer panic mode, facing the reality of reduced revenue meant slashing expenses as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, many businesses look at their options and end up slashing their digital marketing budgets, because it’s a “quick” savings for the business. However, they fail to take into consideration the long-term impact of that decision. That is why we wanted to provide the insights we’ve learned from speaking with over fifty small business owners in the past few weeks, and what we are doing about it.

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The Current State of Small and Medium Businesses

Generally, our clients have fallen into one of three buckets over the past few months:

    1. Slashed their digital marketing budget to zero
    2. Maintained their digital marketing budget
    3. Increased their digital marketing budget to seize the opportunity

As you can imagine, our clients that have maintained or increased their digital marketing budgets during this time have done quite well. With much of the competition reducing their budgets, it creates a great opportunity for those that have the resources. Because of this, we want to encourage all business owners to maintain some level of digital marketing efforts, even in difficult economic times.

However, we understand what that looks like for each business can be vary greatly.

Our Pandemic Digital Marketing Recommendation

At this time, our number one recommendation is for businesses to focus on getting reviews on Google My Business.

Why?

In the current business environment, focusing on Google My Business reviews provides the greatest return on investment (ROI) for businesses. To put it another way, you’ll get the most bang for your buck.

Focusing on Google My Business Reviews for Five Main Reasons

When we made the decision to find a pandemic budget friendly digital marketing solution for our clients (and small and medium businesses in general), we didn’t know what it would look like. We considered all the options. And we ended up choosing a service that helps businesses get reviews on Google My Business because of five main reasons:

    1. Everyone is using Google right now
    2. Reviews last (almost) forever
    3. It helps search engine optimization (SEO) efforts
    4. It helps social media efforts
    5. Google My Business reviews are cost effective

Reason #1: Everyone is Using Google Right Now

Think about your day-to-day life before all of this happened. Now, how is it different today?

If you’re like us, then you probably find yourself on Google even more than before, checking what businesses are open, what their current hours are, and if you can go into the business, or have to use a curbside option.

Does this sound familiar? If it sounds familiar for you, then it’s probably the same story for your customers, and potential new customers.

So, what does this mean for businesses? More eyes on Google. And with more eyes on Google now than ever, that means there are more eyes on your Google My Business reviews.

If your competitors have higher overall star ratings and more reviews than you, you don’t stand a chance against them in today’s environment.

If you weren’t paying attention to your reviews on Google My Business before current events, you better be now.

Reason #2: Reviews on Google My Business Last (Almost) Forever

This is a really important point for us. Google My Business reviews are a great investment because once you get them, you have them (almost) forever.

Now, compare that to other digital marketing services. Paid ads, such as Google AdWords or Facebook Ads, only work when you’re actively spending money to run ads. The second you shut off the ads, there’s no benefit. While we love search engine optimization, if you stop doing it, you’ll start to see your rankings drop over a period of time.

What do we mean when we say Google reviews last “almost forever”? While they technically could disappear, it’s rare. Let us explain.

When someone leaves a review on Google, there are typically only two reasons it would ever be removed. First, the person that left the review could delete the review. Second, the business can flag the review and ask Google to remove it. Regardless, it’s rare that a review ever gets removed, unless it clearly violates Google’s review policy.

Reason #3: Google My Business Reviews Aid SEO

This may not be a surprise, but having a high number of Google reviews coupled with a great overall star rating aids your search engine optimization efforts. While this is true for Google search, it’s especially important for local or map searches. A business’s overall star rating and number of reviews on Google My Business greatly impacts local and map search rankings.

Great reviews and ratings show Google that real people like your business, making Google more likely to put your business in front of more potential customers. After all, Google is only as good as the information they provide to searchers.

Reason #4: Real Five-Star Reviews Give You Social Media Content

We’re surprised more businesses don’t share their awesome five-star reviews on social media. This tends to go overlooked. Maybe it’s because businesses feel awkward drawing attention to their raving reviews? But they shouldn’t. After all, the whole point of a business’s digital marketing efforts is to get new customers. We can’t think of a better way to convince people to do business with you than to show them what happy customers are saying about the business.

Every amazing five-star review you get is a potential post for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and even your website. We offer our clients a way to automatically share their new five-star reviews to Facebook as part of our Reviews package.

Reason #5: Digital Marketing at a Reasonable Price, Even in a Pandemic

Let’s face it, many small and medium businesses are hurting right now. Revenue is down and budgets are tight. Unfortunately, many businesses have abandoned digital marketing, reducing their chances of getting new customers. By doing so, they are worsening their chances of thriving, let alone surviving in this pandemic.

We want to change that.

In reality, it costs nothing to get a review on Google for your business. However, having the right tools and processes in place can be worth the investment. For example, one of our core offerings at KAHA is our Reviews package that helps businesses get more real five-star reviews online. Some clients pay $500/month for this service. That’s a fraction of what some of our other clients are spending with us each month, whose packages can easily range from $3,500 to $5,000 per month.

When the current pandemic began, we had discussions with all of our clients and assessed the situation. In doing so, we realized that some of our clients needed a cost-effective solution that allowed them to maintain their digital marketing efforts in uncertain times. After many hours of researching, gathering feedback, and running the numbers, we introduced a new offering. A $300/month service that helps small and medium businesses get more online reviews.

Get More Reviews on Google My Business

At KAHA, we understand the importance and need for businesses to maintain digital marketing efforts despite current events to remain competitive in the long run. Online reviews have become a much larger factor in influencing consumers’ behavior of where to spend their hard-earned, and sometimes scarce dollars in this current economic environment. Building credibility and a reputation of trust through online reviews, such as Google My Business reviews, is more important now than ever before.

Our new $300 per month online review service is built for the struggling small and medium businesses that want to remain competitive, even on a tight budget. Our service simplifies the process for the business and the customer, by effectively prompting customers to leave reviews and then showing them how to do so through an easy-to-follow guide. Our process is fast, simple and can be done from a phone. It can also be leveraged to get five-star reviews on every review platform that is relevant to your business, not just Google.

Our online reviews service gives you the process and tools to:

    • Ask customers to leave reviews, while in person or via your website, email or text message
    • Educate customers on how to leave reviews, with step-by-step instructions for each review platform (not just Google)
    • Monitor your reviews in real-time, so you can respond to all customer reviews
    • Let your customers choose which platform they review your business on (in the event they don’t have a Google account)
    • Helps you request reviews in a timely manner, and automates follow up to help get more reviews
    • Helps reduce the number of negative reviews by helping customers contact the business first to resolve the issue
    • Automatically share your best reviews to your website or Facebook to build social proof

Ready to Get More Reviews on Google My Business?

Let us help you generate, monitor, and showcase online reviews in a smooth, simple, and effective way. Our services are competitively priced and easy to use. Learn how to transform your online reviews with KAHA and book your FREE strategy session ($1,000 value) today!

SPEAK WITH A strategist
how to get online reviews

How to Get Online Reviews: A Battle-Tested & Proven Process

by Reviews

How to Get Online Reviews: A Battle-Tested & Proven Process

We often get asked by business owners how to get online reviews for their business. The process is actually really simple, but if you don’t understand how to do it, it can seem complex. So, we wanted to breakdown the most effective processes that we not only teach our clients but also implement for them.

What’s the process? It’s simple. And you can implement it in your business today!

The most effective process we have found to get more real five-star reviews for your business is… asking for reviews via email.

Why? Well, if you stick around till the end of this article, we’ll not only tell you why, but we will show you how to get more real five-star online reviews for your business using email, starting now! Even better, we will show you how to automate this process for your business.

Table of Contents

Before we jump into the process and details, we want to share a case study. This case study is based on recent results from one of our clients. Yes, real results achieved during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

A Case Study on Getting Online Reviews for Your Business

In this case study, our client is a home service business. While businesses are all very different, we’ve seen similar results using our process across industries and markets.

Here’s a quick overview of their results:

    • Received their first review (five-star, by the way) in less than two hours of implementing our process
    • Received three reviews (all five-star) on three different platforms in the first 24 hours, having only emailed eight recent customers (a 37.5% conversion rate!)
    • Received eight reviews (all five-star) on three platforms (Google, Yelp and Better Business Bureau) within five days of implementing our process

Here’s some additional context on this client. Although they had been asking for reviews, they were not seeing great success in getting clients to leave reviews. In fact, before implementing our process, their most recent Yelp review was two months old; and Yelp is their most active review platform. They went from struggling to get any reviews, to getting eight real five-star reviews in less than a week. Knowing and implementing a proven process allowed this business to grow their overall reviews by 20% in less than one week. And, their overall star rating has improved across the review site platforms they’ve chosen to focus on!

In fact, before implementing our process, this client had zero reviews on their Better Business Bureau (BBB) profile. This meant that they had a zero-star rating. Not because they were a bad business, but simply because they didn’t have a process to get customers to leave reviews on the BBB site. Now their Better Business Bureau profile shows how great of a company they are. They now have three five-star reviews, and an overall five-star rating on their BBB profile with glowing reviews from really happy customers.

Why Online Reviews Matter for Your Business

You may have noticed that we focused on a few key points in the above case study: overall star rating, number of reviews, recency of reviews, and utilizing multiple top review sites. We focused on these because the data shows they are important to consumers. Here’s what you need to know:

    • 91% of consumers read online reviews about local businesses
    • Most consumers look at two or more review sites before making a decision
    • 84% of people trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation
    • 73% of consumers think that reviews older than three months are not relevant

How to Get Online Reviews via Email

Asking for reviews using email is a great approach for businesses for several reasons. Studies show that 91% of consumers open their email every day, and 58% of consumers say they check their email before they do anything else online. Additionally, another study found that 76% of people that are asked to leave a review end up doing so. Given this information, we personally favor email when asking for reviews for several reasons.

Here are a few reasons why:

    • It’s easy for your business to implement (and you can automate it)
    • Many people feel uncomfortable asking for a review in person
    • Customers often forget to leave reviews unless they are reminded
    • You can link directly to review pages in your email, making the process easier for your happy customers to leave online reviews

When it comes to asking for reviews via email, you have a few options such as email blasts, personal emails, or automated email sequences. An email blast is when you simply email your entire email list and ask for reviews. Personal emails are when you reach out to customers individually with a personalized email and ask for reviews. Automated email sequences are our favorite because you can reach out to your entire email list while making the emails feel personal, which increases the odds of getting more real reviews from happy customers.

Automated Email Sequence

When businesses hire us to help them get more real five-star online reviews, the first thing we do is setup an automated email sequence. It’s not just a recommendation. It’s the cornerstone of our proven process to see success.

Why?

First, they’re automated. This means you (or your team) don’t have to remember to send them. And you don’t have to take the time out of your day to do it. Second, it’s a sequence, meaning your customers will get multiple emails reminding them and asking for reviews, increasing the chances that they leave a review. Lastly, you don’t have to worry about it. Getting more reviews for your business is practically done for you.

Speaking of “done for you”, is it okay if we overdeliver in this blog post for you?

Keep scrolling to see the automated email sequence we use to help our clients get more real five-star reviews for their business. Yes, you can copy and paste them if you want!

Our Battle-Tested & Proven Automated Email Sequence for Online Reviews

That’s right.

This is it—our automated email sequence we implement for all of our review clients to help them get more real five-star reviews on the review sites of their choice.

As noted earlier, you are welcome to copy and paste these templates to use for your business. Consider it our gift to you!

Why?

Because KAHA was built with one focus: helping small and medium businesses succeed.

We believe that in any exchange with KAHA, business builders, operators or owners need to walk away feeling like they got more value out of their time with us, than the time they invested with us. Especially when you are giving your time to read or consume our content.

Here you go:

Email #1 (Sent as soon as possible)

Hi [first name],

Thanks for choosing [business name]. I’d like to personally invite you to share your experience.

Your feedback not only helps us, it helps other potential customers. It takes only a moment and would mean the world to us:
[“Review Us Now” button]

Or browse [review page link]. Thank you for your business and support!

Email #2 (Sent three days after Email 1)

Hi [first name],

I’m just writing to follow up and see if you had a chance to complete a review of [business name].

Your feedback means a lot to us—it helps us to better serve you and helps potential customers learn what we’re all about. We’ve made it easy so it will only take a moment of your time:
[“Review Us Now” button]

Or browse [review page link]. Thank you for your support!

Email #3 (Sent seven days after Email 1)

Hi [first name],

I hope you’ll still find a moment to share your experience of [business name]. Your feedback not only helps us improve our business, it helps potential customers.

We’ve made the process quick and easy to save you valuable time:
[“Review Us Now” button]

Or browse [review page link]. Thank you for your support!

Level Up: Automate Getting Online Reviews

You didn’t think we forgot, did you? Sure, we gave you the automated email sequence we use, but we didn’t tell you how to automate it in your business… yet! We keep our word, so keep reading to learn how to automate getting online reviews for your business.

It all comes down to having the right process in place.

Here’s a simple process you can implement today:
1. Setup an automated email drip campaign in your email tool to ask customers for reviews
2. Use our email templates above to setup your three-part email sequence
3. Have the “Review Us Now” button go to a landing page where your customers can select which review site platform they want to review your business on
4. When they click the review site, have it link directly to the page where they can leave the review (without having to click “write a review” on the site)
BONUS: To increase the odds of them leaving a review, provide instructions for each review site on how to leave a review

This process outlined above only requires one tool: an email automation software or tool (examples: mailchimp, drip, constant contact, etc.)

Want the Easy Route?

If this process sounds difficult, time consuming, or more work than you can handle right now, don’t worry! We have you covered at KAHA with our reviews service. We offer an easy to use software solution that does everything we described in this article, and more:

    • Automates email requests and follow up for reviews
    • Directs customers to a landing page with all of your review site options
    • Provides them instructions on how to leave a review on the review site of their choice
    • Links them directly to the “write a review” page to reduce steps/clicks and improve the chances of them leaving a review.
    • Plus, much more!
    • To learn more about our service, check out our online reviews service page, or schedule a FREE call with us.

About the Author

Ryan Chaffin is the founder of KAHA, and has 15+ years of experience helping businesses with their digital marketing efforts. Recently he helped a company increase their website visitor traffic by 18,900% and increase the percentage of web visitors that convert to leads by 600%, meaning the total combined effect generated 1,134x more leads than the company was previously generating. That strategy is what Ryan and the the KAHA team bring to our clients everyday.

Ready to Get More Google Reviews on Autopilot?

Let us help you generate, monitor, and showcase online reviews in a smooth, simple, and effective way. Our services are competitively priced and easy to use. Learn how to transform your online reviews with KAHA and book your FREE strategy session ($1,000 value) today!

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digital advertising graphic

Digital Advertising 101: The Top 7 Things You Must Know for Your Small Business

by Digital Marketing

Digital Advertising 101: The Top 7 Things You Must Know for Your Small Business

For small business owners, taking the plunge into the world of digital advertising can feel a bit intimidating. From SEO to social media, there is a lot that goes into a successful digital advertising strategy. Understanding the different facets of digital marketing and how they can work together to grow your business will make all the difference for your efforts.

A strong digital presence is more important than ever, even for traditionally brick and mortar businesses. According to data from Oberlo, 63 percent of “shopping occasions” start online, rather than in-store. In fact, close to 50 percent of consumers now do more of their shopping on a mobile device than in a physical store.

Unsurprisingly, the shift toward digital transactions has been further fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing many brands to adapt to local social distancing restrictions and safety-minded customer preferences.

While most small businesses find it beneficial to partner with a digital advertising agency to grow their online presence, this doesn’t mean you don’t need to know anything yourself. Understanding a few essentials about advertising your small business online will help you know how to allocate your marketing dollars and develop a strategy that delivers meaningful revenue growth.

Table of Contents

7 Digital Advertising Basics Every Small Business Should Know

1. Your Website is Part of Your Digital Advertising

When used properly, your physical storefront can be a powerful marketing tool in and of itself. An attractive window display, clean and organized layout and friendly staff communicate your brand values and compel customers to make a purchase. In many ways, your website serves a similar role online.

Even if you don’t make sales directly on your website, it serves as your digital “home base” for reaching your customers. Seventy-five percent of customers judge your brand’s credibility based on the quality of its website. A clean, attractive design that is easy to navigate and functions properly helps communicate a professional image for your brand.

The right layout and a compelling call to action can also have a dramatic impact on your ability to get sales and leads. Web design companies often conduct extensive A/B testing of various on-page elements to find the combination that drives the greatest revenue growth. Even a minor text adjustment or changing colors could dramatically improve website sales.

2. Local SEO Can Have the Biggest Impact for Your Growth

Most business owners have heard of search engine optimization, and understand that it helps them rank higher in Google search results. Quite often, however, small business owners think they need to compete with the entire internet, when in reality, a focus on local SEO can prove to be much more effective for their brand.

Local SEO favors local customers when you include location information (such as your phone number and physical address) on your site. Claiming a Google My Business profile will also help your business show up in searches done by local customers. Sometimes, you can even incorporate local keywords into your website content for added effectiveness.

A focus on local SEO means you don’t have to worry about competing with national brands. Instead, you can focus on customers in your area — the people who are most likely to buy from you. In fact, studies suggest that 50 percent of those who conduct a local search on a phone will visit a physical location within 24 hours. 97 percent of customers use local search to find businesses in their area.

3. Not All Social Media Platforms Are Created Equal

Aside from SEO, social media typically gets the most attention when digital advertising is discussed. This is hardly surprising — after all, Facebook, Instagram and other social platforms have completely changed the way we interact with each other and our favorite brands. Sometimes, however, small businesses stretch themselves too thin by trying to build a presence across too many social media channels.

While a presence on Facebook is a good idea for most small businesses, things tend to get a bit murky with other platforms. Evaluating your own target audience and the user base of various social media channels will help you determine which platforms should be a focus of your digital advertising campaign.

For example, while Pew Research shows that only 25 percent of Americans use LinkedIn, this number increases dramatically among those with a college degree and an annual income of $75,000 or more. Thanks to its focus on careers and employment, LinkedIn is highly effective for B2B services. On the other hand, it would not be a good fit for brands trying to sell inexpensive consumer products.

4. Your Customers Are More Persuasive Than You’ll Ever Be

You could invest thousands or even millions of dollars into a digital advertising campaign, but at the end of the day, most customers simply aren’t going to trust paid marketing. On the other hand, the vast majority of consumers trust word of mouth recommendations and online reviews — even when they are from people they don’t personally know. 

In fact, according to BrightLocal, 88 percent of people trust online reviews just as much as a personal recommendation. A report from AdWeek further notes that 74 percent of customers say that word of mouth is “a key influencer” when making a buying decision.

Needless to say, collecting customer reviews on your Google and Facebook profiles (and other online platforms) should be a top priority. Highlighting positive testimonials offers powerful social proof that customers can trust.

5. Don’t Expect a Sale From the First Visit

While digital advertising can be a great way of generating additional revenue, you shouldn’t set unrealistic expectations. According to Invesp, the average conversion rate on e-commerce websites is 2.86 percent.

While this sounds like a low number, it is important to place it in context. When 92 percent of consumers visit a business’s website for the first time, they aren’t doing it to make a purchase. Instead, they are using it to learn more about your brand, compare prices or gather basic information like your store hours.

Many of these visitors won’t make a purchase the first time they visit your site. But if it is set up well, they will come back to your website after they’ve done some more research to make a purchase. Or they’ll call you on the phone to discuss your services or go to your brick and mortar location to make an in-person purchase. The online conversion rate doesn’t always tell the full story.

6. Analytics on Your Side

While tracking the conversion rate on your website and social media marketing campaigns is important, this isn’t the be-all end-all of the data you can (and should) be collecting. Other stats, like the total reach of your marketing, number of website visits, and the cost per acquisition will also tell you whether your digital advertising is truly effective.

The good news is that digital platforms make it easy to track and collect this information. Of course, interpreting what those numbers mean is another matter. It is important to place your information in context so that you can understand how different campaign actions are — or aren’t — affecting your results.

This is a big part of why A/B testing is so important in the digital world. As noted previously, even a minor change can lead to a dramatic shift in lead acquisition or your cost per customer. Asking a specific question and running tests is essential for fine-tuning your digital marketing so you can improve your ROI.

7. Digital Advertising is Constantly Evolving

The internet has dramatically changed the way small businesses approach their advertising campaigns. The thing is, the very nature of the internet means that changes are going to continue happening. The brands that are the most proactive about addressing this shifting landscape are the ones that will cruise past their competition.

For example, Google frequently updates its algorithms, meaning that your website and its content could require adjustments to enhance SEO outcomes. It seems like new social media platforms are constantly popping up (like TikTok and Twitch, just to name a few), presenting new opportunities and challenges for reaching an increasingly fractured audience.

To have success in digital advertising, you must remain on top of current trends and changes so you can reach your customers at the right time and place.

Preparing for a Digital Future

Even if your small business is heavily reliant on foot traffic and brick and mortar sales, building an online presence should still be at the top of your to-do list. By taking advantage of the many tools and channels available through digital advertising, you will vastly improve the reach of your messaging, helping more people discover your business than was possible in the past.

At KAHA, our team is ready to partner with you on this important journey. Drawing from over 15 years of digital advertising experience, our specialized team will help you develop a revenue-generating website, improve your SEO rankings and even get more customer reviews to strengthen your online presence. Our tried and tested system and tools are ready to help your business scale like never before!

Interested in Working with KAHA to Improve Your Digital Advertising?

Let us help you develop and execute a comprehensive digital advertising strategy. Our services are competitively priced and produce meaningful results for businesses. Interested in learning more? Book your FREE strategy session ($1,000 value) today!

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