Discover why less than 1% of customers leave website reviews despite loving products, and learn the proven strategies to transform review collection rates. Dan Henders from Beard and Bones faces the common challenge of strong Instagram engagement but weak website reviews. We explore the three barriers stopping review generation, the email marketing foundation for scaling review requests whilst maintaining personal touch, and practical implementation steps including the five-day review sequence and seven-day challenge that can triple or quadruple review rates without seeming spammy or impersonal.
Less than 1% of Dan Henders' customers leave reviews on his website. Yet his Instagram is flooded with glowing testimonials, photos of happy bearded customers, and messages praising his skull-shaped bottles filled with candy floss beard balm. The products clearly work. The customers clearly love them. So why won't they leave reviews where it matters most?
Dan runs Beard and Bones, a distinctive beard care brand that deliberately breaks industry moulds with fruity scents and eye-catching packaging. He's built a loyal community of 3,700 Instagram followers who engage regularly, message frequently, and genuinely connect with the brand. But when it comes to converting that social media love into website reviews that drive conversion, he faces the same challenge countless eCommerce businesses struggle with daily.
Reviews aren't just nice-to-have social proof. They're conversion essentials that directly impact whether browsers become buyers. Research consistently demonstrates that customers actively seek reviews before making purchase decisions, with many sorting products by popularity or review count as their first action on unfamiliar websites.
Dan experiences this behaviour himself when researching products for his own business. He automatically filters by reviews, trusting verified customer experiences over marketing copy. Yet despite understanding this from the buyer's perspective, he struggles to implement effective review collection from the seller's side.
The disconnect creates a vicious cycle. Products without reviews struggle to convert. Poor conversion means fewer customers to request reviews from. The lack of reviews perpetuates the conversion problem. Breaking this cycle requires understanding why customers who genuinely love products still won't leave reviews.
Dan's current approach reveals the common mistakes that inadvertently suppress review generation, even from enthusiastic customers.
Barrier One: Equals Hassle
Back in 2006, when eCommerce was younger and simpler, customers would happily log into their accounts and leave reviews. The process felt manageable because digital expectations differed. Today, everything must be quick, instant, and effortless. Any friction becomes a deal-breaker.
Dan's current process requires customers to remember to visit his website, log into their account, navigate to the specific product page, and write their review. Each step represents a dropout point. Even placing reminder cards in packages doesn't overcome the fundamental friction of this multi-step process.
Barrier Two: The Personal Touch Paradox
Dan manually messages customers on Instagram throughout their journey—confirming orders, notifying when items ship, checking delivery arrival. This personal approach builds genuine relationships but doesn't scale efficiently. More critically, it leaves out customers who aren't on Instagram or haven't connected their social media presence to their purchase.
The fear of seeming impersonal through automation creates a false choice between scalability and authenticity. Dan worries that automated emails feel corporate and disconnected, contradicting the friendly brand personality he's cultivated through direct Instagram messaging.
Barrier Three: The Spam Spectre
Dan remembers buying a protein shake three years ago and receiving daily promotional emails ever since. That experience shaped his entire perspective on email marketing, creating resistance to implementing any automated communication for fear of becoming "that company" that bombards customers relentlessly.
This spam anxiety leads to complete email marketing paralysis. Rather than thoughtfully implementing targeted, valuable email sequences, the fear of overdoing it results in doing nothing at all. Meanwhile, competitors with strategic email approaches maintain constant, welcomed presence in customer inboxes.
The solution begins with recognising that impersonal and automated aren't synonyms. Strategic email sequences can maintain personal connection whilst removing friction and scaling effectively.
The Five-Day Review Request Sequence
Approximately five days after order placement, an automated email triggers to the customer. The timing ensures product arrival whilst enthusiasm remains fresh. The email uses the customer's first name, references their specific purchase, and contains a simple message thanking them for their order and requesting feedback.
Crucially, the email includes a direct link that takes customers straight to a review form pre-populated with their order details. No login required. No navigation necessary. Simply click the link, select star rating, write thoughts, and submit. The entire process takes 30 seconds maximum.
This streamlined approach transforms review collection rates dramatically. Businesses implementing similar systems report increasing review generation from less than 1% to 3-4% or more—a three to four times improvement from one simple automation.
The Three-Touch Rule
Email customers three times about leaving reviews. Space these requests appropriately—perhaps five days, twelve days, and twenty days after purchase. The third email acknowledges this will be the final request, explicitly stating you won't pester them further but would genuinely appreciate their feedback.
This approach respects customer time whilst maximising conversion opportunities. Different customers respond to different touches—some review immediately after the first email, others need reminders, and some require that third "last chance" prompt before taking action.
After three review requests, note the customer's status. When they purchase again, don't send the review sequence for that second order. But when they make a third purchase, restart the sequence. By then, they've demonstrated deeper brand loyalty and may feel more inclined to support the business publicly.
The Personal Touch Through Automation
Email automation doesn't eliminate personality—it scales it. The sequence can include the same friendly, transparent tone that characterises Dan's Instagram messages. Reference specific products purchased. Use conversational language. Share why reviews matter to a small family business trying to grow.
For customers who are Instagram followers, combine approaches. Send the automated email with the easy review link, then follow up with a quick Instagram video message a few days later. Record a 10-15 second clip saying "Hey Simon, I sent you an email about leaving a review. I've made it super easy—just click the link. Would really help us out. Cheers!" This hybrid approach maintains personal connection whilst removing friction.
Website reviews represent just one component of a comprehensive review ecosystem. Dan already receives enthusiastic YouTube reviews, Instagram testimonials, and direct messages praising products. The challenge becomes leveraging this existing social proof whilst building website-specific reviews.
Embed Video Reviews Prominently
Dan correctly identified that YouTube reviews exist, but they're buried three clicks deep in a reviews tab. Instead, feature these prominently on product pages themselves. When customers research beard oils and watch video testimonials directly on the product page, confidence builds immediately. These videos demonstrate real usage, show actual results, and provide the social proof that drives conversion.
Screenshot Instagram Testimonials
Rather than waiting for customers to leave formal website reviews, capture and showcase Instagram testimonials. When someone messages "This smells amazing!" or posts a photo tagged with positive comments, screenshot those authentic moments and add them to product descriptions. Attribute them properly, but use this existing enthusiasm to overcome the cold-start problem of products with zero reviews.
The Seven-Day Challenge
Every product should display at least five reviews. For products currently sitting at zero, this requires proactive outreach. Identify five people with beards, send them the product, ask them to use it properly, and request honest feedback. These first reviews create social proof that encourages organic reviews from regular customers.
This isn't about fake reviews—it's about seeding authentic testimonials from real usage. Many businesses hesitate to give away product for reviews, viewing it as lost revenue. But five free products that generate five initial reviews will pay for themselves many times over through improved conversion rates.
The most successful review strategies integrate feedback collection into the broader customer experience rather than treating it as a separate afterthought.
The Welcome Card Evolution
Dan already includes thank you cards in every shipment, which represents excellent foundation work. These cards currently request reviews but don't remove the friction of actually leaving them. Evolve this approach by including a QR code linking directly to the easy review form. Customers can scan the code with their phone immediately upon receiving their order, removing the "I'll do it later" procrastination that kills review generation.
The Mrs. Approves Positioning
Dan discovered something brilliant during product development—women love his fruity scents, often becoming the actual decision-maker for beard care purchases. This insight deserves prominent positioning in review requests. Ask specifically: "Does your partner approve? We'd love to hear from both of you!" This doubles potential reviewers whilst acknowledging the unique positioning that differentiates Beard and Bones from woody, masculine competitors.
The Community Review Approach
With 3,700 Instagram followers and active group chats where customers interact daily, Dan has built genuine community rather than just a customer base. Leverage this community feeling in review requests. Frame reviews as helping fellow community members make informed decisions rather than just helping the business. People readily assist their peers even when they'd ignore corporate requests.
Whilst review collection represents Dan's immediate priority, implementing email marketing unlocks far broader opportunities for business growth.
The Memory Problem
However good products are, customers forget companies quickly. Dan actively maintains presence through daily Instagram posts, but this only reaches followers on that specific platform. Email provides direct access to every customer, regardless of social media presence or platform algorithm changes.
Regular, valuable emails keep the brand top-of-mind for repeat purchases. Someone who bought candy floss beard balm six months ago might not remember Beard and Bones exists when they need to reorder. A well-timed email saying "Running low? Here's 10% off your next order" captures that repeat sale before they turn to Amazon or competitors.
The Welcome Sequence
New customers represent perfect opportunities for automated relationship building. After purchase, trigger a sequence introducing the brand story, explaining the unique approach to scents, sharing usage tips for getting maximum benefit from products, and building community belonging. This transforms one-time buyers into loyal customers who understand and connect with the brand mission.
The Reorder Reminder
Beard care products have predictable usage cycles. Someone buying a 30ml beard oil will likely need replacement within specific timeframes based on daily usage. Calculate average product lifespans and trigger automated reorder reminders at appropriate intervals. Add incentive through modest discounts or free shipping for reorders, making the decision effortless.
The prospect of implementing comprehensive email marketing whilst running every other aspect of an eCommerce business feels overwhelming. Dan's honest admission—"There's not enough hours in a day"—resonates with every small business owner juggling countless priorities.
The solution lies in strategic implementation rather than attempting everything simultaneously.
Phase One: Review Collection
Begin with the single highest-impact sequence—the five-day review request. This one automation immediately improves conversion rates across the entire product catalogue by generating social proof. Choose an email platform, set up the basic automation, write three email variations for the sequence, and launch it. This foundation work might require a few focused hours but then runs indefinitely without additional effort.
Phase Two: Transactional Optimisation
Dan already sends order confirmation and shipping notification emails through Shopify's built-in system. Review these templates and enhance them with personality, brand voice, and subtle cross-sell opportunities. Someone buying candy floss beard balm might appreciate knowing that bubblegum beard oil pairs perfectly with it. These improvements take minimal time but leverage emails that already send automatically.
Phase Three: Strategic Campaigns
Only after review collection and transactional optimisation run smoothly should broader email campaigns begin. Start with simple monthly updates sharing new product launches, behind-the-scenes content about formulation processes, or seasonal promotions. Quality matters more than frequency—one excellent monthly email builds more value than daily spam.
No single formula works universally for every business. Dan's concern about finding the right review request frequency—once, twice, three times?—highlights the importance of testing rather than guessing.
Implement the three-touch approach initially because it represents proven best practice across numerous eCommerce businesses. Monitor results carefully. If the third email generates minimal reviews, reduce to two touches. If review rates remain low, experiment with timing—perhaps five, ten, and fifteen days work better than five, twelve, and twenty.
The same applies to email content, subject lines, and calls-to-action. Test different approaches systematically, measuring results, and iterating based on actual data rather than assumptions. What works brilliantly for one beard care brand might flop for another based on subtle differences in audience, positioning, or brand personality.
Reviews solve one critical conversion element, but Dan's website presents additional optimisation opportunities worth addressing alongside review collection.
Products featuring prominently on homepage or category pages lack reviews entirely. This creates immediate trust barriers for new visitors. Prioritise getting those five initial reviews on hero products before expanding to the full catalogue. Better to have ten products with excellent review coverage than fifty products with sparse or missing reviews.
The unique selling propositions—fruity scents, skull bottles, "the Mrs. approves"—deserve more prominent positioning throughout the site. New visitors need immediate understanding of what makes Beard and Bones different from countless competitors. Don't assume they'll discover these differentiators through exploration. State them boldly and repeatedly.
Ready to transform your own review collection approach? Here's the practical implementation roadmap:
The difference between businesses generating less than 1% reviews and those achieving 3-4% isn't dramatic strategy differences—it's removing friction and making the process effortless for customers who already want to help.
Read the complete, unedited conversation between Matt and Dan Henders from Beard and Bones. This transcript provides the full context and details discussed in the episode.
Speaker A
00:00:00.160 - 00:00:00.400
Foreign.
Speaker B
00:00:08.000 - 00:00:19.200
Welcome to the Curiosity podcast, a show about everything e commerce and digital business. The aim is simple, to help you thrive online. And now your host Matt Edmondson.
Speaker C
00:00:23.920 - 00:03:40.440
Welcome my fellow e commerce entrepreneurs. My name is Matt Edmondson and this show is for those of us cur e commerce and want to know how to get better at doing digital business.
Coming up in today's show I am doing a coaching call with Dan Henders who is the owner of beardandbones.co.uk and we chat predominantly about reviews and how to get people to leave reviews on our website. To help with that all important conversion I will of course put a link to today's to today's guest Dan website. That doesn't make any sense.
I'm going to put a link to Dan's website in the show notes which you can get along with the transcript from today's show at my website mattedmondson.com and of course let me do a big shout out to the show sponsor Curious Digital, the amazing experience based e commerce platform that I use myself on my own e commerce businesses.
And if you've been following along so far you'll know that I am just starting out on an adventure trying to set UP and launch 100 new E commerce businesses, new websites that I am personally involved with either directly it's just me or and my team or I'm doing it with some partners. All of those sites I am doing on the Curious Digital platform. It is for me the best e commerce platform out there.
So if you are looking for a new e commerce website be sure to check it out@qrius.digital. that's Qrius with a K not a see, right. Curious Digital.
Okay, let me introduce to you today's guest I am coaching Dan Henders who is an e commerce entrepreneur just like, well, just like you I'm guessing. And together we will be tackling his current most critical e commerce problem which is reviews.
Dan is the owner of beardandbones.co.uk and he has many a happy customer but he is challenged by the fact that less than 1% of those customers actually leave reviews on his website.
Now you know and I know reviews are so super critical for customers to get to know the products and the services and to grow that trust in the brand and the website and to give them the confidence they need to make a purchase. So a lack of reviews is one of the big problems with conversion and it quickly stunts the growth of your business.
The thing I like about my conversation with Danny is totally transparent, totally out there. And, and he's, he carries that through with a sort of, with his community.
He's got a very friendly relationship with his Instagram followers and customers. And so he shares his challenge of acquiring customer reviews, but you know, from something other than Instagram.
How does he get them on his website whilst being careful not to bombard people or spam people with emails? Okay, it's a great conversation and we are going to get into it right now. So here's my conversation with Dan Hendous.
Speaker A
00:03:41.960 - 00:03:45.080
So, Dan, thanks for being on the show. Great to have you.
Speaker D
00:03:45.320 - 00:03:46.920
Thank you for inviting me.
Speaker A
00:03:47.160 - 00:03:53.880
That's great. So, beardandbones.co.uk. tell us, where did that come from?
Speaker D
00:03:54.520 - 00:06:16.120
This person that worked with my mum was telling my mum about this idea for a beard care company and wanted some sort of advice.
So I went to speak to him at the time, this was sort of July 2018, and he just sort of said to me, I've got this idea for a beard care company, here's some designs, what would you think?
Obviously, first impressions, I was just like, I used to be, obviously none of you can see me, but I used to be fresh faced, always shaven, never grew a beard. So I just, I was like, I don't know anything about beard care, but I just thought, no, I'm just gonna just go away. So I went away.
I thought I'd draw up a quick little business plan, do a bit of market research on the current sort of, you know, situation out there. I noticed it was sort of, it was unique.
But I kind of got a rough idea that most beard care companies would have these really sort of woody scents and strong like masculine scents. And then just, I thought there must be a different way we can approach this. So.
And they all had the same bottles, the same glass dropper bottles or plastic. And I thought, I don't want to be the same.
Found a really good supplier that's used skull shaped bottles which, okay, like that was just that got a foot in the door from. That's how you stand out on Instagram. You have to be unique or you have to be better at something else. So when obviously.
So, yeah, so basically kind of we got together, I said, here's, here's the plan. This is what I found. I want to go and jump in ahead. I said, I'll learn how to make the cosmetics. I said, I don't want to get a company to make it.
You don't have the same sort of passion. I think you feel better if you make it. So Spent hours and hours on end in the kitchen working these different recipes, research recipes, hours.
And then like there's so many different variables which you have to put in. It's like baking a cake from scratch and someone goes, here's your free ingredients.
I can't tell you how much you have to put in, but figure out itself.
Speaker A
00:06:16.120 - 00:06:29.120
So have a go, see how you get on. Yeah. So most people, when they set up like a cosmetics company, they.
They'll have an idea for a product and then they'll go to a company which does formulation.
Speaker D
00:06:29.840 - 00:06:30.320
Yeah.
Speaker A
00:06:30.400 - 00:06:34.880
And they put it together. But you thought, well, you know what, I can do this myself.
Speaker D
00:06:35.680 - 00:06:36.160
Yeah.
Speaker A
00:06:36.240 - 00:06:40.560
And have you ever. Have you had any background in product formulation or you just thought, no.
Speaker D
00:06:40.960 - 00:06:43.280
No, it was more.
Speaker A
00:06:43.710 - 00:06:45.710
So you sort of jump into the deep end. Why not?
Speaker D
00:06:46.190 - 00:07:47.510
I've got this weird. So I don't think it's weird. It's not a bad thing. I like to sort of. I think it's like obsessive sort of thing.
Like when once I commit to something, I go all in, like. So I met. So my business partner at the time, it was called Jake.
I met him for like two weeks before I actually agreed to jump in the business with him. Some people probably go, that's quite impulsive. Yeah, I think it is.
Like on like sort of the first sort of day, I think, or the first sort of second meeting after I dropped. Like, Pacey told him the business plan. He's not. He's got nothing to do with business background.
He had an art degree or illustration degree from Plymouth as well. He doesn't know anything. He didn't know anything about business. So I just kind of. We went on to this website.
We found all these obviously really good products. Then we just sort of committed there. I think that day I spent. I think it was like £200 at the time, which sort of. It's quite a lot of money.
Sort of someone that you've only met three weeks prior.
Speaker A
00:07:47.510 - 00:07:47.910
Sure.
Speaker D
00:07:48.390 - 00:07:56.790
So it's just sort of one of those. And I say I'm just going to commit because if not, like, it's just going to probably just end up fizzing out.
Speaker A
00:07:57.030 - 00:07:58.030
Wow. Okay.
Speaker D
00:07:58.030 - 00:07:58.870
Yeah. So.
Speaker A
00:07:59.110 - 00:08:03.110
So Beard and Bones was born. You had a chat with a guy you just met.
Speaker D
00:08:03.730 - 00:08:03.970
Yeah.
Speaker A
00:08:03.970 - 00:08:29.010
Then you decided you'd figure out how to make these products yourself. So you make them. You found a good supply for your packaging. I like what you said, actually. You know, you.
You did your research and a lot of people don't, but you'd be amazed, actually. How many people don't research the products? But you went and you looked at what everybody else was doing and thought, how can I stand out?
How can I be different? So you said that everybody else did a wood type scent.
Speaker D
00:08:29.690 - 00:09:33.000
Yeah. So a lot of the kind of. You'd think beard balms is sort of like everyone that's got beard, you think they've got manly smell.
Whereas me and Jake, we sort of, at the time we went, let's try something different. So we said at the time, obviously we was playing around with the scents. We thought we like a fruity scent.
I said, I'm personally, I like fruity scents. I think they're quite nice. So when was making them, my mum, she works in a hairdressing shop across sort of the road we went across.
He said, oh, this man's got a beer. Try bring some stuff over. So we said, okay.
We brought it over and that time he's having a haircut and we actually gave it to his wife and she smelt it and she went straight away, oh, my God, that is incredible. How much do you want for it? Like just a small little bomb. And I was like. At the time we said like fiverr because obviously it was just like.
We just gave him a few extra things as well because it's like we're so. But it was that different approach of it's not just the user is the buyer. You got women who have to appreciate this scent as well.
Speaker A
00:09:33.080 - 00:09:34.920
Yeah, yeah. And that's important.
Speaker D
00:09:35.000 - 00:09:42.200
Yeah, exactly. So we have a lot of men now that they go, the missus approves.
Speaker A
00:09:42.600 - 00:09:47.280
The missus approves. I like. That's actually a great tagline that she.
Speaker D
00:09:47.280 - 00:10:05.000
Said to go, the Mrs. Approves. And like. Or they love it. Then they. That's where it's kind of. You just get. It's just. It's great. It's a different approach.
Everyone goes, okay, the target market is men, let's go to the men and what they want. Whereas if you sort of ask. It's just a different approach.
Speaker A
00:10:06.760 - 00:10:30.490
Yeah, no, it's a good thing. I mean, it's. I see what you. I like that the Mrs. Approves. That's a great way. And so you went different on the scents, which is great. So explain the.
Well, you have explained the school shaped bottles is because again, you just wanted to stand out a little bit from the brown bottle with a white label. I'm taking it.
Speaker D
00:10:30.810 - 00:11:24.160
Yeah. So it was more, you see, sort of a lot. We just wanted to be completely different, but from everyone.
So everyone had the Same packaging and the same scents. Why would any company, you have to look at it from a normal perspective.
Why would any company want to choose us versus like anything that's out there, that's been established for five years, 10 years or you know, a big company, you need to be something different. So we thought, okay, we'll have glass, glass skulls, one that eye catching. So aesthetically pleasing.
Then after that, okay, then they go, what's in this sense? And then we go, okay, we've got candy floss, bubblegum, they're caught, they're like, whoa. Then they just find it something completely different.
They're like. Then that's sort of how you kind of get in with them. Really.
Speaker A
00:11:24.320 - 00:11:40.570
Sure. Okay. So that was the thinking behind the product and the brand.
And obviously you've had the site up and running for coming up for a year, is that right? About nine months? Nine, ten months. So what's your biggest problem that you need to deal with on the site?
Speaker D
00:11:43.290 - 00:12:59.800
I personally think it's reviews for the sake of. I notice I do it myself. So when I look at a product or website, it's caught my eye. So I'll go on there, just say it's.
I don't really know to be honest, but like sort of anything even when I'm looking for like products. So different stuff for my business, I'll go into work that sort of going off anyways.
So yeah, so when I kind of go on to any sort of like website that I'm expanding product range, I'll sort by popularity or reviews and then I'll come up and see number of, you know, products and obviously what I've kind of found on my website.
Even though we get loads of people reviewing products on social media and like you know, taking photos of it and explaining this is, this smells lovely, this is great packaging, like just everything you can. But to get that transition, to get them to leave a review on the website, it's very difficult.
So for example, I don't know if you actually want to go on it on the beard oil.
Speaker A
00:13:00.680 - 00:13:03.560
Okay, let's have a look at the beard oil. Yep.
Speaker D
00:13:04.760 - 00:13:07.320
It will come up like five reviews.
Speaker A
00:13:07.560 - 00:13:08.120
Okay.
Speaker D
00:13:08.920 - 00:13:16.120
If you sort of compare to how many were sold it, I think it's probably less than 1% leave reviews or 6 reviews now.
Speaker A
00:13:16.120 - 00:13:30.880
But so okay, so what's your review policy at the moment? How do you. So let's say I buy beard oil. How do you get me to write a review?
Do you ask me to do it or do you just kind of leave me to My own devices, hoping that I'll do it.
Speaker D
00:13:32.880 - 00:13:42.680
I don't actually have normally I've got a thank you card which sort of gets put in every single delivery. I could probably show you if you hold go and grab it or I.
Speaker A
00:13:42.680 - 00:13:47.640
Can show you, I can picture in my mind. So you put a card inside the box. Yeah.
Speaker D
00:13:47.640 - 00:14:16.490
Which just says like thank you for choosing us. Please tag us on social media with obviously eardandbones uk.
If you like, please leave a review on our website@ww.beardandbones.co.uk yeah, something so easy. But I think people find it difficult because if you go to leave a review now like so you have to be logged in first.
So at the top you have to be logged in to leave a review.
Speaker A
00:14:17.010 - 00:14:25.490
Okay, so I have to come to your website. Well, you give me the card. I have to remember to come to your website. I then have to log in and I then have to leave the review.
Speaker D
00:14:26.050 - 00:14:43.550
Yeah. And they have to go into the product on review and then like leave it.
But this year the difference between it's kind of it's got pros and cons because Lisa know everyone that's not fake. She's got verified owner. Verified owner. These are all people that all the product.
Speaker A
00:14:44.030 - 00:14:45.790
Yeah. So they're all genuine people.
Speaker D
00:14:46.190 - 00:14:46.670
Yeah.
Speaker A
00:14:47.550 - 00:14:54.270
Okay. Okay, so here's how, here's the thing.
Speaker D
00:14:54.270 - 00:14:54.750
When you.
Speaker A
00:14:54.990 - 00:17:06.790
When we first started an E commerce. Right when I say when I'm talking back in 2006, this was a long time ago, right. It was great reviews were. You didn't really have reviews back then.
Actually when they started, people would come to the site quite happily. They would log into their account and they would leave a review, no problem. Okay. But that equals hassle.
Now everything has to be quick, everything has to be instant and easy for them to get anybody to take action. And so we over the years have developed and changed how we ask for reviews on our E commerce sites. And we found a way that works pretty well. Okay.
And it's, it kind of goes like this. So you buy a product and we send you the product and like you, we put in there a little note, a little card saying thanks for buying.
It's great to, you know, welcome to the Jersey family or whatever it says on the card, like and share on social media, etc. Etc. What we do then is about a week later email them. We just do it with an automation.
So the system automatically emails like five days after the order has been placed and says, hey Dan, thanks for buying, you know, the candy Floss Beard oil. Would love to know what you think. Click here to leave the review. We'd really appreciate it because we're a family, you know, whatever.
There's some text that you would use that would make sense for your brand and so you encourage them to click the button.
They click the button and they're taken to a page where the products they've ordered are, you know, it's just those products, they don't have to log in because we know that they've clicked a link which we've emailed to them and so they just click that link, they click the star rating, they write their review and it takes like 30 seconds.
While just doing that simple process meant our reviews went from being like yours, from being like sort of less than 1% of purchases to actually been three or four times more than that. Jermine. It was, it was chalk and cheese. The difference.
Speaker D
00:17:07.190 - 00:17:52.680
I was gonna say I do have a similar approach. Mine's more if I.
Because we're quite active and quite close with our people on social media, on especially Instagram, we've managed to got a following of 3.7 thousand.
So when we kind of, a lot of people like to message us after they've ordered or we're talking to them at times if they've got a question about a product or what scent do you recommend? So I normally kind of, I have like kind of a three step approach.
So they kind of order, they say, oh, I've just ordered the other send a screenshot, will just tell me they've ordered. So I said thank you. I say I'll get it posted tomorrow or the following day or whenever.
So I'll message them when I post it, I'll say, can you let me know when it's arrived? Then obviously the bonus arrived. They normally send.
Speaker A
00:17:52.680 - 00:17:54.480
You do that messaging on Instagram.
Speaker D
00:17:54.720 - 00:18:43.360
Yeah. So this is not sort of automated, which is. It's more kind of. I think that's more personal.
I do see it sometimes from many companies that I sort of buy off. They've obviously do the same approach which you obviously talked about.
They'd have an automated service which sets up, you know, between one and three days, sometimes one in a week to say thank you for your purchase. Please review here. But yeah, sometimes I'm the same, I just don't do it.
I see an email, I see so many emails from different sort of suppliers or from Amazon and this and that. I'm just overwhelmed by like all these reviews. And sometimes I try to go. It's a small Business, I need to help them out.
But I don't know, I think, yeah, I think you've got the right approach. I was saying the, the, the thing.
Speaker A
00:18:43.360 - 00:19:48.980
That I'm, I guess we need to do is figure out a way which keeps that personal touch which you like. So it's not the, you know, anonymous, big corporate sending you stuff. It's still got that sort of down touch.
But you've, you've, you need to merge that with making it as easy as is humanly possible for someone to leave a review on your website. And that's the, that's the critical thing. And you can now get it actually where people leave reviews in the emails.
I mean we send them an email and get them to click through to the website.
You can actually get it now where they, where they just fill those form icons in an actual email so they don't even have to leave their email program to give you the review again, just removing that sort of step which makes it difficult for them to do it. And I get why, why you'd want to do it manually. I don't think automation is bad. I think impersonal is bad.
And you can, you can mix the personal with automation. Do you know what I mean? You can make it connect and feel with the customer's. With automation.
Speaker D
00:19:49.540 - 00:20:53.990
I personally, which I really need to do, I don't send out any emails I've not got. Which is something that, it's something that's quite, it needs to be sorted for the fact that I don't send out like, because I, I see it loads.
I buy one product from a company. I remember this, I bought a protein shake from a company about three years ago and they spam me with emails near enough every day.
Like I bought this like one. I must have been, I don't know.
Yeah, I was young, I was 19 at that time I bought it and, and like literally I'll get texted through and just it's constant bombardment which is something that I kind of went, right, I don't really want that. I do need to send out emails more.
I've looked at sort of different companies that do have this sort of thing which you can send through just a update how we've released a new product. But that's something that I really need to list actually getting, get going. So.
Speaker A
00:20:54.470 - 00:21:24.590
Yeah, you do. And I get why, you know, you don't want to spam customers, but then you don't want to be silent either. Right?
Because as good as your product is, people forget companies really quickly. You know and so email marketing is one of those things where I would strongly recommend you do that.
It'll make a big difference to your repeat orders.
And the other thing you know is, I mean, do you send out emails when people have purchased saying, hey, thanks for your order, your order's been shipped.
Speaker D
00:21:25.710 - 00:22:14.840
Yeah. So say that way we've got a thing where I.
When I've obviously posted the order, I'll go onto sort of the website, go down to orders and click on all of them that we've posted and say completed. And that's another automated message. And thanks for shipping reversal. Thanks for ordering us. It's on its way, sort of.
We do have emails getting pumped out, but there's never any sort of update one. That's where we kind of have. Where we leverage. We're not leveraged.
That's why we have this more social media side where we, we like to do a post a day at least. Obviously, sometimes it's not. It doesn't help if you've obviously got people. That's not actually bought from us.
That's bought from us, but not on social media.
Speaker A
00:22:15.800 - 00:22:23.240
Yeah. I was gonna say, how do you find out? Let's say I buy a product from you. How do you connect with me on Instagram? How do you know I've done that?
Speaker D
00:22:25.000 - 00:22:35.490
It's more. They kind of. So normally they follow us or. And then they kind of like message us or we kind of. You get a kind of put two and two together.
You kind of see the name.
Speaker A
00:22:36.050 - 00:22:42.610
Okay. One of the things I've seen really well is where you send personalized messages. Have you tried that? Video messages?
Speaker D
00:22:45.730 - 00:23:33.200
I've not passive done it. I am. I've got. It's kind of weird. I've got. It doesn't feel like they're customers.
Like, we've actually got like group chat on like our Beard and Bones page where it's actually. They kind of like talk on a daily basis. Share sort of advice to like other. It doesn't feel like I'm the company, you're the customer.
We've got this very sort of transparent, close relationship, which I don't really see a lot of many companies do that. They've. They interact with their customers at such a friendly approach.
I know some companies like did the complete opposite and it backfires massively. They don't.
Speaker A
00:23:33.440 - 00:23:44.160
Yeah. And I get, I, I do get that, but I think you could use.
I mean, you know, if you, if you don't want to spam people with email, I, you know, I think you need to overcome that fear.
Speaker D
00:23:45.360 - 00:24:20.260
But I say again, sorry, it's not fear, it's more. I don't one, know 100% how to do it. Then two, it's, I've not even committed the time to doing it.
I know, sort of log into some sort of email plugin or client mailchimp for example, set up all the users and then obviously pump out, you know, set them up. But it's more the, there's other things that I need to be doing. There's not enough hours in a day sort of thing.
Speaker A
00:24:20.740 - 00:26:18.110
Yeah, no, it's interesting, isn't it? When you set up your own e commerce business, you get so busy doing all these different things.
But I mean email marketing is one of those things that you could set up and just leave on automation. Even if it's a case of, you know what, somebody buys a product, I'm going to set up a sequence which, you know, you've got to set up.
But once it's set up, it's set up. Which emails them and says hey, thanks for your order. A week later emails them, says hey, fancy leaving as a review.
Two weeks later says hey, check out a blog post on why beard balm is better than whatever, you know.
A week or so later emails them and say, listen, when you get, when you're running low, order another one, here's a coupon for your next order kind of thing. Sure. I mean it's, and it can do that whole thing automatically just to keep people connected with what you're doing.
I do wonder whether something like just spending, you know, 20 minutes a day for the people that you know on Instagram that have ordered, just sending like a 10 second message, video message to them saying, hey Simon, thanks for ordering the candy floss. Beard balm.
Hey look, this is me packing, you know, I've packed it and you show them that it's in the envelope, it's on its way, let me know that you get it and you send that to them and then you bring in that kind of personal touch that's kind of cool. And it's easy to do when you're starting off.
In some respects it's difficult when you've got, you know, hundreds and thousands of orders going through your website every day. But that's a different problem.
And then you could, if you set yourself a reminder, say, right, all the people that ordered a week ago, I'm just going to send them a message on Instagram saying hey, I hope you're getting on well with hey Simon, I hope you're getting on well with your candy floss beard Bomb would love it if you could head over to the website and leave a review. I've sent you an email with a quick link which you can click just to leave us a review. Would really appreciate it. It's helping us grow the business.
Have a great day, Jimmy. It's like a 22nd thing like that.
Speaker D
00:26:19.470 - 00:28:17.330
I wouldn't personally do the kind of, I do like the approach of the sort of sending the video. What, what obviously we used to do, we used to send sort of personalized letters.
Then it just like unfeasible to do as we're scaling as was getting more and more orders per day. It just, it just wasn't like time, the amount of time that we're putting in.
Like I kind of, it just wasn't being appreciated sort of, I know sort of it's hard to kind of even calculate that but with obviously the approach that you sort of said obviously I do kind of follow up on people but it gets sort of hard to kind of track who's bought what and then obviously if they're, if they're not on social media.
So I definitely need to kind of spend a good, I don't know, few days deep researching into email marketing because I know it works because I see messages like emails from companies that obviously I forget about and then sort of I see an email and then it reminds me of going the website. Yeah, I definitely need to look into that. I think with the reviews thing I still find it difficult with parents.
Well we've just started shipping on Amazon and we're trying obviously Amazon sort of same approach. You need to get reviews obviously reviews sort of put you out there against any other company. So someone messenger said have you got a link?
So I'm trying to push them to the Amazon and a website. So I said there's the link to the Amazon. I said he bought it. He said oh it smells brilliant, thank you. I said can you leave a review? Said yeah sure.
Obviously you know, say about three or four days time now like no review. I thought you open by them again and say hi, sorry, I know you're busy but can you leave review?
There's that level of I don't want to be too pushy, you know what I mean?
Speaker A
00:28:17.490 - 00:29:46.480
Yeah, I do.
And unfortunately, well so unfortunately in all the years I've been doing this, there's no specific formula that I can give you which would say this is the amount of times you contact people and this is when you contact them. That's going to come through testing. I have no issue like with our reviews, when we email people and say, can you leave a review?
We email them three times. And if after three times they've still not written a review, then I don't email them anymore about writing reviews.
So if they, if they buy from us, I send them three emails about writing review, I, then there's a note made on the system.
And so when they buy from us a second time, we don't then send them the same emails asking them to write reviews, but we would the third time they purchased. Do you see what I mean? Because by then they may have come to know us a little bit better.
So we have to take into account where they are on the spectrum. But we know that works for us because that's what we've tested and you've got to test that.
So if you're asking people to write reviews, whether it's on your website or whether it's on Amazon, maybe you ask them once, you maybe ask them twice, you maybe ask him a third time. But in the third email, say, listen, hey, just remind me if you can leave a review. That's great. I'm not going to keep pestering you about this.
This will be the last email that I send. No worries. If you don't want to leave a review. Hope you don't mind me asking. Have a great day. People are fine.
By that, do you mean they don't feel like they're getting spammed? It's as long as you know you're not sending them an email every day saying leave a review.
Speaker D
00:29:47.120 - 00:30:22.510
Yeah, yeah. I think as long as you sort of, you, you're not bombarding them with it. Not spam. Because then they become to like go off your business.
It has the opposite effect where you've got a customer. Yeah, it's something you're like, at what cost do you want this review sort of thing?
Do you want to lose the customer just to get five stars on you like that? That's the way I sort of look at it.
We like what if you want to scroll up on the website, I actually sort of did try to take some sort of approach with it. So there's a reviews tab. We have a lot of people that do YouTube reviews.
Speaker A
00:30:22.510 - 00:30:23.790
Oh, okay. Let's have a look at that.
Speaker D
00:30:24.190 - 00:30:39.870
They buy products from us. They like to sort of get out there. So it should hopefully kind of load up with. If you press Read more, it should actually be YouTube embedded.
We've got all these sort of people that done Reviews themselves, obviously.
Speaker A
00:30:40.190 - 00:30:53.470
Oh well, the fact that I have to click on reviews, YouTube reviews. Read more to get to this. I wonder whether you should take like one of those reviews and put it on your homepage.
Speaker D
00:30:54.110 - 00:30:55.630
This. I'm using WordPress.
Speaker A
00:30:55.790 - 00:30:56.270
Yeah.
Speaker D
00:30:57.150 - 00:31:37.920
So it's different for me. Like I've always used Shopify, used Wix in the past, but my friend who actually hosts this website for me, he's got his own like hosting server.
Obviously he says use like WordPress. So I said, fine then. But it's different. So if you look clicked on homepage, you can't have. There's not much customization.
There's literally the products itself, then that's it. Like there's no. Just little things like that. And I personally like to sort of upgrade it where there's different things.
Like down there, obviously the side, the right hand side, we've got like obviously social media thing where.
Speaker A
00:31:38.000 - 00:31:40.080
Yeah, I see your Instagram.
Speaker D
00:31:40.560 - 00:31:54.800
Yeah, I think that looks quite cool. I don't know.
I know big, big companies sort of have their social media, but yeah, I think maybe I need some sort of plugin that's down the side that says like reviews and then they can like toggle through the videos.
Speaker A
00:31:55.880 - 00:32:36.440
Yeah, I think, you know, we could spend all day talking about website design, but I mean obviously you want to focus on reviews. So if I, if I bring it back to reviews, then we'll come back to your homepage. Those video reviews are like gold dust. People will watch those.
And if I, if I were you, I'd find ways to get them on the homepage. And if they're talking about a specific product in those videos, I would also put that video on that product page.
So if they're talking about the candy floss balm, then I'd be like, right, I'm doing, I'm putting that video on the candy floss page. Do you see what I mean? So people can watch that.
Speaker D
00:32:37.000 - 00:32:52.030
You can actually do that on sort of on the page at the bottom there's obviously the tabs where like the reviews are. One says like ingredients. I could have like video reviews then leave the hyperlink there for them.
Speaker A
00:32:52.030 - 00:33:28.790
Yeah, I'll try and embed it again. Make it as easy as possible with the least amount of clicks. So if it's there on the page embedded, all people have to just click the play button.
They'll watch it if it's just a text link where they click through and do you know what I mean?
It doesn't really work as well and you want it in its Big format, you know, it's like I'd put the headline, you know, review video review by Tony or whoever's done the review on the candy. See what Tony thinks about the candy floss bomb in this, his YouTube review. People will watch that and that's going to be kind of cool.
Speaker D
00:33:29.270 - 00:33:40.870
What I don't. With that sort of aspect, I've not kind of thought of it in that way. So it is a good idea.
I just don't want to guide their attention away from buying the product. Obviously, the main part of a website.
Speaker A
00:33:41.190 - 00:34:19.269
I don't think it would take them away from buying the product because they're still on the actual product page.
You've got to remember, right, Dan, that for your website and your products, the majority of people coming to your website don't know you and they don't know your products. They need that trust, which is why your reviews are so important. You were right right at the start.
You know, the reviews are critical and people look at reviews and people read them. And so I think if there's a text review, that's great.
But if you think about anything that you've ever purchased of any significance, if you're like me, then you head on over to YouTube and see what people write about that.
Speaker D
00:34:19.269 - 00:34:19.669
Right?
Speaker A
00:34:19.909 - 00:34:41.509
So at the time of recording, the DJI Action Camera has just been released, right. They sent me an email saying, this DJI Action Cam has been released. Click here to buy it.
Well, before I did that, I went on to YouTube to see what people were saying about this DJI action camera, right? And I watched the reviews. Now, it would have been super handy.
Speaker C
00:34:41.509 - 00:34:42.869
If I'd have gone to the DJI.
Speaker A
00:34:42.869 - 00:35:04.830
Page and they'd embedded some of those. So it was just all in one place and I could have just scrolled down. Watch, watch, watch. Great, I'll buy it, right?
So I don't think embedding the videos will be a problem.
I think it will help you with your sales because it builds that credibility and it builds that trust because they get to see somebody independent and you can hear their reviews, you can hear the authenticity in their voice.
Speaker D
00:35:05.070 - 00:35:24.850
I do, I agree with it. I'm the same with smartphones. When I'm sort of looking to get a new smartphone or any sort of upgrade for like a laptop.
That's sort of the big purchase for me personally. Like, they're obviously very expensive. You do a lot of deep research, go and watching three, four, five different videos.
Speaker A
00:35:24.850 - 00:37:04.400
Exactly. So if you can embed those on your site, you're helping people. You're showing people the different ways in which they can leave reviews.
So they could put a review on YouTube, they could put a review on Instagram, they could write a review on your website, and you're showing those.
I'm going to come back to your earlier point though, of saying you need to work on reviews, because when I look through your website, your starter kits, for example, they've got a few reviews, but some of the products haven't got reviews. And I think it's very difficult to sell products that have no reviews on them.
And I think minimally, I would say to you, you need to get aim in the next. You know, if you, If I was going to give you a challenge, and why not? It's a coaching call, right?
If I was going to give you a challenge, then I would say to you, listen, your challenge should be to make sure that on your website this time next week. So give yourself seven days to do it. You've got at least five reviews on your website for each product right?
Now, whether that's a case of you have to go to five people that you know with. What's the product I was looking at there? The beard shampoo, the sweet rum scented shampoo, and it's Rum casket. Cool packaging, by the way.
If I have to go around, you know, five or six people that have got beards that I know say, right, I'm gonna put this in your hand, go wash your beard and then write a review and tell me what you think, right? And you give them a product and they, they write the reviews for you.
Do whatever you need to do to get genuine, authentic reviews, obviously, but you need to go and get those reviews on each product, right? The actual written text reviews.
Speaker D
00:37:04.400 - 00:37:37.620
It's so, so critical if, obviously if I need them to leave a review on the actual product itself, that is obviously where it gets a lot harder versus. I know I had this one person messaged me tonight on Instagram saying he's doing a review with a beard shampoo tomorrow.
I've had people tag me in photos of them using it saying, this is amazing.
So I could literally just do some sort of like a screenshot or, you know, obviously an image of their, like, review and then upload it that way into more.
Speaker A
00:37:38.180 - 00:37:42.020
Yep, totally put it in the product descriptions. Yep, totally do that.
Speaker D
00:37:42.660 - 00:37:57.190
That's, that's, that's what I've done. So I'm currently dropping a new product, sent out a few samples to kind of, you know, a couple of loyal customers.
And obviously it was just one of those That I just took a few screenshots of. Screenshots of the combo.
Speaker A
00:37:58.630 - 00:38:08.470
That's great. I wouldn't put them in the images here. I'd have them in the description here. Make them stand out so people see them instantly.
Because I could have missed that. Do you know what I mean?
Speaker D
00:38:09.030 - 00:38:33.300
Looked at the product, obviously unsure what it was like. This here is a slightly different product for beard care. It's a butter, which. It's just, it's different. It's, you know, it's like a body.
But women use it, men use it like base moisturizer. So obviously it was more getting it in their face so they know straight away.
So if they see it, obviously they can kind of have a quick scroll across.
Speaker A
00:38:34.020 - 00:38:54.150
But in terms of adding reviews into your content, I think it's critical.
And I would put in the video reviews, I'd put in the screenshots from Instagram, I'd put in those comments just to give people the confidence to buy that product from you and make sure on each product you know you've got five good, clear, strong reviews.
Speaker D
00:38:54.630 - 00:38:54.990
Yeah.
Speaker A
00:38:54.990 - 00:39:39.930
And then that will definitely help you when people come to your site with that conversion. But do be super clear and super intentional about having a good review policy in terms of this is my strategy for going and getting reviews.
I'm going to try this, man. Just try how we do it and test it and evolve it as you go along and you'll find something that works really uniquely with you.
It's no longer the case now of if I put my products on a website, I send them to people, they buy them, they love them, they will write a review. It's not the case at all. You have to actually ask people deliberately to write the review. And if you do that, people will.
And usually the people that really like you will do it. They'll go, oh, yeah, that's cool.
Speaker D
00:39:40.250 - 00:39:46.290
What email sort of service use, is it built in with Shopify or is it.
Speaker A
00:39:46.290 - 00:40:36.960
No, we don't. I mean, we use the curious digital platform.
We did it with a mixture of development on the site and triggering automations and sequences in activecampaign to send those sequences out and what happens if and when and so on and so forth. And you know, you can do that in ActiveCampaign and you can do it in Mailchimp, you can do it in ConvertKit, you can do it in a whole bunch of them.
You know, it's. They're all good services, so definitely shop around and try it out.
But yeah, I mean, for you, the big Two takeaways are going to be email marketing and working on your review strategy, without any doubt. Listen, it's been great, Dan, having you on the show. I appreciate you. Camilo.
If you're, if you are listening to the podcast and you do have a beard, check out beard and bones. Especially if you're in the uk. Do you ship abroad or do you just ship to the uk?
Speaker D
00:40:37.360 - 00:40:40.320
Ship all around the world, no problem.
Speaker A
00:40:40.400 - 00:40:53.840
So if you're anywhere in the world listening to this, head on over to his site and try his, his, his candy floss bomb, because why would you not, right? I mean, it just sounds lush. So definitely give that a try. Dan, thanks for your time.
Speaker D
00:40:54.240 - 00:40:55.120
Yeah, thank you very much.
Speaker C
00:40:55.600 - 00:43:02.290
What a great conversation with Dan that was.
Have you enjoyed listening in as we discuss the role of email marketing in acquiring customer reviews with the added challenge of keeping that personal touch right? And also how we make it easy for customers to leave reviews more often than not. Reviews equals hassle.
So using email marketing and automation makes it quick and easy, but you still do need that personal connection. So the main aim for Dan, for me, is to become intentional about having a good review strategy.
There's no exact formula that works for everybody every time, but you've got to start somewhere and test something and be intentional with it and don't just go on a wing and a prayer. Hope has never been the best business strategy.
Okay, so I have left Dan with the challenge of coming up with at least five reviews for each product on his website in the next seven days. Can he do it? Find out@beardandbones.co.uk and of course, if you purchase a product of Dan's, remember to leave a review on his website.
It would be great if you could do that. Now make sure you subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts.
It is free and the show is hopefully going to be full of great stuff about how to set up, run and grow your own e commerce business. So do make sure you subscribe to keep up to date. And of course, all the show notes for today's episodes link to the sponsor, KD Curious Digital.
More information about the CoLab project, my 100 website project on my website mattedmondson.com along with my social media links. If you want to connect with me on social media, I'm on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, you name it, I'm there.
And I love to connect with folks, so make sure you reach out and connect with me on those platforms. Thanks for listening, my fellow e commerce entrepreneur and I'll be back soon with some more help and advice on e Commerce. So until next time.
Speaker B
00:43:06.450 - 00:43:15.840
You'Ve been listening to the Curiosity Podcast with Matt Edmondson. Subscribe and join us next time as we carry on conversations about all things e commerce and digital business.
Dan Henders
Beard and Bones