Understanding Google My Business & Local Search
Review Incentives – Are the Costs Worth It?
I have just published a new post on incentivizing revies at the GetFiveStars* blog: Review Incentives? Are the Benefits Worth the Cost?
Reviews and testimonials are powerful social proof of your business’s capabilities but they are often hard to get. Incentives, including contests and discount coupons as well as direct rewards, often will increase your review counts. But at what cost?
*Full disclosure: I am a founder and co-owner of GetFiveStars.com
© Copyright 2025 - MIKE BLUMENTHAL, ALL RIGHT RESERVED.
Comments
4 Comments
Certainly not worth the legal risks. Also, incentivized reviews tend to look too much alike: they’re all one-liners, or they all go into more detail than most reviewers tend to provide. Bought-for reviews often seem forced. Some customers will pick up on that.
P.S. Why not enable comments on the GetFiveStars blog?
@Phil
Both great points.
I hadn’t considered the likely perfunctory nature of an incented response where someone just wants the friggin coupon…..
As to comments at GFS: we are rolling out a new site in the next few and they will be but the current them nuked them.
The big thing for me is that incentives are completely unnecessary. If you just make a point of asking every customer for feedback/reviews, they’ll start to trickle in at a natural pace. That’s what you want.
Mike, exactly how $much$ are we talking about for a good review on GetFiveStars blog? 😉
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