3 Free Methods For Getting More Online Reviews

Ever since Google pivoted from their goal of creating a social media platform, their vision has been about one thing only: reviews.  Google wanted to become the social media of small businesses but they had to figure out how to establish trust with consumers.  Once again, reviews.  I won’t preach for too long about the importance of online reviews for your business.  Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last decade, you already know that.  And judging by the fact that you’re reading this article, it probably means you’re ready to take action.

Here at Arrivala, we live and breath reviews.  We’ve researched, tested, analyzed, and tracked dozens of methods for review collection.  What pain points customers experience in writing you reviews, what time of day is best to ask for a review, how to communicate to older vs younger consumers, and so much more.  Today, we’re going to give you a general overview of what we’ve found so you can take your review collection to new levels.

Here are 3 free methods for getting more online reviews for your business.

1. Use QR Codes To Collection Online Reviews

Three years ago it seemed like QR codes were one of those cool technology ideas that never fully got embraced.  Then the pandemic happened.  Nobody wanted to touch menus (or really even each other) and we needed ways to allow people to complete tasks easy without touching anything physical.  QR codes to the rescue!  Now that everybody is familiar with scanning those cool little codes that get plastered everywhere, let’s use them in review collection!  Arrivala, after seeing this growing trend, created this awesome tool that allows you to quickly create a QR code: Review URL to QR Code generator.  You can find instructions on how to get a direct link for customers to review you on Google by following this Google guide.  Once you have that link, paste it into the Arrivala QR code generator to instantly create your free QR code.

What do you do with it now?  Print it off, put it on a stand next to your checkout register, send it home in a packet of information with your clients, hand it out as a flyer at a customer appreciate party.  Just get it out there!

Worried about receiving negative reviews?  If you’re in this boat, consider signing up for Arrivala with our negative review filtering and see how we can help prevent this issue.

2. Follow-Up Using Proven Processes

Anybody who has been around review collection long enough knows the real secret sauce is follow-up processes.  In a recent case study with did with some of our clients, we found that responses to review requests on the first attempt was about 64%.  Responses to review requests on the first follow-up (second request) jumped up to 75%.  The reason for this is two fold.  First, a follow-up gives you a second chance to catch the reviewer at a good time.  That’s mostly what response rates boil down to.  Most consumers want to review your business assuming they feel they have the time to do so.  The second reason follow-ups return better response rates is the realization of annoyance by the reviewer.  While this may not always be looked at as positive, it is beneficial in getting more reviews.  When a reviewer receives a second email or text from you asking for a review, there is a realization that you’re not going away.  In order to stop the follow-up notifications many people resort to doing what you’re asking of them, writing a review.

While follow-ups are easy to theorize, they can also be a very time consuming process for businesses and they often slip through the cracks.  Sometimes you may realize you forgot to send your follow-ups on a certain day until 10pm at night.  At that point in the day, it is no longer an ideal time to get a customer’s response.  The key is to create written processes and stick to them.  A process may look like:

1. Send initial review request email, 11am the day after service
2. Send follow-up review request email, 3pm four days after service if no response
3. Send additional follow-up review request email, 9am eight days after service if no response

Providing ample days between the review requests and mixing up the time of day they are sent we’ve found gets you an ideal response.

Does this sound like a lot of work?  Because it is!  If you have to do this for hundreds of customers, keeping track of when past emails were sent, who has reviewed you and who hasn’t, what time of day they were sent, it quickly becomes a full time job.  That’s the main reason Arrivala was created to automated so many of these processes.  Arrivala makes automatic review collection possible.

3. Use A Review Collection Service Like Arrivala

The last paragraph is a great segue into our third recommend method for collecting more online reviews.  Using a review collection service like Arrivala can automate all the above points we’ve discussed.  If you are a business that sees a lot of customers, it becomes a full time job to manually solicit reviews from past customers.  Review collection services like Arrivala allow you to simply enter the customers name and email address or cell phone number and let the automation do the rest.

Arrivala keeps track of who has reviewed you and who hasn’t, sending out automatic follow-ups when necessary.  It helps your customers post their review to as many third party platforms as possible (Google, Yelp, Trip Advisor, Zillow, etc.).  It add functionality such as negative review filtering and charitable incentives which would be impossible to do via manual review collection.

The great thing about Arrivala is it is available as both a free and premium option.  You can see the pricing options on our website.

Wrapping Up

Review collection is a critical component to growing your business.  With services like Arrivala, it doesn’t have to be complicated or a full time job.  We hope these ideas help you leverage technology to grow your online footprint and allow you to get back to doing what you do best.  If you have any questions regarding Arrivala or review collection, please contact us at hi@arrivala.com.