4 mistakes that get review invitations marked as spam

Four mistakes get review invitations marked as spam: sending from a number or address the patient doesn’t recognise, writing like a marketer instead of a practice, chasing too often and too long, and blasting invitations to people who never expected to hear from you. Spam is a verdict delivered twice – once by the phone’s filters and once by the patient’s thumb – and both are trained by the same signals. Here is how to stay off both blacklists.

Mistake 1: an unrecognisable sender

A message from a random mobile number, or an email from noreply@platform-mail-04.com, fails the only test the patient applies: “do I know who this is?” The practice name is your entire credibility – hide it and even a perfect message dies unread, or worse, gets reported, which teaches the filters to bury your next hundred messages too.

The fix: put the practice name first, in the sender field where your provider supports it, and always in the opening words: “Hi, it’s The Maples Dental Practice – thanks for visiting us today.” The patient should know who is writing before they decide whether to keep reading.

Mistake 2: writing like a marketer

Capital letters, exclamation marks, “CLICK HERE NOW!!” and a shortened mystery link are the exact fingerprints spam filters are built to catch – and patients pattern-match the same way. In healthcare it also simply jars: nobody wants their dentist texting like a discount sofa warehouse. One more red line: never offer anything in exchange for a review. Incentives breach Google’s review policies, and “Leave a review for a chance to WIN” is spam in both senses at once.

The fix: write like the practice speaks. “Thanks for visiting [practice name] today. If you have 20 seconds, we’d value your feedback: [link]. Reply STOP to opt out.” Calm, named, one plain link, one message. Reviews earn that tone: 46% of people trust online reviews as much as recommendations from friends and family (BrightLocal 2023) – trust that a shouty message spends before the link is even tapped.

Mistake 3: chasing too often, for too long

The first invitation is a courtesy; the third is a campaign. Patients who ignored two messages have answered you – and every further chase converts goodwill into reports. Timing does the work volume can’t: a message the same day, while the visit is fresh, outperforms any number of reminders a fortnight later.

The fix: one invitation within hours of the appointment, at a civilised time of day, and at most one gentle reminder a few days later. Then stop. And honour opt-outs instantly – a patient who replies STOP and still gets next month’s invitation has every right to press “report junk”, and will.

Mistake 4: blasting people who never expected to hear from you

Exporting five years of patient records into a bulk “We’d love your feedback!” send is how practices go from zero messages to a thousand in one afternoon – a volume spike filters read as an attack, aimed at people whose last visit was in 2021 and who may never have been told their number would be used this way. The result is a wave of reports that can poison deliverability for the patients you actually see this week.

The fix: invite only recent visitors, close to the visit, and make sure your privacy notice mentions feedback invitations before the first message goes out. Steady and small beats big and once: a practice that quietly asks this week’s patients every week builds a review page that grows for years. That routine is worth protecting – 76% of consumers regularly read online reviews when browsing local businesses (BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2023), and the invitation is the only bridge between your good care and that page.

The test before you press send

Read the message as the patient will meet it: unknown hour, small screen, no context. Is it obviously from us? Does it sound like us? Is it the only one they’ll get? Would they remember agreeing to hear from us? Four yeses and it isn’t spam – by anyone’s definition.