If you stick to public information that’s already out there, you’re probably in good shape using customer reviews in your marketing.
I recently got a message from one of our customers, Kelly. She’s been collecting a lot of great reviews with SendJim’s review tool, and she asked a really good question: do I need my customers’ permission to use their reviews in my marketing?
First, the honest part. I’m not an attorney. What follows is my personal take, not legal advice. But here’s how I’d think about it, and what I’d check.
Start with your terms and privacy policy
The first place to look is your own paperwork.
- Terms and conditions. If you have them, check whether they say you can use customer information or feedback for marketing purposes.
- Privacy policy. Some businesses cover this in their privacy policy instead.
- Don’t have either? Have a business attorney help you add the right language. If an attorney isn’t in the budget right now, use AI to research it. Tell it you want to make sure you can use customer reviews in your marketing.
My take: public reviews are already public
Again, not legal advice. But think about what a review is.
When a customer leaves you a review on your Google Business Profile, Facebook, Yelp, or another site, they’re choosing to put it out in public. They know it’s public. They know anyone can go read it.
So personally, I’m not too worried about taking a review someone left in public and sharing it in a different way, like on your website or a postcard. Those are public too.
The one rule: don’t add information
This is where I’d be careful. Use the review exactly as it was shared, and don’t add anything the customer didn’t put out there themselves.
If Joey left you a great review on Google, you can say:
Say this“Here’s Joey’s great review.”
What you shouldn’t do is add his last name, his address, or any other detail that wasn’t in the public review.
If you stick to public information that’s already out there, you’re probably in good shape using customer reviews in your marketing.
The takeaways
- Check your terms and privacy policy for language about using customer feedback in marketing.
- Public reviews, used as-is, are low risk in my opinion. The customer already chose to make them public.
- Don’t add information. No last names, no addresses, nothing the review didn’t already share.
- When in doubt, ask a legal professional. That’s the best way to know for sure.
That’s my take. Get out there and keep marketing.
This post is general information, not legal advice. Talk to a qualified attorney about your specific situation.
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