10 replies to this topic

[Walter]

Hey,

Not sure this really belongs here, but I couldn't find a better fit.

When people write a review on my site there is a delay, which they're made aware of when they click submit, so that I can look the review over before publishing it.

Now, when I approve/publish a review the system generates and sends out an email to the author of the review so they know its been published. Here is my question. Should I just put "admin" in the signature line or should I put my first name?

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks,

Walter

[EGOL]

I think that if you are genuinely thankful for these reviews you should include your name and the email address should support replies.

If you have people who submit many good reviews over a long term then I would send them personal thanks that lets them know that you read some of them and appreciate their work.

Or, you can log into the site, give their review the thumbs up and write a nice comment (which I hope they receive notification of). That would be public support.

This does not scale to a really busy site, but I think that it would be nice.

[jonbey]

How about including a message along the lines of "Now that your review is active, tweet/tell your friends etc." with some sort of handy link?

[Walter]

Hey Egol,

Yes the email address, (admin@mysite.com) does support replies.

If you have people who submit many good reviews over a long term then I would send them personal thanks that lets them know that you read some of them and appreciate their work.

I do a fair amount of this, even if its a first review and I think its particularly helpful or well written I'll send an individual email with my first name at the bottom and send it from my email address, (myfirstname@mysite.com). I guess I'm wondering if I should leave system generated emails as coming from "admin" at the admin address to clearly differentiate system generated emails from individual emails.

There will be more system generated emails than individual emails, I'm wondering if I don't lose out a bit by not including a first name in the system generated emails, does make it seem a little more personal . . . more local.....less big huge national review site.

Walter

[fisicx]

Do you even need the signature?

Why not just a simple:

Your review on [xyz] has now been published. To see all review goto [url].

Thanks,

Walter

You don't need anything else as people can reply using their email client rather than a link in your message.

[Walter]

Hey Fisicx,

That's exactly what I have in mind. I just still refer to that as a signature.

Walter

[fisicx]

Aha (light bulb moment).

Use your name not admin. Even better, set the system up so that the email comes from walter@mysite.com - it's a small personal touch that might get noticed.

[tam]

I vote for using your name. It's feels nicer to deal with a person not a computer (even if we know that half the time it's really just a computer). Plus if you are manually reviewing them, even if the email is auto-generated by a click, it is a message from you.

I would write a short but nice sounding email, add a tip for promotion, a 'I hope you'll write more in future', a link to the live article, a thanks and sign it with your name and the website - remember people might be submitting to multiple sites.

Tamsin

[Walter]

Hey Tamsin,

I really do like the idea of signing the letters with a first name. The only issue I'm concerned about in that regard is that quite often people write multiple reviews on the same visit which generate multiple emails. I'm concerned that in those cases it might seem "gimmicky".

I do send out a fair number of individual emails and I'm concerned about differentiating those clearly from the system generated emails. How to balance those things out is what I'm puzzling over.

Walter

Hey Fiscx,

Even better, set the system up so that the email comes from walter@mysite.com

Yeah for the emails that I sign with a first name I'll have it sent from a corresponding email address.

Walter

[tam]

If you're not comfortable, the other approach would be to be honest about it...

Hi there,

This is just a little automated message to let you know I liked your article and it's now gone live on websitename. You can view it here: link Don't forget to share it with all your friends.

If you need to get in touch, feel free to email me at: your actual email

Thanks
Walter

[Walter]

I kind of like that Tam

Walter