Product Reviews on Amazon
On Amazon, there are 2 kinds of reviews you can get: seller reviews and product reviews. The former has to do with your abilities, while the latter deals with the quality of items you sell.
When You Want to Ask for Product Reviews…
There are basically two reasons why product reviews are something you should focus on: if you’re a particular kind of seller, or you’re selling a particular type of product.
For the former, these are the most important seller types that should be looking for product reviews on Amazon:
Private Label Sellers: It almost goes without saying, but when you’re selling your own label, you need all the positive buzz you can get. You don’t have the luxury of a multi-million dollar marketing team to trumpet your label’s benefits, and you don’t have the luxury of being able to persuade buyers in person because you sell online.
Known Established Brands: At the opposite end of the spectrum are sellers who sell known brands, as opposed to your own label. While it may seem like working hard to get product reviews has no direct impact on you (i.e. why bother boosting another brand instead of focusing on your reputation?).
But look at it this way: when you successfully sell a brand and get good feedback on it, word spreads and that’ll attract more buyers. And the more buyers that get interested in a label you’re selling, the more potential sales you’ll get.
Closely tied into the above type of seller is if you’re branching out into niche products under the umbrella of an established brand. While the label name might be known, the exact type of product may not be and you could be facing a bit of an uphill climb in moving those items.
The same principles apply, though, so work on politely urging your buyers to comment positively.
So if you’re one of these types of sellers, the next way to narrow things down is based on the type of product you’re selling.
Immediate Use Products: What we mean by this is the kind of items that people will take out of the packaging and start using right away like toilet paper, smartphones, chargers or batteries. What you want to capitalize on is their fast use and reaction while the impression is still fresh in their minds. The longer you wait, the more comfortable they’ll become with it and the less able they’ll be to comment critically and honestly on its quality.
Send an email as soon as possible.
Recent Use Products: Instead of buyers ripping off the tape and using their purchase right away, we’re talking about items that are used within the first week of arrival. Products that qualify are things like earbuds, boots or razors, the sort of things that you might not need right away but will use pretty quickly. They can also be things that are used right away, but need to be used a few times to really get a feel for.
Send an email before the week is up, but give a couple of days at first to let the dust settle.
Longer Use Products: The last category of items you should be highlighting as necessitating a product review email is that which takes two-to-four weeks to really see the benefits of. You’re looking at items like personal care products, over-the-counter supplements (e.g. vitamins), and anything else where buyers need a few weeks to really see how the item works for them.
Send an email before the month is up, but do so in the latter half of the month.
How You Want to Ask for Product Reviews…
Now that you’ve gone through this sort-of flowchart of figuring out if product reviews on Amazon should be on your to-do list, the last item on your list is how to format your query for the best possible, and fastest, response. Luckily, it’s super simple and really formulaic so all you have to do is master the first one and you’re good to go.
The easiest way to do this is by using a template in FeedbackExpress, which allows you to just fill in the blanks. The downside of this is it gives you little ability to separate yourself and add a degree of warmth, so you’d be best off using this as a jumping off point instead of your regular go-to.
Once you’ve picked up the rhythm of a product review template, it’s time to start making your own. This is a fantastic way to inject your own personality into the process and really appeal to a buyer’s emotions and feelings, so just keep the following points in mind.
- A link to the product makes it easy for buyers to comment directly for what they’ve purchased.
- Alternatively, various hyperlinks with happy-okay-unhappy options simplify things for buyers who just want to leave a quick review.
- Using a logo (as in, using a logo variable for a template) can help jog the buyer’s memory for what they bought, especially if they’re regular Amazon users.
- Asking open-ended questions (e.g. ‘how did you find…?’) instead of an imperative, or command, sentence (e.g. ‘please leave your feedback here’) will almost always lead to more in-depth feedback.
- Make clear to your buyers you’re there to address any questions or concerns they have. If your consumers feel like there’s a real listening ear ready for them, it’ll enhance their positive impressions of you and the product.
Here’s a free negative feedback review template which you may wish to use when asking a customer to consider removing a negative review they left for a purchase.
If you want to check out the other templates and increase your seller rating and product reviews on Amazon, you may want to consider signing up for a FREE 30-day trial of FeedbackExpress, Amazon feedback software.
FeedbackExpress is a powerful, cloud-based software solution that helps Amazon sellers automate and manage their feedback communication with buyers. The software is proven to help sellers get more positive seller feedback & product reviews on Amazon, as well as removing any negative and neutral feedback quickly and effectively.
A version of this blog originally appeared on the FeedbackExpress blog.