Today’s savvy consumers frequently receive review requests in their inboxes, making it essential for yours to stand out. The journey to a successful review follows these steps: when the review request email is successfully sent, there’s a 25% success rate.

If the customer opens the email, this rate jumps to 50%. Should the customer click the auto-generated “Write A Review” button, the success rate rises to 75%. Finally, if the customer submits the review, the success rate reaches 100%. By understanding this progression, you can better tailor your approach to maximize review submissions.

Reviews are your business’s lifeblood and influence online brand reputation and purchase decisions.  However, winning reviews is not an easy feat. To win precious customer reviews, you have to hustle a bit.

Emails are your wingman in this quest. They are direct, can be personalized, and can nudge satisfied customers to leave a positive review.

However, the recipe for a perfect request email can be tricky. If the content is not compelling, the email may not have the right impact. At the same time, if you are too pushy, it might deter the customers and stop them from giving a review. This means that you need to know the right balance of ingredients for the email to be effective.

This blog will give you steps and best practices for writing an effective review request email that helps you get more reviews and enhance your online reputation. There is more! You will also receive free templates for request review emails that you can simply copy and customize as per your needs.

Why Ask for Reviews?

The first question you must ask is why customer reviews are important.

Consumers seeking to buy goods and services look for recommendations and reviews from other product users. They trust online reviews more than a business’s promotional marketing.

Here is how the positive reviews can help your business:

• Increased Visibility: Positive reviews help to increase your visibility. For example, if you receive a considerable number of positive reviews on your Google Reviews profile, chances are you will rank better in local searches and thus be more visible.
• Paint Favourable Image: 80% of people are more likely to buy products that have positive reviews. Positive reviews help to paint a favorable image of your brand as compared to the competitors and also help you improve your reputation.
• Helps Beat Competition: Customer reviews are a powerful tool to take you ahead of the competition. They extend you valuable insights into competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. At the same time, positive reviews build your social proof, with about 88% of people putting their trust in businesses based on positive online feedback.
• Gives Final Nudge: Displaying reviews on web pages or applications can provide last-minute assurance to consumers about the quality and trustworthiness of the brand and thus help increase the conversion rate.
• Acts as a Communication Channel: Reviews act like communication channels between the brand and the business. They enable customers to share their perceptions about the business.

Now, these are some really compelling reasons for your business to focus on getting more positive reviews. Now, as promised earlier, let’s dive into the easy steps for writing email templates that get results. Plus, we will share some effective review request email templates to make your life easier. Let’s get started.

6 Easy Steps for Writing a Compelling Review Request Email

Writing a perfect email is an art. It is not only about what you say but how you convey it. A well-written email can help you capture your audience’s attention, engage interest, and motivate them to take action.

Let us look at 6 simple steps to help you write compelling emails for your consumers to generate a flux of reviews. Here we begin –

Step 1: Use an Attractive Subject Line

In any email, the subject line is the first thing that comes to attention. It is a chance to create the first impression, and therefore, it is crucial to have a subject line that follows the 3 C’s principle — Clear, Concise, and Contextual.

A clear subject line helps communicate the purpose of the mail and conciseness helps ensure that it is to the point. At the same time, contextual relevance ensures that the subject line aligns well with the expectations of the recipient.

Follow the SocialPilots’ 3-C principle and write a subject line that leads to increased open rates and more reviews.

Step 2: Begin by Introducing the Business and Yourself

It is very important to set up the context of the mail at the very beginning. Start by introducing yourself and the business as the first step towards setting the context.

While getting to the point swiftly is crucial, introducing yourself and whom you represent reduces the confusion and enhances the email’s relevance for the recipient. For instance, in the image below, the sender introduces herself and her brand before requesting a review. This is a good way of writing a request review email as it helps in creating a personal and professional connection with the recipient.

Source

Step 3: Express Gratitude to the Customers

A simple thank you note can go a long way in establishing a long-term relationship with the customer. This simple gesture fosters brand loyalty and encourages repeat business.

By expressing gratitude and acknowledging the customer’s choice of your product or service over the competitors, you can convey that we deeply value their association. By expressing gratitude and acknowledging the customer’s choice of your product or service over the competitors, you can convey that we deeply value their association.

This is evident from the below review request email example, where the sender is expressing gratitude to the recipient for the opportunity to serve them while also highlighting the importance of their feedback. It’s all about making the customers feel valued and important to your business.

Source

Step 4: Jump to the Point – Ask for Genuine Reviews

Do not waste customers’ time by jumping around the bush. You can also adopt the above-mentioned 3-C principle for your email body. This will help you respect customers’ time and ensure that the language of the email is clear, concise, and contextual.

Your aim should be to:

• Clearly explain the intention of the mail, which is to request a review from the customers
• Provide a direct link to the review page and guide them on how to give a review

For instance, in the review request email example below, the transition from thanking customers to requesting a review is seamless and efficient. The email promptly invites them to share their experience, creating a direct yet courteous appeal for feedback. This approach respects the customer’s time while valuing their opinion.

Source

Step 5: Set Expectations for Online Review

Transparency is key to building a good relationship with customers. Therefore, you must clearly explain to the email recipients what type of feedback you are seeking and how you plan to use it. 

When you politely lay down your expectations without influencing the customer’s objective opinion, it encourages them to provide positive, relevant, and constructive reviews to attract new customers and improve the current offerings.

You can also let customers know the potential wave their feedback can create, such as better product quality, enhanced customer service, and a personalized shopping experience for everyone. Once the customers know they can play a key role in the brand’s success, they might get excited to submit their reviews.

The example image effectively illustrates how setting clear expectations for online reviews fosters transparency. By detailing the type of feedback desired and its potential impact, customers are motivated to provide thoughtful, constructive reviews, enhancing product quality and customer service.

Source

Step 6: Share Additional Channels for Communication

Give consumers easy access to leave feedback on their preferred review platform. Some customers may not be comfortable with Yelp, while others may prefer to leave a review on Google Reviews.

Hence, provide multiple alternative review platforms to customers in your email communications.

Also, some customers may want to leave longer comments if they have complex issues. To accommodate such circumstances, make sure to provide alternate solutions, such as a separate email address or a phone number.

How to Ask for Online Reviews in Email Effectively: 5 Best Practices to Keep in Mind

Asking for reviews is not rocket science. The good part is that 76% of people who are asked to leave a review will do so.

You can use an email request to reach out to these people and fetch more online reviews. But are you new to asking for reviews and are wondering how to write a review request email? 

Don’t worry! We will take you through 5 best practices that will help you get the most out of your email request:

1. Give Easy Access to the Review Page

No matter how well your mail is designed until your recipient can access the review page, your efforts are good for nothing. While writing a review request mail, make sure to create a frictionless review leaving process for the customer.

These handy tips will help you to get more reviews with your request email:

• Add a direct link to your review page with a catchy CTA in your email. The link can be to your Google Review page, Yelp, Facebook review page, and more.
• Embed a one-click ‘Leave Us a Review’ button for quick access.
• Put a QR code in the email body for quick and easy access through your mobile.
• Offer multiple review platforms to accommodate customers’ preferences. Also, keep in mind that some customers may want to leave elaborate suggestions or feedback. To assist such customers, provide a separate email ID or phone number to account for such circumstances.

The image below is an example of a review request email that gives easy access to the customers through a “Write a Review” button.

2. Choose the Right Time

Yes, considering the best time slot is essential when sending a review request mail. However, it is not that straightforward. The best time differs from business to business, as well as the product.

For instance, for immediate-consumption products such as food, you can ask for a review after allowing the customer some time to taste it. Similarly, for items that will take time to deliver, you can send a review email after the item has been delivered.

Best approach to decide the time for sending customer request review email:

• Wait for the product to be delivered to the consumer, if it is not immediate. Then, allow the consumer some time to use the product and form an opinion about the experience.
• Track the trends and figure out how long the consumers took in the past to post the reviews of your business.
• Keep a check on time and see if the average time has passed. It is best to send the mail once the time has passed.

While you follow the above approach, it would be good to know that, as per trends you are most likely to collect reviews by sending review request emails one or three days after delivery.

Also, the best time in the day would be between 2pm to 3pm and 6pm to 7pm. During these days and hours, the customers are most likely to respond to the review request.

Source

3. Stay True to Your Brand Voice

Your brand voice is who you are.

You must ensure that your brand voice remains consistent across all your touchpoints, including the emails you send to customers to request reviews. 

Therefore, before you write the mail, identify the brand’s tone of communication. It could be friendly, formal, or strictly professional. Once the tone has been identified, make sure to keep it consistent across all the emails.

Email communication that reflects the personality of your brand would help consumers connect with you easily and make your email shine.

The reference brand voice chart here highlights four key voice characteristics— Passionate, Quirky, Irreverent, and Authentic—each with specific descriptions, dos, and don’ts. You can use this as a reference to write review request emails that are consistent with your brand voice and resonate with your audience.

4. Add Existing Reviews in the Email

Positive reviews of your customers are a form of digital word-of-mouth of great value.

Positive customer reviews are a highly valuable form of digital word-of-mouth. You must leverage them and consider adding them to your email requesting feedback.

When the email recipient reads positive reviews of other users, they are inspired to share their honest feedback. The recipients also get an idea about the kind of feedback they can write for your business. This helps you receive the intended feedback.

Before you add existing reviews to the email, keep in mind the following things:

• Relevance: Select the reviews that are relevant to the purpose of the email and the target audience.
• Diversity: Include different types of reviews so that multiple aspects of the product or the service are covered.
• Authenticity: Only add objective reviews that are not overexaggerated. This is necessary for building trust and credibility.
• Attribution: Include the reviewer’s name with each review. This will enhance the transparency and credibility of the review.

5. Send Follow-Up Email

A good review request email has the potential to fetch feedback from customers. In fact, as a result of the review request emails, the number of reviews can increase by 4–9 times.

However, not all recipients will respond to your email every time. In such a case, sending a follow-up email request is a great idea. Following the initial outreach, the follow-up emails can bring in 50% more reviews.

While sending follow-up emails is important, pushing the consumers too far can backfire and lead to unwanted reviews. It would be wise to show consideration for the recipient’s time and decision-making process.

8 Best Request Review Email Template

Designing an effective request review email depends on deeply understanding your customer’s needs and considering their journey with your brand.

Yet, designing one can be overwhelming. But worry not! We’ve got you covered. Dive into our 8 top email review request templates, tailored to simplify your life.

Whether you’re seeking reviews for your local business or aiming to engage your online audience, we’ve designed templates to meet your needs effortlessly.

1. Requesting Review for Local Business

Suitable For: This review request email template is meant for local businesses to send to their customers.

2. Google Review Request Email Template

Suitable For: Here is a Google review request email template that you can use to ask for reviews on your Google Business profile.

3. Facebook Review Request Email Template

Suitable For: Use this customer review request email to ask customers for reviews on Facebook.

4. Service Sector Email Review Template

Suitable For: Are you a service sector business? Use this email template to seek feedback from your customers.

5. SaaS Product Free Trial Review Email Request Template

Suitable For: Do you provide your potential customers with free trials? Here is a free product review request email template to ask for review.

6. Hotel/Hospitality Industry Service Review Email Template

Suitable For: Businesses in the hospitality industry can seek reviews from customers with this captivating template.

7. EdTech Industry Review Email Template

Suitable For: Looking for a review request email template for the EdTech industry? Here is an amazing email template that EdTech businesses can send to their consumers.

8. Amazon Seller Review Template

Suitable For: All Amazon sellers should promptly request buyer feedback after timely delivery. A well-crafted email can notify customers about on-time shipments while politely requesting them to share their experience through reviews, providing valuable insights to improve your Amazon selling strategy.

Get More Customer Reviews

If you are looking for more customer reviews, we hope that this blog has enlightened you about how and why an email request review is worth your time.

By following the best practices and strategies and also utilizing the templates, you can easily encourage constructive feedback from the customers. However, there are a few things you should keep in mind before sending out the mail –

• Some countries, such as the U.K., have data privacy laws, such as GDPR. These laws restrict the use of personal customer data, such as contact information. Before sending out the mail, make sure you have the permission to do so.
• Keep the tone genuine. Don’t force it on the email recipient.
• Keep it simple for the recipient to leave a review. Provide a direct link to the review page.
• Keep the email clear, concise, and contextual. Use simple and easy-to-use language.

Consistently receiving good and objective reviews is good for your business reputation. So, follow these practices and use email communications to get more reviews.