If you are using a platform for customer follow-up that does not focus on Google and Facebook Reviews, you may be missing out on some key benefits reviews have for your digital marketing. Platform independent reviews may have lost their Klout. It’s an ever-changing landscape, this means that generating reviews controlled by a third party have a dynamic value proposition.
Does your customer follow-up enable customers to leave reviews on a platform? You could be violating that platforms terms of service (Yelp), or you could be putting passengers on a sinking ship. Gaining reviews on Google and Facebook seem to be the best investment at this time. That could change, until then your focus should be Google & Facebook. But, there may be some value to a diverse collection of reviews across platforms.
What is the best way to follow up with a customer and ask for a review? If you ask Yelp, you should not ask your customers for feedback in the form of a review. Countless directory sites are building directories of small business reviews, attempting to compete with Google and Facebook. Reviews are important to a potential buyer. Regardless of how we attain them, we know we need them.
Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. MOZ states that even Google doesn't value its own reviews more than other sites. Also, that reviews get lost and filtered so diversity is a good thing. People may also reference multiple sites, like Google Maps, RepairPal, Yelp, and BBB just to name a few. So, it’s not that reviews on 3rd Party sites do not matter to a potential customer or a search engine, but that you may evaluate each site and its importance in your local marketing and niche.
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