Reactivating past customers with DBR

In this article, you'll learn how to set up Database Reactivation (DBR): the slow, steady run of review requests that goes to customers you served before Review Monster started sending for you. You'd use it to turn an old customer list into fresh Google reviews without blasting everyone at once.

Review Monster switches DBR on for your account. If you don't see DBR under Reviews, it's turned off for you and you can ask us to open it.

To open DBR:

  1. In the dashboard menu, click Reviews.
  2. In the list that opens under it, click DBR.

Where the past-customer list comes from

DBR only sends to contacts that were brought in as reactivation contacts. That's the one-time upload of past customers during onboarding, or a list Review Monster prepares and imports for you after you've checked it. Customers you add later on Reviews › Contacts get a regular review request instead, not a DBR one.

Note: Nothing goes out until you turn on the switch below, even if the list is already loaded.

Turning DBR on or off

  1. At the top of the page, click the Enable database reactivation switch.
  2. The change saves on its own. There's no separate save button for the switch.

The first time you switch it on, that date becomes your DBR start date and your reports count from it. Switching it off pauses sending and keeps that date. Switching it back on picks up where it left off.

Setting how fast requests go out

Under Sending Frequency, you set the gap between one review request and the next. There's a row for Week 1, Week 2, Week 3 and Week 4, each with a min box and a sec box.

  1. Type the minutes and seconds you want between requests for Week 1.
  2. Do the same for Week 2, Week 3 and Week 4.
  3. Click Save DBR Settings. The button reads Saving... and then Saved.

The weeks count from the day DBR was first switched on. After week four, the Week 4 gap stays in place. Texts and emails are paced separately, so each channel waits its own gap.

Tip: Start slow and ramp up. A larger gap in week one looks natural to carriers and to your customers, and you can tighten it in the later weeks.

Choosing sending days and hours

  1. Under Sending Days, click a day to turn it on or off. Green means on. The days run Mon through Sun.
  2. Under Sending Hours, set a Start time and an End time.
  3. Click Save DBR Settings.

Requests only go out on the days you leave on and between those two times, in your business's time zone.

Editing the DBR text message

Below the settings is the DBR SMS Template card. It's separate from your regular review-request texts, so you can mention the past job.

  1. Click 1 or 2 to pick which text you're editing. The small dot beside each number turns it on or off.
  2. On text 2, set Template 2 delay in hr and min. It saves when you click out of the box.
  3. Click a field button to drop it into the message: First Name, Business Name, Link or Owner First Name.
  4. For reactivation contacts you also get Job Type, Short Address and Last Job Time, which fill in from what we know about their last job.
  5. Turn Include image in SMS on or off.
  6. Click Save SMS Template. A preview of the finished text shows underneath.
Warning: Job Type and Last Job Time only work when the contact has those details. If a template uses one and a contact doesn't have it, that contact's request is skipped and flagged for us to fix. Short Address is safer: a phrase like "at Short Address" is dropped when there's no address.

Editing the DBR email

The DBR Email Template card works the same way.

  1. Click 1 or 2 to pick the email, and use the dot to turn it on or off.
  2. On email 1, set Email 1 delay, which is how long after the first text it goes. On email 2, set Template 2 delay.
  3. Choose Plain Text or HTML next to Format. With HTML, you can turn on Include image at top.
  4. Write the Subject Line and the Email Body, using the same field buttons.
  5. Click Save Email Template.

Why a job-done request always wins

If a customer on your DBR list has a new job finished in the CRM, their regular review request takes over. Any DBR messages still waiting for them are retired, and that customer never comes back into DBR. The point of reactivation is reaching people you haven't asked yet, and a fresh job is a better reason to ask.

A few other rules keep DBR polite:

  • A customer who clicks through to leave a review stops getting requests.
  • A customer tagged Do Not Contact never enters the run.
  • No one gets a new run of requests within 90 days of their last one ending.

Every DBR message shows up on Requests Sent like any other review request.

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