Google has introduced a new feature in Gmail that will make it easier for certain business owners to get reviews from their target audience. Just as users can respond to RSVP through Gmail, this new option will let Gmail users review restaurants and other businesses right from their inbox.
The Review Action is available for restaurants, movies, products and more. By adding the schema markup to marketing emails, recipients will be able to provide numeric (star) ratings and even submit a text review up to 10,000 characters long directly from their inbox.
Once completed, the reviews can be used in variety on a site. It does require some understanding of the Google App Engine, but it’s not as difficult as it sounds. Customer reviews are important for internet marketers but they can be hard to get from customers. It’s worth the effort to use Review Actions on Gmail if you know your subscriber base would welcome the chance to give positive reviews.
Right now, Gmail supports reviews for entities of the following types movies, restaurants, products (including commodity services). The feature was first introduced last year where it was used by Seamless.
Interestingly, the markup for Review Action doesn’t work on Google’s new Inbox app, which is designed as a sort of a hybrid app that blends traditional email services with other lifestyle integration features for photos, events, etc. It’s likely that Google will fix the issue soon.
The good part about In-App Actions is that they are done without sending the user to any other website. Besides the newest additions for more reviews, other actions include One-Click Actions and RSVP Actions.
Though it only works on Gmail, the Review Action option is especially helpful for marketers who reach their customers through email campaigns. For example, if a restaurant already sends coupons to certain customers via email (which is a good marketing tactic), these emails can be include the Review Action schema so these customers can easily rate their favorite restaurant as they get their latest coupons. Similarly, independent filmmakers can announce news about their latest projects to newsletter subscribers and have them rate some of the filmmaker’s work.
A new report from CSO Insights found that email marketing was reported to be the top performing method of generating the best quality and quantity of leads. According to the study, nearly 55 percent of leading companies surveyed reported an increase in lead conversions when utilizing lead nurturing through email.
To see how to add the markup to your marketing emails, to learn more about other actions that can be included in Google Developer website. And for more ideas on getting customer feedback, read this article with three ethical ways to get more reviews.