Open vs invite-only reviews

There are two main types of review platforms: invite-only – which are sometimes referred to as closed platforms – and open platforms. 

Choosing the right review platform for your business is an important decision. Customer feedback is vital for building brand trust and is the best way to listen to your customers, understand how they feel about your business, and use that insight to continually improve your customer experience.

There are two main types of review platforms: invite-only – which are sometimes referred to as closed platforms – and open platforms.

What is a closed review platform?

A closed review platform is one where only people invited to leave feedback can write a review. It allows you to stay in control of who can leave a review and who can’t, ensuring that only genuine customers who have purchased your products or services are invited to leave feedback.

Advantages of a closed review platform

There are many advantages to using a closed, invite-only review platform, including:

• Stay free from fake reviews and confident in the knowledge that every piece of feedback has come from a real customer who has used your products or services
• Better protect your brand reputation from inoffensive or inaccurate feedback
• Make better, informed decisions about your business, knowing that the insight you’ve collected from your customers is real feedback that can be trusted
• Collect feedback with ease about different aspects of your customer experience, by asking your customers for reviews at different touchpoints
• Collect private feedback for internal use, for example, to understand how well your customer service team deals with enquiries.
  
  

Disadvantages of a closed review platform

At Feefo, we’re strong advocates of closed review platforms, as we believe that fake feedback can be very damaging to businesses. However, some of the perceived disadvantages of a closed review platform include:

• Transparency issues, as some customers believe companies that use closed review platforms have something to hide
• Problems with discoverability, as some consumers may find it harder to see your brand or reviews when they research your company
• Subscription costs, as most closed review platforms require your business to commit to a monthly or annual contract to benefit from the more enhanced features.
  
  

What is an open review platform?

An open review platform allows anyone to leave feedback about a brand and its products or services. There’s no need for the person leaving the review to verify that they are a genuine customer who had a genuine interaction with the company they’re reviewing. Consumers can search for your review page or listing on an open platform and write a review.

Advantages of an open review platform

There are benefits to open review platforms too, including:

• Collect reviews organically, as customers can search for your business and leave a review, without having to wait for an invitation
• Collect feedback from those who haven’t purchased from you, for example, if a consumer tried to buy something on your website but couldn’t complete their order
• Send customers a direct link to your review page, without the need to ask for feedback via a third-party platform.
  
  

Disadvantages of an open review platform

With open review platforms inviting anyone to leave feedback, there is a potential risk to your brand reputation from unverified, fake reviews from consumers who may never have interacted with your business. Other disadvantages include:

• Consumers are cautious of reviews posted on open platforms, as
• No option to collect private, anonymous feedback, which can offer your brand insight from the audiences that matter the most to you
• Some open review platforms don’t offer the option to opt out of receiving feedback, which could severely damage your brand’s reputation.
  
  

Negative reviews 

Whether you decide to choose an open or closed platform to collect reviews from your customers, you can gain valuable insight from the feedback you receive – even if that feedback is negative. While no business likes to receive negative feedback, you can learn a lot from customers who weren’t entirely satisfied with their experience with your brand.

In our recent survey, 69% of consumers said that they’d continue to make a purchase if they could see that a company had acknowledged a poor review, apologised and offered a solution. Negative reviews can provide you with an opportunity to turn an unhappy customer into a brand advocate, if you deal with the response in an appropriate manner. Read our blog to find out to harness the power of negative customer feedback.

Conclusion

For over 10 years, we’ve stood out as a review platform thanks to our invite-only approach to collecting customer feedback. Fake reviews cost the world economy $152 billion in 2021. They can harm a business’s reputation and they mislead customers too. No wonder Feefo’s research shows that 81% of businesses and 78% of consumers want to be free from them.   

While open review platforms are getting better at detecting and banning fake feedback, fraudsters are still finding ways around their technology and managing to post bogus reviews. A closed review platform like Feefo ensures you only get verified reviews from real customers, who have interacted with your brand. We believe that only genuine customer feedback can provide meaningful insight for your business, helping you to identify what’s working well and where your next opportunities might be.

How can Feefo help?

Ready to make real customer reviews work for you? At Feefo, we can help you build a reputation with a platform that ensures every single review is verified and from a real customer. We can support you in listening to your customers to help improve your customer experience, build your reputation as a brand to be trusted, and ultimately grow your business from strength to strength. 

From private and public reviews to anonymous surveys, we provide you with the tools you need to better communicate with your customers and understand their ever-changing needs and expectations. If you’d like to find out if Feefo is the right review platform for your business, get in touch with our friendly team today. We can show you the difference real ratings and reviews can make.