Is email dying?
Is it an outdated communication system that’s on its last legs? The death of email has been predicted over and over again, yet it’s still here. Is there any truth to the claims made by experts?
None at all.
In fact, email as a platform seems to be doing the opposite; it’s actually growing. According to Statista, the number of global email users was four billion in 2020; that number is predicted to grow to 4.6 billion users in 2025.
Pretty surprising, right?
I’m going to show you how you can semi-automate your review management using your Constant Contact account. Here’s what we’ll cover today:
- Why Email is More Important Than Ever
- The Case for Combining Email and Review Management
- Using Constant Contact to Amplify Review Management
- How to Automate Reputation Management with Constant Contact
Why Email is More Important Than Ever
It’s used consistently by everyone, young and old.
Adobe’s email consumer survey found that young people (18 – 34) were obsessed with email. It’s sticky with both consumers and professionals; even more surprising, 66 percent of these young people reported reaching inbox zero.
People know their way around email. It’s familiar, it’s private, it’s comfortable, and it’s a tool they have a significant degree of control over. Adobe’s surveys continue to validate the trend.
Email isn’t going away.
The Case for Combining Email and Review Management
Customers check their emails constantly; Adobe found that
- 52 percent of people check their personal emails at work
- 49 percent check their work emails outside of work
- 9 percent check their emails constantly
- 13 percent check multiple times per hour
- 11 percent check every hour
So much for the death of email.
Here’s what’s surprising about consumer email usage. Most people seem to use deadtime to check their email accounts. Deadtime is the time spent on mundane or routine activities (e.g., using the toilet, waiting for a meeting, sitting on the train, laying in bed, eating or drinking, etc.)
Why does this matter?
A recent survey found that 73 percent of consumers have been asked to write a review for a local business — 72 percent of those asked decided to go ahead and write a review. When combined with the high engagement and responsiveness we’ve seen above, it just makes sense.
It makes sense to email your review requests to customers.
If you’re a business owner or marketer, you already understand email’s value. Contrary to popular belief, that value isn’t declining; it’s growing. How can email help you with review management?
Using Constant Contact to Amplify Review Management
They’re the sleeping giant.
Constant Contact started as an email marketing provider in 1995. Today, they have more than 600,000 customers worldwide, and they’ve transitioned from email marketing, maturing into an all-in-one marketing platform. Today, they offer social media management, digital ad management tools, website builders, and more.
Their platform is well-designed and user-friendly.
What they don’t offer is review management. That’s not a big deal if you’re sending people to a review site and hoping for the best.
Most businesses don’t want that.
They want to lead customers directly to the review site of their choice; they want to guide them through the review process and verify that customers respond to their review requests.
You need the right tools for that.
If you have a Constant Contact account, you can combine that with Grade.us to dramatically amplify the effectiveness of your review management campaigns.
What’s the difference?
The review funnel. Your review management platform should provide you with a review funnel you can use to direct customers.
With your review funnel, you can drive customer traffic to the review site of your choice, modifying your funnel on an as-needed basis. It’s a simple process that dramatically amplifies the reviews you bring in.
- You import your email lists into Grade.us (or your review tool of choice)
- Then you create a review request autoresponder campaign that’s delivered via email and/or text
- Customers are guided to write a review from an easy-to-use review funnel
- You provide customers with multiple review site options
- You receive more review from happy customers
Why is this important?
Constant Contact is an incredible platform, but you can’t request, generate, manage, or monitor your reviews effectively with it. Managing reviews manually becomes less feasible as your business grows.
You’re going to need help.
How to Automate Reputation Management with Constant Contact
If you’re reading this, you probably already have a Constant Contact account. If you don’t, you can sign up for a free trial here.
If you don’t have a Grade.us account, or you’d like to take it for a test drive (no credit card required), you can get a free 14-day trial here.
Here’s how you integrate your Constant Contact account with Grade.us
- Sign into your Grade.us account. In your desired account, click the “Integrations” tab on the left sidebar.
2. Click the ” Constant Contact” tile.
3. Select “New Authentication” in the authentication window, enter a name, then click “Finish.”
4. A new window will open asking you to sign in to your Constant Contact account and authorize data sharing with Grade.us.
Click “Allow” to complete the import process.
5. You’ll be asked to select a list from your Constant Contact account. For this example, we’ll choose the “Customer” list. Then click “Finish.”
6. You’ll be asked if you’d like to bulk upload your current contacts. Click “Yes, please” to complete the process.
Your contacts will be imported from your Constant Contact account into Grade.us!
Here’s what happens next.
You create an email and SMS autoresponder campaign to request reviews from each customer that’s imported via Constant Contact. You should be able to set up email and text messaging campaigns that are automatically sent out to your customers the instant they’re added to your Constant Contact account.
How do you do that?
Here’s a comprehensive video walkthrough, showing you the ins and outs of creating your first autoresponder campaign.
Not sure what to say in your messages? We’ve got you covered there too! Take a look at these comprehensive guides. Each of these is filled with helpful templates for a variety of industries and businesses.
- 44 Unique Email Templates for Requesting Online Reviews
- 40 Situational SMS Templates for Requesting Reviews
- 11 Review Response Templates for Great Reviews
- 8 Review Response Templates for Negative Reviews
- How To Respond To Negative Reviews
- 60 Review Request Text Templates to Get Google Reviews
- 9 Industry-Specific Review Response Templates for Negative Reviews
Pick the right templates for your industry, customize them, so they’re a fit for your business, then add them to your autoresponder campaign inside Grade.us. Select the campaign duration (number of days) and the number of messages you’d like to add, and then you’re ready to send your requests out.
It’s that easy!
You can use the autoresponder feature in Grade.us to:
- Request reviews from each of your customers; you’ll want a 5:1 ratio of positive to negative reviews
- Send review requests out automatically after a triggering event (i.e., customers added in Constant Contact after a purchase, review requests sent 3 to 7 days after fulfillment)
- Counteract reviews from blackmailers, ragers, trolls, and toxic people
- Amplify reviews on a specific review site (i.e., Yelp, Google Reviews, TripAdvisor, etc.)
- Auto-share your best reviews to Social media
The autoresponder feature in Grade.us isn’t a one-trick. Use it to marshal your customers around a common goal or objective. It’s a simple way to address the common review management challenges I’ve mentioned above.
Email is More Important Than Ever
It’s not an outdated communication system that’s on its last legs.
Customers young and old use email as a primary communication channel. It’s sticky with consumers and professionals. Email, as a communication channel, will continue to grow.
It’s an indispensable part of review management.
Constant Contact is an email powerhouse, Grade.us a review management colossus. Put them together, and you have everything you need to generate 72 percent more reviews on autopilot. With the right message and a consistent ask, your review portfolio will grow by leaps and bounds.
