90% of consumers read online reviews before visiting a business, so it’s no wonder that Google reviews are great for business. By incorporating Google review monitoring into your brand’s local marketing strategy, you can effectively communicate with customers, troubleshoot problems, and attract new buyers. It’s no secret that a 5 star rating attracts customers. But getting reviews is only the first step. To see bottom-line impact from your reviews, you need to add Google review monitoring to your to-do list.

After all, a 5 star rating won’t tell prospective buyers much about your business. The 90% of consumers who read reviews before visiting a business are looking for the nuance in customer experience. If your reviews show consumers that you truly value your customers’ thoughts and experiences, they’ll be more likely to patronize your brand. Customers who feel cared for are more likely to become repeat customers, recommending your brand to their friends and family. Google reviews are where your brand champions are created. And by responding to reviews and following up with your customers, you can build strong customer relationships and earn loyal customers for your brand for years to come!

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Luckily, monitoring your Google reviews isn’t hard when you have the right tools at your disposal. Read on to find out how you can implement Google review monitoring in practice - and how Synup can help you easily manage your Google reviews.

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On the Synup platform, click over to the “Reviews” section at the top. From here, you’ll be able to effectively monitor your Google reviews. 

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Let’s start with review generation; click over to the “Review Acquisitions” tab.

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With hundreds of brands to choose from, social proof is the deciding factor for many consumers. A strong rating can make or break your bottom line. And it shows: customers spend up to 31% more on companies with 4 or 5 star reviews. That’s why your review management strategy should focus on review acquisition. After all, reviews are the gateway to conversing with your customers and fostering loyalty! 

On Synup’s platform, you can directly request Google reviews from your customers via text, email, and more. All customer feedback is valuable, even if they had a negative experience with your brand. Reminding customers to provide feedback is the first step to nurturing a valuable customer relationship. It also gives you the chance to resolve issues on your own terms, signaling to future customers that you care. But getting the review is the first step! Here’s how to do it:

Click on “Acquire New Reviews” on the Review Acquisitions page. 

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With Synup, you can generate new reviews on Google with two different methods: SMS/Email or via a Review Page. 

To send a prompt to your customers over text or email, you’ll just need their contact information. This is great if you have a list of customers who recently placed an order or signed up for your mailing list!

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Creating a Review Page is great, too. You can set up a QR code on your receipts or in-store, or you can link customers to it when you send them email or text communications. 

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From there, you can customize the page to fit your brand’s voice and style. 

Acquiring reviews improves your business, whether or not you have a high rating on Google. Customer feedback makes your brand better, whether it’s positive or negative. After all, no business is perfect. Prospective customers would rather see authentic reviews from real customers than generic blurbs. 

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But Google review acquisition is only the first step of a solid review management strategy! It’s crucial to respond to reviews to cultivate relationships and troubleshoot customer issues. Let’s do it on the Synup platform:

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On the Reviews page, you can see all of your reviews across locations and channels. Let’s start by focusing on our negative Google reviews. Click on “Filters” and filter your reviews to show only reviews with 1, 2, or 3 stars.

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From there, you’ll be able to view all of your negative Google reviews, and ensure that all of them are taken care of. 

Then, you can get an overview of your negative reviews and respond directly from the Synup platform! When you receive a bad review, it’s critical to respond as soon as possible - preferably within 24 hours. Responding to reviews opens up a conversation with your customer, showing them that you value their experience. That’s why 33% of customers who receive a timely response to their negative review tend to change it to a positive rating. Even negative reviews give you the opportunity to show customers that you value them.

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To stay on top of things, make sure you set up email notifications when you receive a bad review. You can do that by going over to the “Automations” tab. Here, you’ll be able to see all the automations we have for reviews. 

You can set up automatic responses, get notifications when you receive reviews, and more! Plus, we’re always adding helpful automations to make managing your Google reviews easier. Once you enable notifications, Synup alerts you whenever you receive a new review - so you can respond as soon as possible to negative reviews. When you’re monitoring your Google reviews, making your customers feel heard and cared for is essential!

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Try enabling auto-responses. You can set up several different responses for positive reviews, so you can spend less time responding and more time implementing customer feedback. It’s even easy to monitor reviews at scale: multi-location businesses can view and respond to Google reviews across all business locations on the Synup platform. 

You can create different auto-response templates, too!

While you can also enable auto-responses for negative reviews, we suggest taking the time to personalize your responses! As you gather more feedback from your customers, it’s important to actually take their opinions into account. If there’s a problem with your business, your customers will be the first ones to notice.

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Luckily, Synup provides in-depth sentiment analysis - so you can leverage your reviews to improve your business. The Synup platform analyzes reviews across all your business’ locations, consolidating them into helpful review highlights. To see Google review highlights, head back to the “Reviews” tab.

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Let’s take a look at your Google reviews.

From here, you can see review highlights across locations. That way, you don’t need to sift through hundreds or thousands of reviews to get a sense of what customers are thinking. You can even refine your search to look at highlights from specific locations, or filter by star rating.

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Review highlights help you leverage customer feedback, providing actionable insights for your brand. Synup analyzes reviews across all your business’ locations, too. That way, you can get a sense of what customers are saying - without sorting through hundreds or thousands of reviews.

Clicking on any of the review highlights will show you reviews that mention that particular phrase. It’s critical to center customer feedback in your business by understanding your customers’ needs and goals. And Synup’s helpful automations and reminders help ensure that customer feedback is always on your mind, whether you’re on the platform or not.

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As you gather feedback, don’t forget to actually implement their opinions into your business. Customer experience should shape your brand; neglecting your customers will only hurt your business in the long run. And if there’s an issue with your business, your customers will be the first ones to notice.

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Encouraging honest feedback, responding to negative reviews, and centering customer experience will help your business attract customers, foster loyalty, and ultimately increase your revenue!

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Google review monitoring isn’t easy. But Synup makes it simple. Synup sends you notifications for new reviews so you never miss customer feedback - even when you‘re not logged into the dashboard. Take action on new reviews immediately to show customers that you’re focused on them. Whether it’s a glowing review or a criticism, rest assured that customer feedback won’t slip through the cracks when you use Synup. And you can even set up automatic responses for positive reviews.

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Actively managing your reviews empowers you to build meaningful relationships with your customers. After all, loyal customers are invaluable. Showing customers that you care is the first step to fostering a strong, lasting relationship that will support your business for years to come.

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Investing in review monitoring helps you earn loyal customers and increases revenue over time. But building a solid online reputation shouldn’t consume your time - have a review management platform like Synup do it for you!

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is review monitoring important?

Monitoring and responding to reviews helps build customer relationships and foster loyalty. Customers who leave negative reviews are more likely to change or remove their review if you respond and address their concerns.

At the end of the day, customers want to feel cared for. If you show your customers that you value their experience and opinions, you’ll attract more customers, raise your online reputation, and ultimately increase your revenue.

Why should I use review monitoring software?

Monitoring your reviews is an essential part of any business - but it takes time. Using a review monitoring software like Synup enables you to bolster your online reputation without sacrificing the time and energy to monitor reviews manually. From alerting you when you have a new review to automatically responding to reviews for you, review monitoring software saves you time every week. 

Manually monitoring your reviews requires you to log in and out of Google. And directories like Google don’t alert you when you receive a new review - so new customer feedback often slips through the cracks. For multi-location businesses, manual review management takes even more time, since you’ll need to log in for each business location.

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