Discovering New "Reviewable Events" // Local Marketing Insider #042

[jakehughes]

Getting reviews boils down to 3 steps:

• customer buys something
• business asks for a review
• customer leaves a review

At least this has been the process, traditionally.

Each local business has the same fundamental review goal: get good reviews frequently to key review platforms and reap the local search benefits.

The challenge for any business trying to increase its review totals is a clear ceiling of opportunity: transaction volume.

Basically, Review volume = Transaction volume * Conversion rate

Transaction volume varies wildly by industry, but within a single industry, the playing field is relatively level amongst competitors.

That is, unless you choose to expand your definition of a “reviewable event” to a material interaction outside of an exchange of monetary value.

Our Take: Asking for a Review Does Not Require a Transaction​

Why does a customer need to buy something to leave a review?

If you’re converting sales opportunities at 30%, which by any normal measure is fantastic, that means 70% of your prospect interactions are untouched and unheard.

Some of these not-quite customers may still choose to leave feedback organically, but by asking this group for reviews, there is the potential for 70% review growth without increasing your conversion rate. Yes, you may want to be a bit more strategic than simply asking every prospect that does not buy for a review, but even 40-50% growth in review volume is huge.

As a prompt, during which substantive, non-transactional interaction(s) with your staff and/or product could you start asking for a review?

Taking advantage of this interaction could be the differentiator you need to pull ahead of the local competition in search.

These kinds of mid-funnel reviews paint a better picture of the entire shopping process for your prospects. By setting accurate expectations of the experience working with your business, prospects are more likely to trust that your representatives are easy to work with and approachable.

I sat down with Matt (Widewail CEO) to get his thoughts on the topic:

Rapid Fire, Here are Some Ideas for Reviewable Events by Industry​

Automotive

Standard: vehicle purchase, service completed

New: test drive completed

How many more review opportunities a month could adding a review request after a test drive produce?

Property Management

Standard: lease signed/move-in, renewal

New: tour completed

Widewail property management clients have more than doubled review request opportunities by utilizing the tour as a request trigger.

Home Services

Standard: completed job

New: proposal or estimate completed

Conference

Standard: review of event upon completion

New: review a specific session, ask for video reviews at the parties, ask why the person came to the conference, ask what the person is trying to achieve at the conference, ask virtual attendees where they are tuning in from

Hospitality

Standard: review your stay

New: booking experience, secondary events like spa, after a check-in experience, request a review after 50% of a completed stay.

Solar

Standard: post-install

New: also after 6 months of use

The Clear (but Manageable) Downside​

As a marketer, this approach definitely strikes me as a “test and see” sort of situation. The upside is obvious - potentially 70% more reviews.

That’s worth some risk.

The potential downside is interrupting a sales process, the request coming across as premature, or increased risk of negative feedback because without a sale we don’t have a clear understanding of a positive outcome. Legally, texting those that have not transacted with you will also need to be dealt with according to TCPA guidelines. You’ll need a process in place to get texting approval when collecting a phone number.

In my experience, the risk of negative feedback is more instinctual fear rather than reality (the proportion of positive reviews in the Widewail system has hovered around 90% for years). But the dynamics of the ask are different without a transaction.

The viability of this strategy will be heavily influenced by your industry. For example, we know from working with clients in property management that asking for a review after a tour is very effective.

I haven’t seen any car dealers actively pursuing test drive reviews yet, but we do regularly see organic reviews talking about an experience without a purchase. Like I said, definitely worth a test.

Thanks for reading this week’s Insider. Reviews, like many other things, is a numbers game. Yes, tuning conversion is important, but more opportunities will have the most impact (and Widewail’s technology is really good at automating this type of work).

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See you in 2 weeks - Jake, Marketing @Widewail