How to Ask for Customer Reviews with Email Marketing

How are you keeping product reviews rolling in for your ecommerce shop? 

We’ll accept multiple answers. But we’re crossing our fingers that "email marketing" is your first thought. 

If that’s not the case — or if your emails aren’t netting the expected return — this is your guide to fixing your predicament. 

We’ll prove that customer reviews wield a lot of weight, explain why email marketing is the best way to get them, and cover strategies for creating a compelling pitch. 

The importance of reviews 

Data shows about 70% of consumers read between one and six reviews before deciding on a purchase. 

Positive product reviews are evidence of your brand’s quality and boost your online reputation. Thus, sales heavily depend on the credibility that social proof evokes. 

And when you take a proactive approach, you unleash more benefits:

• You signal that your customers’ feedback matters. If someone feels valued, it’s another reason to return as a repeat buyer.

• Feedback validates what you’re doing right and reveals what you can improve.

The lesson: don’t leave reviews up to chance. Reach out to your customers because many won’t share their thoughts without a nudge. 

Email marketing is your best avenue for collecting opinions because it’s the most direct line of communication. Thanks to order and shipping confirmations, you’re already a fixture in that person’s email, meaning they’re more likely to see and open subsequent messages.   

7 best practices for requesting a product review

What are the ingredients for spurring action? Following are several best practices for getting a response. Mix and match according to what aligns best with your audience. 

#1 Explain why you’re asking for feedback

You’ll garner some responses with a simple please and thank you. Achieve greater success by explaining why you want their feedback.

Provide context. Your shop isn’t a retail behemoth that’s known to the masses. Small and mid-sized ecommerce merchants need customers to sing their praises. 

Consider a scaled-down approach of a plain text email from the company's founder. Or, experiment with a fancier facade that goes into greater depth, as Oyade does.   

#2 Make the process easy

Ensure that you’re providing a painless experience. You don’t want your request to be a nuisance. 

At a minimum, it’s best to:

• Provide a clear call to action (CTA) with a link; avoid making your customer hunt around 

• In simple terms, state what you’d like them to do; leave a rating? Write a product review?

Go a step further with a dose of inspiration. Ivory Raine Candle Co. shows some reviews to stimulate ideas. 

Epic Scottys’ outreach is perhaps the gold-level standard of guidance. They prompt customers with suggestions of what to include in their product reviews.