Collecting customer reviews can have a significant impact on a business’s social proof, search ranking and process improvement. That’s why it’s critical to make reviews an important part of your strategy. Not sure how? In this article we’ll cover not only how to automate Google reviews (requesting them and what to do when you receive them), but also how to optimize Google Business Profile listings.
Rather watch, listen and learn? Tune into the webinar on this topic that I hosted with Sam of Whiskey SEO below!
And grab a workbook to follow along here.
Automate Google reviews: requesting and receiving
With the help of an automation tool like 17hats CRM (affiliate link) or Zapier, for example, you can easily send out requests for reviews for each customer and project with just a bit of initial setup. To automate Google reviews from your CRM, you can simply add an email template (that includes the direct link to leave a review) into your workflow at the point where the product or service fulfillment is complete.
The timing of this request can vary:
If a product was shipped, you would wait to request a review until a) the item has been delivered; and b) your customer has had enough time to fully experience the product
Similarly for services, your best bet for a thorough review may depend on the type of service completed. Sometimes instant results are delivered, but some services have more of a lasting impact that isn’t necessarily felt until further down the line.
Experiment with the timing of your service review request to hone in on the time frame when you get your most thoughtful reviews.
“Experiment with the timing of your service review request to hone in on the time frame when you get your most thoughtful reviews.”
Perhaps you’re not using a CRM yet. Zapier can still step in and automate Google review requests for you. Maybe a payment notification from Square or Stripe initiates an automated email from Gmail or Outlook (which, again, includes the direct link to leave a review).
Other ideas to automate Google reviews through Zapier could include:
Adding a delay to your Zapier automation so the email gets sent to your customer after a certain period of time
Having a draft email created for you to quickly send later
Setting up an automation with a reminder app to remind you to send the email template including your Google review link
The Google Business Profile automation that’s right for you might depend on your preferences and your type of business, but the potential solutions are almost endless.
What about when you receive a Google Business Profile review?
Now, you’re likely to get an email notification from Google about the review. This might be able to serve as your reminder to respond to the customer and create a social post from it (for example)... but we all know how crowded our inboxes can get.
Instead, consider Zapier automations such as:
sending a DM in Slack to a team member (asking them to create that social post)
recording the review in a spreadsheet (to refer back to later)
or adding a task in Trello (to actually respond to the review).
By sending these specific follow-up actions out across your app suite, you’re far more likely to actually complete them and benefit more fully from each and every review you receive.
“By sending specific follow-up actions out across your app suite, you’re far more likely to actually complete them and benefit more fully from each and every review you receive.”
More on how to optimize Google Business Profile
Now that you’ve got some ideas for how to automate your Google reviews, let’s talk about how to optimize Google Business Profile so more leads can find you and have a chance at leaving you a review in the first place.
As Sam of Whiskey SEO shares, there are loads of benefits to optimizing your Google Business Profile, including:
It’s free and easy to use
“Near me” searches continue to grow year after year
You can’t show up in Google Map Pack without a Google Business Profile
You’ll get access to insights and analytics about how your customers are finding your business
In the webinar we hosted together, Sam also shared directions and great tips for how to optimize Google Business Profile and grow your business through its upkeep… one of which is staying active through posts to your profile.
Now if you’re anything like me and the thought of maintaining yet another social media-like profile sounds daunting, I’ve got good news. Zapier to the rescue again! For example, you’re able to duplicate all of your Instagram feed posts as Google Business Profile posts with this automation.
I cover it in more detail in the webinar and free download above, but to get started you’ll connect the two accounts through Zapier, then use the Instagram caption and media URL to post to Google Business Profile along with some settings for the action button that will also post to Google Business Profile.
Then before you know it, you’ll be well on your way to optimizing your Google Business Profile without any extra steps!
Conclusion
“Creating and keeping up with your Google Business Profile will be worth your efforts.”
To summarize, creating and keeping up with your Google Business Profile will be worth your efforts. And thanks to automations through Zapier and CRMs like 17hats, it’s possible to automate Google reviews and posts that are a huge part of a strong profile. If you’d like to get started creating a stronger profile, don’t miss the free resources above.
And for some personalized help with these automations, feel free to reach out and see how we can work together to make it happen!
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