The importance of having solid Google reviews for your business can’t be understated. This essential customer feedback is proven to help businesses boost their reputation, search performance, and revenue.
In fact, research suggests that 64 percent of customers read Google reviews before visiting a business. Plus Google reviews influence 90 percent of customers' purchasing behavior and can improve SEO ranking by about 12 percent.
Given the wide-reaching benefits of Google reviews, businesses need to collect them. In this article, we’ll discuss how to ask clients for Google reviews via text message, including the benefits of using SMS, best practices for review-generating campaigns, and text message examples.
Jump right to:
- Benefits of asking for Google reviews via SMS
- Best practices and tips for getting more Google reviews
- 15 text templates asking for Google reviews
- 5 real-life Google review request text examples
<h2 id="benefits">Benefits of asking for Google reviews via text</h2>
There are several benefits of using texting to ask for Google reviews. Let’s go over some of the key ones.
- Accessible. Most Americans, 97 percent, own a cell phone. This makes it easy for you to reach your target audience with SMS review requests.
- Convenient. Texting is the ultimate convenience tool. It’s direct, quick, and less intrusive than phone calls. Plus, people can send and receive text messages no matter where they’re located.
- Higher open and response rates. Ensure your review requests are read with messages sent directly to customers' mobile devices. On average, texts have a 98 percent open rate and a 45 percent response rate. Email’s open rate is 20 percent, and the response rate is 6 percent.
- Timeliness. Most text messages are read within five minutes of receipt. SMS makes reaching customers at the right time with Google review requests easy.
- Ability to direct link. You can send a direct SMS link to your Google review page via text. This removes friction to encourage more customers to leave a review.
- Personalizable. Even if you’re sending texts en masse, they can be personalized with variable fields on SMS platforms. Personalization goes a long way in helping customers feel valued and willing to write a review.
- Digestible content. People have short attention spans. The concise nature of SMS helps ensure your request is read in full and acted upon.
Get 51 more stats that back the efficacy of SMS 🎉
<h2 id="bestpractices">Best practices and tips to get more Google reviews</h2>
Keep the following tips in mind to generate more Google reviews via SMS.
- Pick the right audience. The first step is determining the right people to ask. You want to target people who recently purchased a product or used your service. You don’t want to request a review from someone who hasn’t interacted with your business in months.
- Ensure the right timing. The timing of your review request matters. Some businesses may benefit from requesting a review immediately post-service, while others may benefit from waiting a few weeks. For example, service businesses like restaurants and salons may want to request a review the same day. On the other hand, software providers and retail businesses may want to wait a few weeks to ensure their customers experience the product.
- Don’t forget to follow up. It’s a best practice to follow up on your review requests. There’s a good chance customers missed the message or weren’t ready to write a review yet. Give your customers another chance to leave a review by sending a follow-up message.
- Provide an incentive. If you want more reviews, don’t hesitate to offer an incentive. For example, you could offer customers a coupon, a discount, or a free upgrade in exchange for their thoughts.
- Thank them for the review. Always thank your customers for leaving a review, whether it was positive or negative. They took time out of their busy schedules to provide valuable feedback to help your company.
- Reach out after a negative review. You’ll want to reply or reach out to customers after a negative review. It’s a good practice to learn more about their negative experience and see if you can do anything to remedy the situation.
- Send an SMS link. Send a direct link to your Google review page to make it easy for customers to provide a review. You want to remove any friction.
- Keep the message short and clear. A text message is 160 characters. Be concise and straight to the point to use that character count wisely.
- Personalize the message. Make sure to personalize your review request. Include the customer’s first name or details about their experience with your company.
- Follow Google’s guidelines. Google provides guidance on how to request reviews and showcase them. Use these guidelines to help you and your business utilize reviews to your advantage.
<h2 id="templates">15 asking for Google reviews text templates</h2>
Here are some text message templates for how to ask clients for Google reviews. Take these templates and tweak them for your business.
Initial Google review request SMS templates
Hi [name]. I hope you enjoyed your recent [experience or purchase] with us! If you have a moment, please leave a review! [link]
Hi [name]. We’d love to hear more about your recent [experience or purchase]. We’d greatly appreciate a review 😊 [link]
How would you rate your experience with [business name]? Leave a review now: [link]
Thanks for choosing [business name] for [service or purchase]! Could you take a few moments to leave a review? It means the world to us 🌎 [link
Did [business name] provide a 5-star experience? ⭐ Please let us know in a Google review: [link]
We’re thrilled you had a positive experience with [business name]! Would you take a moment to leave us a review here: [link]
If you have a moment, please leave us a review here: [link] We’d love it if you could share your experience with more people and help [business name] grow.
Hi [name]! How many stars did we earn? Leave us a review here: [link]
Reviews from customers like you help others feel more confident in choosing us. Could you take 1 minute to share your experience? [link]
Thanks for your recent purchase! Could you write a quick review about it? A few sentences are all it takes 😊 [link]
Follow-up Google review request text templates
Hi [name]! I wanted to follow up. Would you mind leaving a review? Your review means so much to our business 😊 [link]
Hi [name]. Psst. Did you forget something? I’d love to hear about your recent experience with [business name]. Leave a review: [link]
Hey, [name]! I wanted to check in and see if you’d be willing to leave us a review [link]
We would greatly appreciate it if you'd write us a review! You can do so via this link: [link]
Hi [name]! I hope you had a great week! Are you still interested in leaving a review of [business name]? These reviews are invaluable to us. [link]
<h2 id="examples">5 how to ask for Google review examples for SMS</h2>
Let’s look at a few real-life examples of how to ask for Google reviews from clients.
Google review ask from a photographer
This is an excellent example of how to ask clients for a Google review post service. This photographer personalizes the message and sends it to the client one week after the service.
Google review ask from a pet grooming business
This is an example of a Google review request from a groomer. The review is sent about one hour after the appointment when the customer’s pet is freshly groomed and clean.
Google review ask from a dog training company
This is a Google review request text from an in-home dog training company. The message is personalized and shares how important the review is for the business.
Google review reminder text from a dog trainer
This shows a real-life follow-up text to encourage customers to leave a Google review. This follow-up text helps encourage customers to take action and write a review.
Google review request example from Simple Living
In this example, you see a review request added to a delivery message from Simple Living. This encourages customers to leave a review right after getting the package.
Request Google reviews from customers using Textline
Textline is a business texting platform built to help companies grow. Join thousands of companies across the U.S. using Textline to generate more customer reviews.
On the SMS platform, you can save review request templates and easily send Google review requests to customers in mass or individually. Textline’s message scheduling and automation features allow you to reach customers with SMS review requests at the right time.
Try Textline free for 14 days. Sign up now.
