If your company is receiving alerts for every new online review it receives, then you know that you have a variety of choices as to the frequency of these alerts. For example, most online review sites like Yelp or online review tracking sites like Review Trackers give you an option as to how often you want to be alerted of new reviews. It’s very important that you know your options and the benefits of each one so that you can choose the right frequency for your company, and the following information will help.
Weekly
Most alerts can be received on a weekly basis, and there are a few companies that can benefit from receiving alerts on a weekly basis instead of more often. For example, if you’re a newer company that doesn’t have a review management team, it may be a good idea to receive your alerts on a weekly basis. This way, the review alerts will not consume your email and will not distract you from the other important aspects of your business.
If your company doesn’t offer a wide variety of products or services, or if you have consumers in a very niche market, you may also benefit from receiving alerts on a weekly basis. If you don’t have a very large consumer base, or if your consumers are not in the demographic that leaves reviews, then a weekly alert will keep you in the loop without the constant need of emails.
Daily
You also have the option of receiving your alerts on a daily basis. This means that every alert that occurs on a specific day will come in one notification email. This is a great way to receive a daily report on the type of activity that is happening on your review site, and it can help you notice certain trends that may occur between sales and reviews. Plus, with one daily set of notifications, you can easily read through all the reviews and choose the ones that need immediate attention. You can then draft any necessary responses without allowing too much time to go by, which will help you remedy any negative information before it has the chance to go viral.
Real Time
The other popular alert frequency is in real time, and this tends to be the more popular option for some businesses. For example, if your company has a very active online presence and you have a team dedicated to managing your online reviews, then you’ll want to make sure you receive your alerts in real time. This allows your team to respond to any reviews right away, which is the best way to rectify situations before they have the chance to spread and do major damage.
The downside to receiving notification in real time is that, with the wide variety of online review sites, you may be receiving notifications all day long, and these notifications can take up space in your inbox. Plus, if you don’t have the time to look at them right away when they come in, then you may end up forgetting about the alert altogether. If the alert was notifying you about a negative review and you don’t respond, you could end up doing some major damage to your brand.
Jacob Smith specializes in review tracking and reputation management. He enjoys blogging about anything related to business and recently wrote about tips for tracking review alerts.