How review management works

What is review management?

Review management is part of our reputation marketing service offering. It improves online reviews and ratings. It can also be used to remove certain kinds of reviews. 

Gated vs. non-gated reviews

Gated and non-gated review management refer to the difference between whether or not a customer is asked if they liked the service or product before requesting they leave a review somewhere. 

Gated review management is a two-step process. In step one, a message is either texted or emailed to a customer. The message asks if the customer had a good experience, a simple "up or down" vote. If the customer votes "thumbs down," they are directed to a place on the platform - not a review site - where they can leave feedback privately about their less-than-stellar experience. This enables the business to improve service as well as catch and solve problems before they become bad reviews. 

If the customer votes "thumbs up," they are directed to whichever review management platform needs the most help. 

Non-gated review management is a one-step process. The customer is not asked whether they had a good or bad experience. Instead, they are simply sent to the review management platform to leave whatever review they choose. In our experience, non-gated returns inferior results compared to gated review management. 

How fast reviews and ratings improve

Once the system has been set up, reviews generally start to improve within a few weeks. Fewer existing reviews translate to a faster rate of improvement. 

Review and rating management pricing

Prices are for fully managed review and ratings improvement and management. View this page for other pricing.

  • 1-9 locations: $500 per month each
  • 10-99 locations: $400 per month each
  • 100+ locations: $225 per month each

Strategies

Ratings and review management strategies encompass the following:

  • Automated or manual contact input
  • Messaging development to get the highest conversion rate possible
  • A/B testing messaging
  • ToS removals when possible
  • Root cause analysis so businesses know where they need to improve
  • Monitoring
  • Campaign management

Learn more about review management strategy here

Review management process

The process for improving reviews works like this:

  • Analysis of review platforms that need improvement (Google reviews, Yelp, etc.)
  • Analysis of reviews for possible removal (usually violations of ToS)
  • Manual or API-based contact management setup
  • Development of high-conversion messaging
  • Approval of target review platforms and messaging by client
  • Initiation of review management campaign
  • A/B testing to arrive at the best messaging
  • Reviews generally begin to improve within a few weeks
  • Monitoring of reviews and ratings
  • Reporting of review and rating improvement

A walkthrough of the process

  1. You provide Reputation X with a customer list in Excel or CSV format. Our review management tool sends either a text to their phone or an email and asks them a simple question about their experience.
    thumbsupdown
  2. If the answer is good or "thumbs up," we send them to one of three review management sites of your choice.

  3. If the user is already logged in to a service like Google, we will usually send them there first. This is because it saves a step and results in higher conversion rates for positive reviews.
    review request example img
  4. If the answer is not so good, we ask them why. We don't send them to a review site. This enables the customer to "vent" on a site that will not post to Google. We also alert you to the problem, so it can be dealt with in a timely and positive manner.

Review management case study

The client was an established online retailer that had undergone a change in ownership and management. The original owner enjoyed very high review star ratings across most platforms, including Yelp, Google Reviews, and others. The accompanying change in management led to a significant decline in quality, product delivery, and customer service. The damage was done during the six months it took to identify and solve problems relating to the ownership change. The average review had dropped to only two stars. Reputation X solved that problem within a few months. 

Service overview

  • Monitor online reviews
  • Catch negative reviews before they're posted
  • Encourage positive reviews 

25+ review platforms served:

  • Yelp review management
  • Google reviews management
  • Healthgrades reviews improvement
  • Improve TrustPilot reviews
  • TripAdvisor reviews
  • Facebook reviews management
  • ... and more