How do you get more product reviews with photos and videos?

Why isn’t one review request enough?

A single automated request from your review app is easy to ignore. It looks like every other review email in the inbox, and it asks for the same thing whether someone has used the product or not.

A sequence gives you several chances, and each email has its own job. This is the order I’d brief:

1. Prime them in the order confirmation.
2. Send the review request once they’ve used the product, with a reward attached.
3. Send a reminder to anyone who hasn’t left one.
4. Finish with a plain-text email from the founder.

What goes in the order confirmation?

A short note from the founder that sets up the ask before it happens. Tell customers you’ll be asking for their feedback later, and why it matters. Something like: these reviews are really important to me for shaping the future of the product.

That line changes how the later emails land. The customer knows the request is coming, and they know their review feeds into the product itself as well as your marketing.

How do you ask for photos and videos instead of just stars?

Time it right, then pay more for them.

Ask once they’ve actually used the product. Someone who hasn’t had a proper go with it can’t tell you much, and they’re even less likely to film anything. So time the request to how your customers really use what you sell, instead of leaving your review app on its default timing.

Then offer a credit for a written review and a bigger reward for a photo or video. A star rating takes seconds. A photo or a short video takes real effort, so make the reward match. The reminder email is a second chance at the same offer, so keep it short.

What goes in the founder email?

This is the last email, and it should feel personal. Plain text, no design, sent from the founder’s own name. It openly admits what the customer has probably already noticed. Something like: hey, you’ve probably seen some emails I sent you from our review tool, and they look a bit automated, so I wanted to send you an email myself.

Then ask again, in the founder’s own words, and say why their feedback matters. It reads like a real person asking, because it is.

What about customers who bought before you started asking?

If you’re moving to a new review app, or you’ve never asked properly, you’ve probably got a backlog of past customers whose opinions you’ve never collected.

Email everyone who has bought in the last year and be upfront about it. You’ve moved to a new review tool that makes leaving a review easier and makes their feedback more useful to you.

Then, instead of giving everyone a discount, run a prize draw. Tell them you’ll randomly pick five people who leave a review to win store credit. A draw costs you a fixed, known amount, and it feels more like a genuine request for feedback than a bribe. You get a burst of fresh reviews without training your whole customer base to expect a discount every time you ask for something.

What should you do with the reviews once they come in?

Put them to work in your emails. As a goal, aim to send two emails every month that just showcase your reviews, and weave reviews into your other emails too.

To keep it easy, group reviews by avatar or by pain point and run one theme a month. You can also write a value-proposition email and back it with a single review screenshot. This is where the photos and videos pay off, because they give those emails something worth looking at.