How to get more online customer reviews for your surf camp

This is not the first time we have touted the importance of online customer reviews on our site. After all online reviews have a substantial effect on your potential customers’ online shopping preferences and on the opinions they build around your brand.  
In order to take advantage of your customers’ opinions about your surf camp and put into practice your knowledge about your camp’s management, what works and what doesn't, there must exist a sufficient amount of reviews for your establishment. But, how can you get these reviews?

Today, we will teach you a few strategies to help increase the number of online reviews you receive, in order to attract more potential clients and to retain your existing ones.

 
1. Ensure that your surf camp has a strong online presence

First, to increase the percentage of online reviews your surf camp receives, you must ensure that your camp can be easily found on the largest possible number of online platforms. By doing so, you minimize the amount of work your customers’ will have to do to leave their review, and you allow them to use the platforms they are either most comfortable with or are subscribed to, avoiding the hassle of forcing your clients to create a new online profile, which can discourage them from reviewing your camp.

More importantly, this act is also extremely beneficial for your business, because it will naturally begin to elevate your brand due to the number of links that will be generated by different web portals to your website.

2. Create a space for your reviews on your website

Along with being present on other review sites, it is fundamental that you dedicate your own space on your surf camp’s site for your customers’ reviews, allowing you to redirect clients to that space after they make a reservation.

Another great option is featuring the best comments on your main page both as a form of prize and as an acknowledgement of your clients’ efforts. Not only will it increase the visibility of your customers’ reviews to potential clients, allowing them to quickly view what others think about your surf camp with one quick glance of your website, but it will also incentivize others to leave their own review for the chance to be featured on the main page. 

 
3. Create an email marketing campaign

Corporate email can be your greatest tool for increasing the number of online reviews your surf camp receives. Right now, you are probably wondering, “How can I utilize email to do this?” Well, one good way is through the creation of an email marketing campaign, in which you invite all of your past clients to leave their opinions about their experience at your camp. The most ideal time to send this email would be right after they have passed through your surf camp, always personalizing the message and thanking them for choosing your establishment and not another.

Another way to utilize corporate email is adding a direct link to your review page in your email’s signature with an attractive bit of text inviting the user to leave their opinion. This technique can be extremely reliable and is very easy to accomplish.

4. Get more offline reviews

Just like with your online strategy to increase the number of reviews you receive, it is vitally important that you also create a space for your offline reviews at the surf camp itself. There are many ways that this can be achieved. For example, you can place a poster at your camp’s reception desk that invites your customers’ to leave a review and/or posters that display the logos of trusted platforms such as Tripadvisor, centering your clients’ attention on a platform they know they can trust and persuading them to contribute to your cause.

5. Offer some sort of prize in exchange for their review 

In both your online and offline strategy, you can include a prize incentive as a reward for writing a customer review for your camp. This incentive can include discounts on certain activities or accommodations, free nights or services, participation in some sort of contest or sweepstakes, or even a free beer. The choice is yours.

This is a sure-fire way of increasing the number of reviews you receive quickly and easily. After all, who doesn’t like getting free stuff? 

We hope that you enjoyed reading these tips and that you have taken note of them. Now it is your turn to put them into practice. Until next week!