This handy guide clearly explains how to create a review generation campaign.
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1. Create or select a template
Click the 'Review Generation' tab on your Reputation Manager report (shown below within the red box).
There are two ways to create a template, depending on whether you've created one before.
a. Select a template
If you already have existing templates, you'll see a dropdown. Simply select the template you want to use for this campaign (you can choose the existing template from the dropdown). If you select 'Duplicate' from the dropdown, you can either duplicate the template (and then make edits) or edit that existing one. It's also possible to delete a template that is no longer required.
b. Create a template
If you haven't created a template before, you must click on the green 'Get Started' button that appears.
If a template has already been created, but you'd like to make another one from scratch, you will also have the option to select the blue 'Create New Template' button (see the red box below).
2. Set up your campaign
Next, choose what type of campaign you would like to run. You have two options here.
Option 1: Ask for internal feedback + public review
Customers are asked to rate their experience using your preferred internal feedback score: NPS, Thumbs, or Stars.
Once they’ve left the score, you have the option to gather additional feedback about their experience in the form of an opentext field.
This option is useful if you want to:
- Reach out to the customer personally with more context about their experience
- Uncover issues with your service that need improving
- Gather review content for marketing purposes like testimonials – just be sure to check if the customer has given consent first.
Finally, customers are invited to leave a review on a public site.
Option 2: Only ask for a public review
As the name suggests, this campaign skips all forms of internal feedback and just asks customers to leave a public review. This is a great option for maximizing the number of public reviews in each campaign.
How to Set Up a Campaign to Ask for Internal Feedback + Public Review
On the first page, you can start creating your campaign template.
Here, you can:
- Name your template
- Add your logo
- Select your internal feedback type - e.g. NPS, thumbs or stars
- Set your positive score threshold
- Enable additional feedback
Template name: Simply give your template a name, so you can reuse it for other locations.
Upload Logo: Click on the 'Add File' button to upload a picture of your logo, or simply drag files into the box — if no logo is uploaded, we will display the business name instead.
Select your internal feedback type: Choose from NPS, Thumbs, or Stars.
- NPS: Invites customers to rate their experience by leaving a score from 1-10 (where 0 = terrible and 10 = amazing). Use the slider to set what’s considered a 'positive score' threshold for the location — this will be used to differentiate between a 'Promoter' and a 'Detractor' when setting up your campaign.
- Stars: Invites customers to rate their experience by leaving a star rating. As with NPS, you have the option to determine the threshold for a positive score.
- Thumbs: Invites customers to rate their experience with a ‘thumbs up’ or ‘thumbs down’.
Enable additional feedback step: Once customers have left their score, you have the option to gather additional feedback about their experience in the form of an opentext field. Select here if you want this field to be shown to all respondents, just negative respondents, or removed completely from the flow.
Once you are happy with the settings on this page, click 'Next' in the bottom right-hand corner of the page.
Email Settings
Next up, you'll see the Email Settings page, where you can draft email messages to prompt people to review this location.
Email Tab
On the right-hand side, you'll see a preview of what your email will look like using the current settings.
To see what your email will look like on a mobile device simply click the button above the preview box.
You’ll also see the following options to edit the email:
Email subject: Here, you can input your own wording for the email subject. You can use {{BusinessName}} as a placeholder in your email subject, which will be taken from the 'Reviews & Ratings' report settings.
Email introductory text: This is the edit box for the email. You can use {{FirstName}} and {{BusinessName}} as a placeholder in your email text — the {{FirstName}} will be taken from the CSV file and populated, while {{BusinessName}} will be taken from 'Reviews & Ratings' report settings. You also have basic formatting abilities such as bold, italic, bullet points, hyperlinks, etc.
Email sign-off text: This optional section lets you input the email sign off, if needed. Again, you can use {{FirstName}} and {{BusinessName}} as a placeholder in your email text, where {{FirstName}} will be taken from the CSV file, and {{BusinessName}} will be taken from 'Reviews & Ratings' report settings. You also have basic formatting abilities such as bold, italic, bullet points, hyperlinks, etc.
Next is the 'Legal Content' section — this information is required to be displayed in the email footer as part of our Terms and Conditions that are enforced by anti-spam law. You must include your contact information inside every email campaign that you send, including a physical mailing address or PO Box where you can receive mail (not a website or email address).
Follow-up Email Tab
This allows you to control the campaign's follow-up email. You can enable it by clicking on the 'Enable follow-up email' toggle. You can edit the email in the same way as outlined above.
SMS Settings
SMS Tab
In the preview pane, you’ll see an example of how your SMS will look to the recipient.
If you switch on ‘Enable Follow-up SMS’, these will be scheduled and sent out to contacts who didn’t respond to the first message. For SMS mode these are sent 72 hours after and for all other modes (email, link and kiosk) 48 hours after.
Please note: Credits will be deducted when the follow up messages are sent, so please make sure that you have enough credits on account.
SMS text: Here is where you can edit the body of your SMS, use {{FirstName}} and {{BusinessName}} as a placeholder in your email text. {{FirstName}} will be taken from the contact(s) that you upload when you’re ready to send the campaign. {{Business Name}} will be taken from report settings.
Rating Page Tab
On this page, you can customize the introductory text that appears on the landing page which the user will be taken to once they have clicked the shortlink.
Please note: All requests sent via SMS Mode will be sent from Toll Free numbers, rather than local numbers. This is to ensure that messages reach the intended recipients safely and with no blocking from mobile carriers.
Landing Pages
After a contact has selected a score for the business, they will be directed to either a ‘Positive score’ landing page or a 'Negative score' landing page, depending on the NPS score or star rating they provided.
Just like in email and SMS, you can customize your landing pages. Along the top are four buttons, where you can individually edit your positive and negative landing pages. See below for more information on each.
Positive Landing Page 1 Tab
If a customer gives a positive score, this is the first positive landing page that the customer will see — it shows them the NPS score or star rating that they gave. The feedback here is for internal information, so just for the business directly.
Feedback score test: This is the text for the first sentence in the landing page. Here, you can change and format the text, and you'll see this dynamically change in the sample landing page on the left.
Thank you text: This is the last sentence on the landing page, where you can change and format the text — again, you'll see this dynamically change in the sample email on the left.
Checkbox: Selecting the checkbox will add a message to your landing page asking the customer for permission to use the review they leave as a promotional tool on your website or in marketing material. If you do not have permission from a customer then you cannot display the feedback/review using our Showcase Widget tool.
Landing pages background color: You can select the color of the background here, and you'll see this dynamically change as you try different colors.
Positive Landing Page 2 Tab
This is the second landing page. You will see the review sites you will be selecting during the process within the preview on the right.
Thank you text: This is the main sentence within the landing page. Here, you can change and format the text — you'll see this dynamically change in the sample email on the left.
Negative Landing Page 1 Tab
People who give a negative score are asked to provide feedback on the first of the two 'Negative Score Landing Pages'. They are then asked to write a public review on the second Negative Score Landing Page.
On the right, you can see a preview of what your Negative Score Landing Page will look like with the current settings applied.
Thank you text: This is the main sentence on the landing page — here, you can change and format the text, which will dynamically change in the sample email on the left.
Follow-on text: This is the last sentence on the landing page — here, you can change and format the text, which will dynamically change in the sample email on the left.
Negative Landing Page 2 Tab
This landing page is for customers who are asked to write a public review on the sites of your choice. You will be able to engage with these customers and ensure them that their feedback will be taken seriously.
Enable voucher: Here, you enable the toggle to allow the input of a voucher code.
Thank you text: This is the main sentence on the landing page — here, you can change and format the text, which will dynamically change in the sample email on the left.
Kiosk and Link Mode Settings
The next options are to edit the Kiosk and Link Mode — this allows you to request feedback from your customers on a dedicated web page, which you can present to them in person or through other customer communications.
This is ideal for restaurants, medical offices, handymen, and any other business that involves working and interacting with customers in person. If you do not wish to use this, then simply click the 'Save Template' button in the bottom right-hand corner — you can always come back and edit the template if you decide to use Kiosk Mode at a later date.
Rating Page Tab
Add to the ‘Introductory text’ section the question you want to ask the customer, and it will change dynamically in the template example on the right-hand side.
Feedback Page Tab
After a customer has selected a score for the business, they will be asked to provide their feedback, followed by their name and email address.
Add to the ‘Introductory text’ section a question asking why the customer left you the score that they did.
Checkbox 1: Selecting the checkbox will add a message to your feedback page asking the customer for permission to use the review they leave as a promotional tool on your website or in marketing material. If you do not have permission from a customer then you cannot display the feedback/review using our Showcase Widget tool.
Checkbox 2: If you are sending your campaign to customers in the UK and EU you’ll need to also enable the GDPR opt in by clicking the checkbox.
Positive Feedback Step Tab
A short time after the customer has left positive feedback, they'll receive an email from no-reply@customfeedback.com asking them to write a public review on at least one of your preferred review sites. You can only edit the text here, and it will pull in the review sites you have selected.
Enable reminder email (72 hours after first contact): Select this checkbox to send a reminder email 72 hours after the first one. These emails will only be sent to customers who have opted in to marketing communications.
Email subject: You can use {{FirstName}} and {{BusinessName}} as a placeholder in your email subject text, where {{FirstName}} will output the customer's first name, and {{BusinessName}} will be taken from 'Reputation Manager' report settings.
Email introductory text: This is the first sentence of the email — you'll see it change dynamically change within the template email on the right.
Email body text: The main part of the email text that you can customize. You are only able to edit the text here, and it will pull in the review sites you have selected.
Negative Feedback Step Tab
If the customer has left negative feedback, they will receive an email from no-reply@customfeedback.com a short time after doing so, asking them to write a public review on one of your preferred review sites. You can only edit the text here, and it will pull in the review sites you have selected.
In the content of this ‘Negative feedback’ email, you have the opportunity to engage with the customer to ensure that their feedback will be taken seriously — potentially also providing a way to resolve the issue that doesn’t result in a negative review.
Enable reminder email (72 hours after first contact): Select this checkbox to send a reminder email 72 hours after the first one. These emails will only be sent to customers who have opted in to marketing communications.
Enable voucher: Here, you can enable the toggle to allow you to input a voucher code.
Email subject: You can use {{FirstName}} and {{BusinessName}} as a placeholder in your email subject text. {{FirstName}} will output the customer's first name, while {{BusinessName}} will be taken from 'Reputation Manager' report settings.
Introductory text: This is the first sentence of the email, and you'll see it change dynamically within the template email on the right.
Body text: This is the main part of the email text that you can customize.
Simply click the 'Save Template' button in the bottom right-hand corner to save your template.
How to Set Up a Campaign to Only Ask For a Public Review
Public Review
On the first page, you can start creating your campaign template.
- Template name: Simply give your template a name, so you can reuse it for other locations (see below within the red box).
- Upload Logo: Click on the 'Add Files' button to upload a picture of your logo, or simply drag files into the box — if no logo is uploaded, we will display the business name instead.
Once you are happy with the settings on this page, click 'Next' in the bottom right-hand corner of the page.
Email Settings
Next up, you'll see the Email Settings page, where you can draft up email messages to prompt people to review this location.
Email Tab
On the right-hand side, you'll see a preview of what your email will look like using the current settings.
To see what your email will look like on a mobile device simply click the button above the preview box.
You’ll also see the following options to edit the email:
Email subject: Here, you can input your own wording for the email subject. You can use {{BusinessName}} as a placeholder in your email subject, which will be taken from the 'Reviews & Ratings' report settings.
Email introductory text: This is the edit box for the email. You can use {{FirstName}} and {{BusinessName}} as a placeholder in your email text — the {{FirstName}} will be taken from the CSV file and populated, while {{BusinessName}} will be taken from 'Reviews & Ratings' report settings. You also have basic formatting abilities such as bold, italic, bullet points, hyperlinks, etc.
Email sign-off text: This optional section lets you input the email sign off, if needed. Again, you can use {{FirstName}} and {{BusinessName}} as a placeholder in your email text, where {{FirstName}} will be taken from the CSV file, and {{BusinessName}} will be taken from 'Reviews & Ratings' report settings. You also have basic formatting abilities such as bold, italic, bullet points, hyperlinks, etc.
Next is the 'Legal Content' section — this information is required to be displayed in the email footer as part of our Terms and Conditions that are enforced by anti-spam law. You must include your contact information inside every email campaign that you send, including a physical mailing address or PO Box where you can receive mail (not a website or email address).
Follow-up Email Tab
This allows you to control the campaign's follow-up email. Here, you can enable it by clicking on the 'Enable follow-up email' toggle.
You can edit the email in the same way as outlined above.
SMS Settings
Next, you'll see the SMS Settings page, where you can customize your SMS campaigns.
SMS Tab
In the preview pane, you’ll see an example of how your SMS will look to the recipient.
If you enable ‘follow up’ messages, these will be scheduled and sent out to contacts who didn’t respond to the first message. For SMS mode these are sent 72 hours after and for all other modes (email, link and kiosk) 48 hours after.
Please note: Credits will be deducted when the follow-up messages are sent, so please make sure that you have enough credits on account.
SMS text: Here is where you can edit the body of your SMS, use {{FirstName}} and {{BusinessName}} as a placeholder in your email text. {{FirstName}} will be taken from the contact(s) that you upload when you’re ready to send the campaign. {{Business Name}} will be taken from report settings.
Rating Page Tab
On this page, you can customize the introductory text that appears on the landing page which the user will be taken to once they have clicked the shortlink.
Please note: All requests sent via SMS Mode will be sent from Toll Free numbers, rather than local numbers. This is to ensure that messages reach the intended recipients safely and with no blocking from mobile carriers.
Link Mode Setting
Contact Details Page Tab
Introductory text: Here’s where you can write a message asking customers for their contact details. You'll see it change dynamically within the template email on the right.
Checkbox: Selecting the checkbox will add a message to your feedback page asking the customer for permission to use the review they leave as a promotional tool on your website or in marketing material. If you do not have permission from a customer then you cannot display the feedback/review using our Showcase Widget tool.
Landing Page Tab
After clicking the leaving their contact details, your customers will be invited to leave a public review on your chosen external site(s).
Introductory text: This is the content of the landing page, and where you can ask customers to leave a review on one of your chosen sites. You'll see it change dynamically within the template email on the right.
Simply click the 'Save Template' button in the bottom right-hand corner to save your template.
2. Select Review Sites
Click on the 'Select Review Sites' button to choose your campaign's review sites — these will appear in all the landing pages / emails you have set up to drive the customer to leave a review. You can select up to three sites here.
3. Choose When You Are Notified
You have the option here to receive email notifications about feedback customers are leaving.
First of all click yes or no to indicate if you want to be notified at all.
If you click no, then you’re all done.
If you click yes, then you’ll need to choose when you’d like to receive the notification emails. You can either choose to get notified immediately after a customer leaves feedback or with a daily round-up.
Next, you need to decide what type of feedback you want to include: only negative, only positive, or all feedback. What gets classed as positive or negative feedback will depend on the NPS feedback score that you set up in step 1.
Lastly, enter up to five emails that you'd like to receive the notifications. That could be your customer support team. Or if you’re an agency, that could be your client so they can handle the response to customers themselves.
You can change the types of email notifications that you receive for each review campaign that you set up, so the right people are being notified at the right time and with the right information.
4. Send Campaigns
Email Campaigns: Contacts can be uploaded in bulk, via CSV, or entered manually using the 'Single' send screen. You'll need to confirm that you have the right to contact these people — whichever sending format you choose.
Single send email: Here, you can manually enter the details for a single contact.
Multiple send email: On this screen, you can upload your contacts in bulk, with a maximum of 100 contacts per CSV file.
Once your contacts have been successfully uploaded, and both the 'Terms & Conditions' and 'Privacy Policy' agreements have been confirmed, you can then send campaigns.
SMS Campaigns: Just like email campaigns, you can choose to send in bulk or to a single contact.
First, select which country you are sending the campaign to (see the red box below):
If you want to send campaigns to contacts in more than one country, you'll need to upload separate CSV files for each country.
You'll also see the credit panel on the right-hand side of the send screen — this shows your current credit balance on the account, as well as the price per SMS in each country, which varies to account for different carrier pricing in specific countries.
If you have fewer than 100 credits in your account, we'll also show you an option to purchase more credits before sending your campaign. Don't forget, if you've scheduled a follow-up campaign, you'll need twice as many credits as you have contacts.
Please note: We only send follow ups to those who do not engage with the first message.
4. Get Request URLs
Here is where you can access links for both Link Mode and Kiosk Mode campaigns.
Once your template is set up and you've chosen review sites, you can click on the green 'Get Request URLs' button to add these into email signatures, on a location, or wherever it suits you best.
To learn more about building a five-star reputation with Reputation Manager, enroll in BrightLocal Academy for free today.
If you're new to reviews, check out this free course in Brightlocal Academy - A Beginner's Guide to Generating and Managing Reviews.
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