How to Grow Positive Reviews on Google

Positive Reviews are a reminder that customers are at the heart of any successful business

You can’t underestimate the power of those shiny gold stars!

Think about the last time you made a purchase, big or small. Did you happen to look for reviews on Google before buying? Most of your customers will. In fact, nearly 95% of shoppers read online reviews before making a purchase, and 97% of shoppers say that reviews on Google and other sites influence their buying decisions.

Why do reviews on Google matter?

In a recent article on Think with Google, Google’s VP of Marketing for the Americas, Lisa Gevelber, goes into detail about consumers making quick decisions and acting on those decisions faster than ever before. The focus of the article is the concept of micro-moments, a term coined by Gevelber and the leadership of Google that represents the moment a consumer needs to know something, go somewhere, do something, or buy something.

Micro-moments occur throughout the day for everyone:

• If you’re hungry and travelling, you look for a local restaurant

• If your car breaks down on the way to the restaurant, you look for a mechanic

• If you get home and find a pool of water in your kitchen, you look for a plumber

• If you slip in the puddle and hurt your back, you look for a chiropractor and so on

In essence, consumers are reacting in real-time to micro-moments where they find, go, do, or buy as the need arises. When making these quick decisions, consumers use indicators like reviews on Google to determine where they spend their money. Today, we’re going to look at how you can win new business in today’s micro-moment world by growing positive reviews on Google with the help of email marketing.

Google reviews are a powerful tool for consumers to make informed decisions

Reviews on Google Drive buying decisions

Years ago, I was giving my daughter Olivia a bath when I heard my wife yelling from downstairs, “Bryan, the kitchen is flooded!” It turns out the bathtub was causing a downpour through the kitchen ceiling, and I instantly found myself in a micro-moment. I needed a plumber to fix this leak, so we could continue to use the bathtub without a rainforest effect in our kitchen. With that, I picked up my phone and used Google’s voice search to find a “plumber near me.” The first result in the local pack was a plumber in my town with several five-star reviews on Google, so I called right away.

The plumber came over within the hour, assessed the problem, did a quick fix, and told me he’d be back the next day with the proper parts. True to his word, he came the next day, fixed the leak, and handed me the invoice. He was prompt and professional, just like his reviews on Google had described him, and I was more than happy to pay the bill. As a result, he became our go-to plumber for any issues, and I referred him to our family and friends in the area.

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74% of consumers say that positive reviews make them trust a local business more.

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Nowadays, more and more consumers are relying on data points like reviews on Google to make their buying decisions. In fact, 74% of consumers say that positive reviews make them trust a local business more, and nearly nine out of ten people trust online reviews as much as recommendations from friends and family. With stats like these, there is no denying that your business needs to have a digital presence with positive Google reviews. Let’s look at how to grow your reviews on Google.

How to grow your reviews on Google

Sometimes getting positive reviews on Google is as simple as asking for them

There are three methods to grow your reviews on Google:

Method 1: The verbal ask

Just recently, I went for my routine cleaning at the dentist. Right when I entered the waiting room, I was greeted with a placard requesting a review on Google. When I sat down with my friendly dental hygienist, there was another placard with a simple request, “If you enjoyed your experience, please leave me a review on Google.” And, as expected, after she gave me a clean bill of dental health and my little goodie bag, she said, “All of the dental hygienists are having a competition to see how many reviews on Google we can collect. If you don’t mind, can you leave a review and mention my name?”

I was blown away by the dental practice’s dedication to increasing their review volume, but they never provided a link or any way for me to easily leave a review on Google. Instead, they were depending on patients like me to take the time to search for the business, find the right Google Business Profile and leave a review.

Although they had good intentions, the front desk staff confirmed that there was barely any follow-through from delighted patients. In essence, verbally asking for a Google review was not effective.

Method 2: The direct link to Google Reviews

Over the years, Google has realized that it needs to make it easy for small business owners to solicit new reviews. In the past, you’d need to go through multiple steps to find your Place ID (a special tag that identifies your business profile in Google’s local SEO database) and then insert it into a long, complex URL. The result was something that looked like this:

https://g.page/r/CXeA-GKnjPkWEB0/review

Now, assuming you’ve created a Google Business Profile, you may have noticed the ability to share a direct link to your local SEO listing on Google Search and Maps. Thankfully, the link to Google reviews is easier to find and friendlier to the eye.

Direct links make it easier than ever to get positive reviews from your customers

Although a direct link is helpful, it doesn’t provide small businesses like yours with the ability to manage and promote your reviews on Google as well. That’s where a review engine comes into play.

Method 3: The review engine

The easiest and most convenient way to grow your reviews on Google (and reviews on many other sites like Facebook, Yelp, etc.) is by using a review engine service. One service to consider is MyReviewDashboard, which is offered by V5 Digital Marketing. These kinds of review engine services provide a slew of benefits, including the ability to:

• Proactively solicit reviews on Google, Yext, Facebook, Zillow, and more

• Get alerts when new reviews come in

• Collect negative customer feedback proactively before a negative review is posted

• Resolve issues with unhappy customers

• Promote positive reviews on Google via social media, email marketing, and on your website

A service like MyReviewDashboard sets you up with a custom domain name to make it easy to solicit reviews from your happy customers. That custom domain can be shared on social media posts, business cards, invoices, receipts, and more.

Remember that story from my dentist’s office? Had they used a review engine like MyReviewDashboard, they could have created QR codes and added them to each of the placards around the office to make it easy for patients to leave a review on Google.

Win more reviews with these great tips!

Best of all, you can use that same custom domain in your email marketing campaigns to grow your reviews on Google.

How to grow positive reviews on Google with email marketing

I once worked with a realtor who knew that they needed more reviews to stand out from their competition. After each closing, they planned to send a personal email to their clients asking for a new review on Google. Their intentions were great, but they lacked the time and resources to follow through on their plan. As a result, they were only able to collect 3 new reviews in 6 months.

When we started working together, our team at BJC Digital Marketing realized that they had a substantial contact list of delighted buyers and sellers that could provide a large volume of new positive reviews. To maximize their limited time, we suggested that they use Constant Contact email marketing to reach out and request new reviews.

Let’s assume that you have an email list of 100 happy customers and you are using a review engine service like MyReviewDashboard. You could spend hours sending each customer an individual email with your new custom domain name (e.g. www.reviewcompanyXYZ.com), or you could leverage the power of Constant Contact’s digital marketing platform.

Constant Contact would allow you to custom brand your email campaign, personalize each email with a custom greeting, and streamline the content to save you time.

V5 Digital uses email marketing to get feedback from clients

Be sure to segment your list

If you’ve ever looked at a business’s reviews and noticed they were all written around the same date, it might make you a bit suspicious. The same holds true for your customers, which is why you never want to ask your entire email list for reviews at once.

Instead, leverage the power of email list segmentation to break your list into smaller groups of contacts of 10 to 20 customers. You can organize your contacts by the products or services they buy, their last purchase date, or their frequency of purchases. You might also create a segment of happy brand evangelists who already interact with your social media because you know they’ll be more likely to leave a review for you. Once you have your segments defined, you can use the copy below in your review request email campaign:

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Hi [First Name],

I want to thank you for doing business with [Company Name]. I’m reaching out personally because I want to ask about your experience with our team.

Were we amazing? Just OK? Terrible? In any case, I’d like to know.

We always strive to be better, and your feedback will help us accomplish that. If you’re willing, it will only take a minute of your time.

Thanks Again,

[Your Name]

[Review Link in Button Form]

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Tying it all together

At the end of the day, consumers are making split-second decisions when they find themselves in a micro-moment. By combining a review engine service like MyReviewDashboard with a powerful email marketing service like Constant Contact, you can solicit, collect, and promote positive reviews on Google to win more business.

If you're interested in using Email Marketing to grow your reviews or for any of its other benefits feel free to set up a no-obligation consultation with V5 Digital, a longtime Constant Contact Partner:

Contact Us

This article was written by Bryan Caplan for Constant Contact and adapted for the V5 Digital audience.

Rocketseed - The Ultimate Email Signature Solution: Loved by Marketing, Trusted by IT

In the world of email marketing, having a reliable and effective email signature solution is crucial. Rocketseed has earned its reputation as a trusted partner for businesses, and in this article, we'll explore why Rocketseed is not only loved by marketing but also trusted by IT. Whether you're a marketer looking to enhance your email signature strategy or an IT professional seeking a secure and efficient solution, Rocketseed has got you covered.

Transform your Email Signatures with your local Rocketseed Partners, V5 Digital.

Why Rocketseed is Loved by Marketing?

1. Professional Email Signature Design

For marketers in general, a professionally designed email signature is essential. Rocketseed offers expert designers who tailor email signatures to match your brand, ensuring they look professional and display perfectly on all devices.

Expertly designed to match your brand, ensuring a professional, on-brand look on all devices.

2. Consistently Branded Signatures

Maintaining brand consistency across employee email signatures can be quite a challenge. Rocketseed empowers marketing teams with central control to create, update, and manage all employee signatures, ensuring brand consistency company-wide.

3. Endless Engagement Opportunities

Rocketseed's email signatures don't just look good; they offer unmatched engagement opportunities. Social media links and website URLs can be included, but it's the email banners that truly shine. These eye-catching banners create interactive engagement opportunities and drive traffic to your desired destinations.

Experience the Rocketseed email magic with your own interactive banner!

4. Campaign-ability of Email Banners

Marketers want their messages to reach the right audience at the right time. Rocketseed allows you to turn email banners into targeted campaigns. You can segment your audience, schedule campaigns, and even re-market to engaged customers based on previous interactions.

5. Detailed Performance Tracking

Rocketseed provides a comprehensive reporting dashboard, for all those data-driven marketers. From sender statistics to recipient engagement, every click is tracked and analyzed. Integration with Google Analytics and CRM systems ensures that you can monitor the entire customer journey from the moment you click send.

At V5 Digital, we turn Rocketseed reports into a friendly email competition!

6. Impressive Results and ROI

With a 99% open rate and a 20%+ click-through rate, Rocketseed email signatures deliver impressive results. Customer case studies demonstrate the real power of Rocketseed in enhancing email signature marketing strategies.

7. Dedicated Support

Implementing new software can be daunting, but V5 Digital and Rocketseed offer support every step of the way. Interface training is included in the account set-up, and a dedicated account manager is available to assist with any questions or concerns.

Let’s take a look and show you why Rocketseed is ‘Trusted by IT’

Why Rocketseed is Trusted by IT?

1. Implementation made Simple

IT professionals always appreciate software that is easy to deploy. Rocketseed seamlessly integrates with mail servers and requires no additional installations or hardware.

2. High-Level Security

Security is a top priority for IT teams. Rocketseed meets the highest industry security standards, with all emails sent using SSL and TLS encryption. Automatic security updates ensure ongoing protection.

3. Compatibility with Major Mail Servers

Rocketseed is optimized for all major mail servers, including Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and Exchange. This flexibility ensures that Rocketseed remains optimized even if your company migrates to a new mail server.

Rocketseed: Seamless Integration, No Matter Your Mail Server

4. Tamper-Proof Signatures

With Rocketseed, IT teams have central control over employee email signatures, ensuring brand consistency and compliance. Email signatures are tamper-proof, preventing unauthorized changes.

5. The Perfect Display on Every Device

Rocketseed's mobile-optimized email signatures guarantee that they display perfectly on desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones, meeting the needs of today's mobile-centric email environment.

6. Time-Saving Automation

Rocketseed streamlines signature updates by syncing with company directories, eliminating the need for manual updates. This automation saves IT teams valuable time and effort.

7. Reliable 24/7 Support

IT professionals can rely on Rocketseed's around-the-clock emergency support for assistance with any issues or questions.

Unlock the Rocketseed Advantage Today!

Whether you are in marketing or IT, Rocketseed is the email signature solution you can trust. Marketers benefit from professional design, branding consistency, and engagement opportunities, while IT professionals appreciate the simplicity, security, and support provided by Rocketseed.

V5 Digital is a proud partner of Rocketseed and can help enhance your email marketing strategy and drive results for your business. Get in touch with us today to see how Rocketseed can transform your email signature marketing strategy.

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This blog was inspired by "Why is Rocketseed ‘Loved by Marketing’?" and adapted for the V5 Digital Audience.

5 Things You Can Learn From The Ultimate Marketer, Taylor Swift

Having trouble connecting with your customers? Shake It Off and build these Taylor-made strategies into your marketing.

Weave these lessons into your own strategies to create a brand experience sure to cultivate a lasting Love Story with devoted customers

We’re in a golden Era of marketing, and lucky for us, so is Taylor Swift.

Taylor is more than a global music sensation – she’s a marketing powerhouse, The 1 who keeps fans (and marketers) wondering what’s up her sleeve. (Yes, we’ll be referencing Taylor songs in this piece and hope you have fun keeping track.) Throughout her career, she has shown a unique ability to connect with her audience on a personal level, delivering an innovative brand experience with each album, tour, and style change.

Maybe selling out stadium tours isn’t in the cards for you, but marketers can learn a thing or two (or how about five?) from Taylor.

Creating this experience extends beyond traditional marketing tactics. You need to make different “tribes” of customers feel equally understood — and that’s exactly what keeps Swifties coming back for more. Taylor and her marketing team connect with many different types of people and situations and get them to Stay, Stay, Stay.

Here’s how marketers can learn about a captivating brand experience from the one and only Taylor Swift. Are you Ready For It?

6 Ways to Shift Your Customer Engagement Strategy.

1. Always show your authentic self

Long Story Short, Taylor Swift built her brand on authenticity and relatability. She connects with her audience by sharing her personal experiences, opinions, and emotions — showing that she’s unafraid to be her true self. Her brand is flexible enough to extend to different audiences, yet consistent enough to bring them together. This gives fans the sense that she understands their unique lives.

Throughout her journey from country music to pop, she wrote authentically from her life experiences. Rather than conforming to industry norms, she embraced her own artistic vision, allowing fans to grow alongside her. This genuine evolution in her music and image cemented her brand authenticity, strengthened the bond with her followers, and brought new people into the fray.

How you can build authentic brand experiences

Marketing is not always about a transactional relationship. Too much focus on this could lose customers — and you never want to wonder what you Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve done.

Find a deeper connection with customers with values-based marketing: Define what your company stands for, and build that into your messaging. This will help you stand out among your competitors — and your customers will notice. In fact, 88% of customers say they expect to see brands demonstrate clear and strong values.

Conduct some research to find what’s most important to your audience, and connect with them on those terms. In this competitive landscape, you’re not just selling a product. You’re showing that you care about things that are important to them. Building that trust is essential for a positive brand experience — and long-lasting customer relationships.

Show what you stand for: It’s not enough to just create some social media posts or email campaigns about corporate goals like sustainability or equality. You’ve got to make sure you can deliver with actions.

If you talk about equality in your messaging, practice what you preach and make sure your storytelling reflects your diverse customer base. Your customers can sense when you’re being fake, and empty statements will have them seeking companies that better align with their values.

Be honest and provide helpful information customers need, but show that you’re a good fit for their values, too. When it comes to dumping brands that can’t relate to them, customers have always got a Blank Space, baby — and they’ll write your name.

V5 Digital is a proud Pledge 1% Participant

2. Stay ahead of change to enhance your brand experience

Let’s be blunt: Everything Has Changed in our marketing ecosystem. You need to be open to new strategies and technologies to stay relevant. Taylor is a master of this.

When she removed her music from Spotify to bring light to the value of her hard work, she sparked a conversation about fair compensation for artists in the streaming era. Many thought she was Never, Ever Getting Back Together with streaming platforms. However, this bold move showcased her willingness to challenge the status quo and paved the way for her subsequent strategic partnerships with streaming platforms, ultimately expanding her reach and audience.

Taylor’s ability to navigate — and even push — industry changes shows her Fearless mindset and willingness to evolve, creating a dynamic and fresh brand experience that doesn’t get stale. Wherever her music is, fans will follow.

Challenge the Status Quo: Make Your Brand a Game-Changer

How you can create fresh brand experiences

Marketers must stay ahead of the curve and innovate to remain relevant in a fast-paced and Treacherous digital world.

A recent Salesforce article, State of Marketing report found that marketers’ second top priority is experimenting with new marketing strategies and tactics, and 91% of CMOs say they must continuously innovate to remain competitive.

Make sure your data lives in one place: If your customer data is stored in 22 different places, it’s going to be nearly impossible to get a read on who your customers are, or what they want now. Using a customer data platform that unifies all that information will allow you to tap into real-time insights, so you can make faster decisions with accurate data.

Explore the possibilities of AI: When you have AI built into your customer data platform, you’ll be able to not only automate low-level tasks, personalize campaigns, and segment customer data — you can save time and money. If you’re still on the fence, take some time to learn more about what AI and generative AI technology can do to improve the brand experience for your customers.

AI can improve your campaigns, and draw from your customer data to surface the insights you need to make informed decisions. Tired of spending hours digging through customer data, so you can look into trends and plan ahead? When your customer data lives in one place, AI can quickly do that work for you.

A fun look at how AI will improve your life in the future!

Build personalization at scale: Customers don’t want campaigns that treat them like faceless data points. You can use AI to scale your personalization efforts, drawing from your trusted customer data to tailor the customer journey — from the first email they see through their discussions with your customer service team. AI can personalize offers based on customer activity, and give you a clear picture of how they’re engaging with your brand.

When you can connect with people on the right channel, at the right time — you won’t have any Bad Blood with your customers.

3 Ways Generative AI Will Help Marketers Connect With Customers

3. Trust your data-driven insights to connect with your fanbase

If anyone gets the importance of knowing their fanbase, it’s Taylor Swift. She’s a master of using social media to listen to her fans and connect with them. By gathering this information, her team is able to share exclusive content and behind-the-scenes glimpses, and even surprise them with personalized gifts based on social media behavior.

During her “Swiftmas” initiative, Taylor selected and sent gifts to fans. Each one was unique to that fan based on their behaviours and social media interactions with her account. This personalized act of kindness showed her team’s deep understanding of her audience while fostering a sense of community and loyalty among her fans. This resulted in a ton of positive word-of-mouth and fan-generated content — not to mention a brand experience beyond her fans’ Wildest Dreams.

We’ve also seen how her team uses email marketing to deliver personalized content. Taylor’s team offers pre-sale ticket access and exclusive merchandise releases based on past fan behaviour and preferences.

V5 Digital can help you use email marketing to elevate customer engagement, optimize open rates, and significantly boost your ROI

How you can foster personalized brand engagement

Personalization is Nothing New, but when done right, it can make all the difference and put your customers at the centre of your brand. This is what customers have come to expect, and they’re loyal to companies that understand that.

Use AI to segment your data: Before you can start building campaigns tailored to your customers’ behaviour and preferences, you first have to understand what those are. AI can comb through your customer data to spot trends and automatically segment your customers based on demographics, behaviour, preferences, purchase history, and other important attributes. This helps you save time and money with analysis and allows you to act based on the insights that your AI-infused customer data platform provides.

Don’t just meet your customer needs — anticipate them: Nearly three-fourths (73%) of customers expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations. With your website analytics, social media monitoring, customer feedback, purchase history, customer profiles, and more, you know your customers better than anyone. But, all of that data can sit in silos. The good news? You can unify your customer data in one place from any app, device, or real-time stream.

Give customers what they want in real-time: A large majority (83%) of marketers are using dynamic customer insights to adapt their strategies and optimize the impact of each interaction. With connected data, your teams have access to one customer profile that adapts to activity and behaviours, empowering them to quickly create tailored content, offers, and experiences.

4. Use great storytelling to create emotional connections

Can we ask you a Question…? Are you more inclined to take the next step with a brand if you have an emotional connection? Taylor is renowned for her storytelling prowess, weaving narratives through her music that evoke powerful emotions.

Along with her relatable lyrics, her music videos and visual aesthetics play a significant role in her marketing. Her videos tell compelling stories and incorporate intricate details and symbolism — like “easter eggs” — that captivate viewers and entice them to share theories online. She carefully curates her visual identity, from album artwork to music video aesthetics, ensuring they align with her artistic vision and resonate with her target audience.

How you can craft stories that resonate

Become a marketing Mastermind by harnessing the power of storytelling to craft compelling narratives that resonate with customers.

Think like a songwriter: Relatable storytelling is at the heart of Taylor’s countless hits. She writes from lived experiences and themes that her fans can connect with. You can do the same. Use your segmented customer data, as well as feedback you’ve obtained from customers, to put yourself in your customers’ shoes and think about what really matters to them.

Write to inspire: Your customers won’t always remember how your product is packaged, or a key benefit that you tout on social media — but they’ll remember how your product makes them feel. Keep that in mind as you build your story. You can build brand identity and inspire action with the right storytelling.

These stories should be as interesting, compelling, and engaging as the content that competes for your customer’s attention on their different streaming platforms and social media accounts. While that’s a high standard, it might just be the reason customers fall in love with your brand and remember you All Too Well.

Stay authentic: Great storytelling in marketing can raise awareness of your company and your products, but also reinforce your values. It’s important to go back to step 1 and make sure that everything ties back to your strengths and your values. That consistency is key when it comes to building a brand experience that’ll keep your customers coming back for more.

Want to explore the V5 Dgital story? Click this image!

5. Encourage fan-generated content for brand advocacy

Taylor actively encourages and celebrates fan-generated content, often recognizing the contributions of her fans on her social media platforms. Whether it’s creative interpretations of her songs or fan art, she does the opposite of saying, I Forgot That You Existed.

Taylor also invites her super fans to her “Swiftie Secret Sessions” before any album release. While those fans aren’t allowed to reveal too many details, the experiences and reviews they post on social media build the anticipation and excitement for the rest of her fanbase. This approach not only strengthens the bond but also generates organic brand advocacy.

How you can leverage user-generated content

Embrace and promote user-generated content and watch your brand loyalty climb.

Foster a sense of community with product-led growth: When customers enjoy a product, they will become loyal users and share it with others, resulting in lower customer acquisition costs and a self-sustaining growth loop. It also makes the customer feel recognized. Yep, It’s Nice to Have a Friend.

Gamify the experience: People like to have fun on social media. Host contests and reward your audience for spreading the word about your brand. Puzzles, scavenger hunts, choose your own adventure storytelling, you name it. It’s a great opportunity for your marketers to get creative. Just make sure it’s not a Hoax.

V5 Digital uses a fun Selfie Game to enhance Social Media Engagement at a recent event

Call It What You Want, but when it comes to marketing, we’re following Taylor Swift’s lead. Just as she captivates audiences with her music, her marketing captures the attention of a loyal fanbase and beyond, keeping them engaged and excited for her next move.

By weaving these lessons into your own strategies, you can create a brand experience that resonates on a personal level and cultivate a lasting Love Story with devoted customers. Don’t worry, Soon You’ll Get Better at it. (We promise — that’s the last song reference.)

Alright, You’re on Your Own, Kid. (Okay, that’s the last one.)

Want to elevate your brand's customer experience to superstar status? V5 Digital can help you take the next step towards creating unforgettable connections today! Click the button below to get started.

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This article was written by Meredith Turner for Salesforce, of whom V5 Digital is a trusted partner. It was adapted for the V5 Digital audience.

Taylor Swift does not endorse Salesforce or its products and has nothing to do with this blog post.