2024 Reputation Benchmarks

Online Review Trends Shaping Local Marketing Success

Ask More, Receive More: The Ongoing Impact of Proactive Review Generation 

The more you ask for reviews, the more you receive. When you make review requests a central part of your reputation management strategy, it can have a measurable impact on a host of factors, including review volume, SEO, public trust, customer sentiment, and star ratings.

Notably, in 2024, the Insurance industry saw big increases year over year in both first- and third-party reviews when they proactively requested them — the highest increase for both review types out of all industries. Restaurants also saw a sizable increase in the number of third-party reviews in 2024 when requesting them.

However, not every industry saw an increase in review volume year over year. Healthcare experienced a decline in first- and third-party reviews from 2023 to 2024. The reason likely has to do with the timing and method of the review request. In healthcare especially, asking for a review in person, at the time of the appointment, is important to introduce the idea to the patient. Then, sending an email or SMS follow-up later prompts the patient to remember the initial request and encourages them to respond. (We’ll talk more about review request methods below).

The opposite is also true: Waiting too long to ask for a first- or third-party review, or only asking via email or SMS without an in-person request as well, may not get you the desired results. Fewer people could end up responding — which can hurt your overall review volume goals and impact other factors like review recency.

Customer Sentiment via Net Promoter Score (NPS)

When you ask for reviews, you can have a direct influence on customer sentiment. Net Promoter Score (NPS) — how likely your customers are to recommend your business to others — is a reliable measure of customer sentiment that’s been used across industries for years. It’s also an overall predictor of long-term business success, in terms of revenue growth and repeat business.

In 2024, NPS scores increased by at least 5 points from the 2023 scores for all industries we tracked that were using proactive reputation management strategies.

Insurance and Legal & Law earned the highest NPS growth in 2024. Insurance saw a 24-point increase, jumping from 64 in 2023 to 88 in 2024, and Legal & Law saw a 16-point difference, increasing from 69 in 2023 to 85 in 2024. 

Again, both of these industries are high-value, considered purchases that are made infrequently but nevertheless have a major impact on people’s lives. For example, if someone is undergoing a divorce, it’s important for them to spend time and energy making sure they hire the right attorney. They need quality, detailed reviews to help them make the right decision. If they choose well, they’re going to have a good experience, which will be reflected down the road in customer sentiment and NPS scores. 

Construction still registered an NPS increase in 2024, but it was the lowest point difference, increasing 5 points from 82 in 2023 to 87 in 2024. 

In 2024, we also tracked the NPS of some additional sectors and found the scores stayed relatively stable within each sector from the beginning to the end of 2024 — indicative again of proactive reputation management.

Good to know: Proactive reputation management continues to correlate with higher NPS. That’s because when you ask for reviews, you’re showing genuine empathy and interest in what the customer has to say — whether positive or negative. It’s also important to understand that NPS is cumulative over time — the result of your ongoing desire to know what your customers really think as well as your ability to use these insights to make your business better. 

Pro tip: Regularly ask your customers for feedback using NPS surveys and other customer sentiment check-ins. This creates a robust feedback loop that drives continual business improvement and customer satisfaction. At a minimum, do it twice a year, but it’s even better to do this quarterly.