When you just launched your product, you will be missing the converted 5 star rating.
But fret not, it’s simply a process and I can assure you that once you employ some of the methods mentioned below, you will be well on your way to getting legitimate reviews on your listing. And getting them fast!
All methods outlined here are within Amazon TOS.
Table of Contents
1. Early Reviewer Program (Phased Out)
The Early Reviewer Program is a program that encourages buyers who have already purchased a product to share their authentic experience through reviews. The program’s goal is to help brand owners acquire early reviews, which helps shoppers make smarter buying decisions and can lead to an increase in page views and ultimately sales.
Amazon Inc.
Since Aug 2018, incentivised reviews are not allowed and many sellers have had their account suspended for this.
But Amazon recognize that new listings are in a big disadvantaged without reviews and thus, the early reviewer program is the only legitimate way to get incentivised reviews; the Amazon way.
You can read more about the Early Review Program here.
This program will e-mail customers who have brought your product randomly to do an honest review in return for a small reward (US$3 Amazon gift card eg.)
Your product have to be priced at $9 or more and as soon you get your first review through this program, you will be charged US$60.
This will carry on until you get 5 reviews through this program or up to 1 year, whichever comes first.
2. Effective Email Automation
Every time you get an order, you are able to send e-mails to your buyers directly via the Amazon Email system. (Provided buyers have not opted out of receiving Emails)
You can do this manually, but you’ll go mad after your 10th order. Which is why automating Email sending is very effective due to its consistency and reliability.
Now there are tons of e-mail automation software out there! Which one is best?
If you are already a member of Helium10, you can use their inbuilt email automation function, “Follow Up”. It’s rather basic and crude,but it gets the job done.
If you are looking for excellent and higher review conversion rate though, I highly suggest FeedbackWhiz.
After comparing FeedbackWhiz to Zonmasters and Helium10 e-mail automation tool, FeedbackWhiz is clearly the far superior product in the market that is priced at a great value! (As low as US$15/month for unlimited Emails!)
Some samples of the editable templates that you can play around and customize for your business! Attractive buttons and images does help with getting reviews.
It has a highly user friendly website and customer service is excellent as well.
I am currently using FeedbackWhiz and have seen a tremendous spike in reviews for my product. Getting the right Email automation is crucial on Amazon, it’s a non-negotiable item today.
3. Amazon Request Reviews Function
If you head to your “Manage Orders” page, and clicked on the order details link of a successfully delivered order, you get to request a review from that customer directly via Amazon’s communication network. You can click on it and the customer gets a link to directly review your products, all Amazon compliant.
In fact, Amazon prefers that you use this function instead of the buyer-seller email communication feature. We’ve tested both out and found that this request reviews function works far better in terms of getting a review from our customers.
But requesting the reviews one by one takes a long time and can be quite troublesome. But fear not, there’s a little productivity tool that can help you request reviews through this function in batches of 100 orders per click.
And that is Helium10’s seller assistant chrome extension and you can learn more about it here. This chrome extension allows you to request review in masses, making this tool a free and effective one!
4. Product Inserts
Including physical paper inserts into your packaging is an effective way to gain reviews and so much more!
A simple card insert can go a long way to winning the customer over to your brand and helps in creating a positive image. And when you capture the Email of the customer, they are yours to re-target further.
Here an unique product inserts example to keep your creativity juices flowing for your product.
You can get them designed very easily on Fiverr.com. Be wary though as some of them advertise inserts that clearly violate Amazon’s TOS. Here’s what you need to avoid:
Types of Inserts Against Amazon’s TOS
This or That
From the popular JungleScout blog, they recommend doing this for interaction with the customer. A big NO as this is against Amazon’s TOS.
Asking for a positive feedback
All reviews asked have to be an unbiased one. Even suggesting leaving a positive or 5 star review is against TOS.
Incentivised Reviews
An insert offering a discount code in exchange for a review. Even showing both discount code and review request on the same page can be misinterpreted as an incentivised review request.
Final Thoughts
The toughest part of getting review in the early stages is waiting for them to come in!
But be patience and as long as you follow the few methods mentioned above, they will start rolling in.
To your huge success warrior!