Customer reviews play a crucial role in building trust and credibility for any business, especially in e-commerce. Google My Business (GMB) is one of the most important platforms where businesses can showcase their reviews and improve their visibility in search results. However, many businesses collect valuable feedback through other channels like WhatsApp, and the challenge is figuring out how to transfer those reviews to GMB efficiently.
In this guide, we will discuss how to fetch reviews from WhatsApp and automatically reflect them on your Google My Business profile.
Why Should You Reflect WhatsApp Reviews on Google My Business?
- Improved Local SEO: Google favors businesses with a large number of positive reviews on GMB.
- Increased Trust and Credibility: Reviews help new customers gauge the quality of your product or service.
- Maximized Value of Feedback: Instead of letting WhatsApp reviews sit isolated, you can use them to enhance your GMB profile and reach more potential customers.
Steps to Automatically Reflect WhatsApp Reviews on Google My Business
Here are practical steps to automate the process:
1. Encourage Customers to Leave Reviews on WhatsApp
You first need to collect reviews through WhatsApp. Here’s how:
- WhatsApp Business Account Setup: Make sure you are using a WhatsApp Business account. This allows you to interact with your customers professionally, adding quick replies, catalog integration, and a “Business Profile.”
- Request Reviews: When you complete a sale or service, ask your customers for feedback through WhatsApp. Automate this process by setting up a chatbot that asks for reviews after each transaction. Tools like Twilio or WhatsApp Business API can help automate these messages.
2. Set Up an Automation Tool to Fetch WhatsApp Reviews
Now that you have reviews coming in on WhatsApp, you need to pull this data into a system that can reflect it on your Google My Business profile.
a. Use Webhooks or API Integration (for Automation)
You can automate the process by creating a custom integration that pulls reviews from WhatsApp and posts them to GMB. Here are the tools and steps you’ll need:
- Step 1: WhatsApp API Integration: Use WhatsApp’s Business API to fetch customer messages and feedback. You can create a custom bot to recognize positive feedback as a review.
- Tools to use: Twilio WhatsApp API or Facebook’s WhatsApp Business API.
- Step 2: Webhook to Fetch Reviews: A webhook will allow you to capture WhatsApp reviews as soon as they’re submitted. For example, using Zapier or Integromat, you can set up an automated flow where, once a customer sends a review through WhatsApp, the review is pushed into a spreadsheet or a CRM for processing.
- Tools to use: Zapier, Integromat (now Make.com), or custom Python code using libraries like Flask and Requests.
3. Filter and Manage WhatsApp Reviews
Not all feedback will be suitable to post on Google My Business. You need to filter and moderate reviews before publishing them.
- Filter Positive Reviews: Use sentiment analysis to detect positive reviews. Platforms like MonkeyLearn or Google Natural Language API can analyze customer reviews and identify positive ones automatically.
- Moderation Process: Set up a review system where you manually or automatically filter for positive reviews. This can be done through a CRM system or a review management platform that collects, filters, and processes these reviews.
4. Post Reviews to Google My Business Using a Third-Party Tool
Once you’ve filtered the reviews, the next step is to automatically post them to your Google My Business profile.
a. Manual Post via Dashboard
Unfortunately, Google My Business does not provide a native API that lets you directly post customer reviews on behalf of users. However, you can add a customer testimonial post to your GMB account. Here’s how:
- Create a Review Post: Go to your GMB dashboard and create a post where you can feature the review from WhatsApp. You can format it as a customer testimonial.
- Tools for Scheduling Posts: Use tools like Buffer, Hootsuite, or Publer to schedule these reviews as part of your content calendar.
b. Integrate Review Management Platforms
Several review management platforms offer automated solutions to gather reviews from multiple channels (like WhatsApp) and post them to GMB:
- Reputation.com – Provides multi-channel review aggregation and direct posting to Google My Business.
- Yext – Collects and manages reviews across multiple platforms and includes integration with GMB for posting reviews.
- Trustpilot – Syncs customer reviews and testimonials from your WhatsApp or website and allows you to publish them on GMB.
These platforms typically integrate with your CRM or WhatsApp via APIs to streamline the process of posting reviews.
How to Automatically Reflect WhatsApp Reviews on Google My Business: A Comprehensive Guide
Customer reviews play a crucial role in building trust and credibility for any business, especially in e-commerce. Google My Business (GMB) is one of the most important platforms where businesses can showcase their reviews and improve their visibility in search results. However, many businesses collect valuable feedback through other channels like WhatsApp, and the challenge is figuring out how to transfer those reviews to GMB efficiently.
In this guide, we will discuss how to fetch reviews from WhatsApp and automatically reflect them on your Google My Business profile.
Why Should You Reflect WhatsApp Reviews on Google My Business?
- Improved Local SEO: Google favors businesses with a large number of positive reviews on GMB.
- Increased Trust and Credibility: Reviews help new customers gauge the quality of your product or service.
- Maximized Value of Feedback: Instead of letting WhatsApp reviews sit isolated, you can use them to enhance your GMB profile and reach more potential customers.
Steps to Automatically Reflect WhatsApp Reviews on Google My Business
Here are practical steps to automate the process:
1. Encourage Customers to Leave Reviews on WhatsApp
You first need to collect reviews through WhatsApp. Here’s how:
- WhatsApp Business Account Setup: Make sure you are using a WhatsApp Business account. This allows you to interact with your customers professionally, adding quick replies, catalog integration, and a “Business Profile.”
- Request Reviews: When you complete a sale or service, ask your customers for feedback through WhatsApp. Automate this process by setting up a chatbot that asks for reviews after each transaction. Tools like Twilio or WhatsApp Business API can help automate these messages.
2. Set Up an Automation Tool to Fetch WhatsApp Reviews
Now that you have reviews coming in on WhatsApp, you need to pull this data into a system that can reflect it on your Google My Business profile.
a. Use Webhooks or API Integration (for Automation)
You can automate the process by creating a custom integration that pulls reviews from WhatsApp and posts them to GMB. Here are the tools and steps you’ll need:
- Step 1: WhatsApp API Integration: Use WhatsApp’s Business API to fetch customer messages and feedback. You can create a custom bot to recognize positive feedback as a review.
- Tools to use: Twilio WhatsApp API or Facebook’s WhatsApp Business API.
- Step 2: Webhook to Fetch Reviews: A webhook will allow you to capture WhatsApp reviews as soon as they’re submitted. For example, using Zapier or Integromat, you can set up an automated flow where, once a customer sends a review through WhatsApp, the review is pushed into a spreadsheet or a CRM for processing.
- Tools to use: Zapier, Integromat (now Make.com), or custom Python code using libraries like Flask and Requests.
3. Filter and Manage WhatsApp Reviews
Not all feedback will be suitable to post on Google My Business. You need to filter and moderate reviews before publishing them.
- Filter Positive Reviews: Use sentiment analysis to detect positive reviews. Platforms like MonkeyLearn or Google Natural Language API can analyze customer reviews and identify positive ones automatically.
- Moderation Process: Set up a review system where you manually or automatically filter for positive reviews. This can be done through a CRM system or a review management platform that collects, filters, and processes these reviews.
4. Post Reviews to Google My Business Using a Third-Party Tool
Once you’ve filtered the reviews, the next step is to automatically post them to your Google My Business profile.
a. Manual Post via Dashboard
Unfortunately, Google My Business does not provide a native API that lets you directly post customer reviews on behalf of users. However, you can add a customer testimonial post to your GMB account. Here’s how:
- Create a Review Post: Go to your GMB dashboard and create a post where you can feature the review from WhatsApp. You can format it as a customer testimonial.
- Tools for Scheduling Posts: Use tools like Buffer, Hootsuite, or Publer to schedule these reviews as part of your content calendar.
b. Integrate Review Management Platforms
Several review management platforms offer automated solutions to gather reviews from multiple channels (like WhatsApp) and post them to GMB:
- Reputation.com – Provides multi-channel review aggregation and direct posting to Google My Business.
- Yext – Collects and manages reviews across multiple platforms and includes integration with GMB for posting reviews.
- Trustpilot – Syncs customer reviews and testimonials from your WhatsApp or website and allows you to publish them on GMB.
These platforms typically integrate with your CRM or WhatsApp via APIs to streamline the process of posting reviews.
5. Ask Customers to Post the Review Directly on GMB
If you’re looking for a simple solution without coding, ask your customers to repost their WhatsApp reviews directly to Google My Business. Here’s how:
- Automated WhatsApp Reply with GMB Link: After receiving a positive review, you can reply to the customer with a link to your GMB review page and politely ask them to post the review there.
- Incentivize Reviews: Offer customers discounts or loyalty points for leaving reviews on GMB after they’ve given feedback on WhatsApp.
Tools to Consider for Automation
Here are a few key tools that will help you set up this process:
- WhatsApp Business API (via Twilio, or Meta): To automate the collection of WhatsApp reviews.
- Zapier/Integromat: To create automation workflows for collecting and filtering WhatsApp reviews.
- Reputation.com / Yext / Trustpilot: Platforms for multi-channel review management, including posting reviews to Google My Business.
- Google My Business Dashboard: To manually post testimonials and reviews.
- Buffer/Hootsuite: For scheduling GMB posts of reviews.
Conclusion
While there’s no direct way to automatically post WhatsApp reviews to Google My Business, you can streamline the process using automation tools and APIs. Whether you choose to collect reviews manually and ask customers to repost them, or use a more complex webhook system for automation, the benefits of transferring WhatsApp reviews to Google My Business will help boost your online reputation, SEO, and customer trust.
By following these steps, you can ensure that customer feedback from WhatsApp doesn’t go to waste and helps your business shine on Google My Business.
