How to Create a Review Campaign

Review campaigns are the heart of how Cloutly helps you build trust, improve visibility, and grow your business. A campaign is simply an automated sequence that asks your customers for reviews — via SMS, email, or QR code — and guides them to leave feedback on the platforms that matter most.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to create a review campaign from start to finish, plus some pro tips to maximise results.

What Is a Review Campaign?

A review campaign is a pre-built flow you send to customers to request feedback and guide them to your review sites.

Each campaign can be customised with:

• Messaging: The text and tone of your review request
• Timing: When and how often to follow up
• Channels: SMS, email, or both
• Destination: Which review platforms to direct customers to

Campaigns can be used manually (sent one-by-one), in bulk (via CSV upload), or triggered automatically (through integrations with your CRM, POS, or booking system).

Whether you’re sending a one-off follow-up or building a multi-step messaging sequence, the Campaign Editor gives you complete control over how and when customers hear from you.

Creating a Campaign (Step by Step)

Step 1: Start a New Campaign

From your dashboard, navigate to Campaigns → Create Campaign.

Give your campaign a name — for example, “New Client Feedback” or “Post-Booking Reviews” — so you can easily identify it later.

Step 2: Choose Your Review Sites

The first step is deciding where you want customers to leave reviews. You can select one or multiple platforms, such as:

• Google
• Facebook
• Cloutly Video Testimonials
• G2, Capterra, Tripadvisor, Opentable, and more

These are the platforms your campaign will direct customers to once they click through your message.

Tip: add review sites to your Integrations to ensure they show up inside the campaign editor.

Step 3: Build Your Message Timeline

This is where the power of Cloutly’s Campaign Editor comes in.

Each campaign can include one or multiple message steps, sent via SMS, email, or both. You control the channel, timing, and content for every message in the sequence.

Add Your First Message

Your campaign starts with Message 1, which you can send immediately after a trigger (e.g., a purchase, booking, or service).

• Channel: Choose SMS, email, or both.
• Content: Write a short, friendly message using dynamic fields like {{first_name}} and {{location_name}}.
• Heading (optional): This is the subject line for your email or the intro text for your SMS.

✅ Pro tip: Keep SMS messages under 160 characters and lead with gratitude before making the ask. Example:

“Hi {{first_name}}, it’s {{location_name}} here. Thanks for choosing us! Could you share your experience? It only takes a minute: [Review Link]”

Step 4: Add Follow-Up Steps

Follow-ups dramatically improve your review conversion rate. To add one, click “+ Add Step” under your first message.

Each additional step can be fully customised:

• Message Channel: Choose SMS or email independently for each follow-up.
• Timing: Click the timer icon ⏱️ to set how long Cloutly waits before sending this next step (e.g. “3 days later”).
• Content: Write a reminder message, offer a thank-you, or add a second review link.

Example follow-up:

“Just checking in, {{first_name}} - your feedback really helps others choose us. If you’ve got 30 seconds, we’d love a quick review: [Review Link]”

💡 Most businesses see a 40–50% boost in review volume just by adding one follow-up message.

Step 5: Personalise with Video (Optional but Powerful)

Cloutly lets you go beyond text by attaching a personalised video to your campaign. This can be a thank-you, a follow-up, or even a short message from a team member.

• Videos can dramatically increase click-through rates and review completions.
• They also humanise the request, turning a transactional moment into a memorable experience.

Step 6: Review and Launch

Before you hit “Send,” double-check the key details:

• ✅ Review sites are correct
• ✅ Messages are short, friendly, and clearly ask for feedback
• ✅ Timing delays are set properly between steps
• ✅ Channels (SMS vs email) are intentional at each stage

When you’re ready, click Send Now to launch your campaign — or test it first by sending a Test Message to yourself.

🔄 Campaigns Are Always Active

One important thing to know: your campaigns never expire. Once a campaign is created, it stays active in your account indefinitely. That means you can:

• Reuse campaigns again and again without needing to rebuild them
• Return to the Campaign Editor at any time and hit “Send Now” to launch it for new customers
• Keep a library of evergreen campaigns for different scenarios (e.g. post-purchase, post-service, loyalty follow-ups)

This flexibility makes it easy to standardise your messaging, optimise over time, and keep generating reviews without extra setup work.

Bonus: Best Practices for High-Performing Campaigns

• Ask soon: 24–48 hours after a service or transaction is the sweet spot.
• Keep it conversational: Avoid corporate language - sound like a human.
• Use at least 2 steps: Follow-ups can boost conversion by up to 50%.
• Experiment with channels: SMS for immediacy, email for context - or combine both.
• Leverage video: Personalised video messages often double response rates.

Tracking Your Results

Once your campaign is live, monitor performance in the Campaigns dashboard:

• 📈 Total messages sent
• ⭐ Reviews collected and average rating
• 🧠 Conversion rate by channel
• 🧑‍💻 Attribution by team member

Use this data to refine future campaigns - small changes in message copy or timing can significantly improve results.

Next Steps

👉 Create your first campaign now and start turning happy customers into powerful social proof. Once you’ve mastered the basics, explore automation, video requests, and staff attribution to level up your review strategy.

Can Cloutly protect me from negative reviews?

Yes, absolutely! Read more about how we protect your reputation here.

Updated on: 30/09/2025