2/6/2020
Today I'm going to show you how I got hundreds of Amazon Reviews on auto-pilot.
I'll show you how I increased the number of reviews on my product listings by 300% in 59 days.
Imagine
Reviews being written
day in and day out
without ongoing effort on your part.
Sound okay to you?
Alright then
Let's get started.
I'll share why I'm qualified to write this and then we'll jump in.
Who I am
I'm not a guru or outspoken teacher.
I'm a practitioner with an adventurist streak (it's literally in my DNA)
5th year annual Death Trip, first time with snow, few tipped kayaks but teamwork makes the dream work ?? 3 nights, this crew is as tough as they come
My first online business adventure began in 2014.
After seeing solid success with lead generation (February 2020 Update: now at 52k/month),
I branched out in 2016,
and starting to sell products on Amazon.
After steadily working on that business for 3 years,
I (and my team of VA's),
had built 3 solid brands to multiple six-figures apiece.
each brand having at least 4 products in it.
Here's a pretty good month the company had:
Well,
that's enough show and tell.
Here's the 8 Tactics to increase the number of Amazon product reviews that you came for.
8 Ways to Get More Amazon Reviews
1. Optimizing Product Inserts
If you’ve ordered products from Amazon, often you’ll get a small piece of paper that looks kind of like a business card.
What you are looking at is called a "product insert" or "packaging insert."
What are product inserts?
In basic terms, a product insert is a little piece of cardstock paper that is put on top of your item after the product has been inserted in the cardboard box. The insert is 2-sided and has marketing/promotional material about your company on both the front and the back. On average, product inserts are the size of a postcard (4" tall by 6" wide), but can be as small as a business card (2" high by 3.5" in length).
On these cards,
there’s 3 key pieces of information:
- the offer
- product support team contact information (generally an email address)
- a request to leave a review (because that's the whole point of the insert)
Here's an example of another product insert
Notice each of the characteristics
The offer is on side B
The request for a review is on side A
The support information for unhappy customers is next to the request for a review.
3 Steps to Getting Your Own Product Inserts
Here's the 3 Steps:
Step 1: Have Them Designed (I use virtual assistants)
Step 2: Have Them Printed (I've done this 2 different ways: (1) had my supplier print them and (2) had them printed (Vistaprint is easy and cheap to use) and then mailed to my product manufacturer)
Step 3: Communicate with Your Supplier to have them inserted into the box after the product has been set inside.
(You want the customer to see the insert immediately after they open the box, as there's a higher chance of it being read by your buyer)
Where Can You Find a Designer?
The 3 most popular spaces to find virtual assistants are:
A. Upwork.com
B. Fiverr.com
C. Onlinejobs.ph (my favorite, btw)
How do you hire a graphic designer?
Nearly all assistants I have are virtual,
meaning that they work for me over the internet.
And while having someone work for you over the internet may sound daunting at first,
once you go through the recruiting and training process a few times,
it won't be as anxiety-inducing.
If you've never hired a virtual assistant before,
here's a quick step-by-step info-graphic that gives you a bit of a structure to follow.
When you are hiring VAs,
have patience and take the time to work through the process
remember that you are hiring for the long term,
and you're after quality
not after ease.
Want to learn more about hiring a virtual assistant?
I found this guide to be helpful.
Get Your Inserts
Wondering what you should write on your product insert?
Great News
I cover that next!
2. Tell Your Buyer What They Get Out of Leaving a Review
Let's zoom in a bit on the product insert example above:
Notice how they ask for a review?
"...You can help us grow by sharing your happy experience."
Method 1: You can highlight how the review will benefit you as a seller:
“Leave a review so that I’ll be able to sell more products”
(which is essentially how the above insert asks for a review)
Method 2: Alternatively, you can talk about how leaving a review benefits future buyers.
“Your feedback on this product can help other buyers make the best choice for their situation”
The way you word your requests for reviews makes a huge difference.
Continue to play around with different ways of requesting reviews,
optimizing your words for your audiences.
How do you continue to optimize your product insert copy?
One of the simplest ways to increase your product reviews is called split-testing.
What is Split-Testing?
Split-testing (also called A/B testing) is one way to run experiments with the aim of optimizing Amazon Product Listings or Review Request Inserts, a certain website metric (clicks, conversions, filled-out forms or sales) or landing page.
Split-testing involves using two different kinds of ad copy or insert copy to see which one stimulates better results (more sales, more Amazon Reviews, etc.)
When you start split-testing,
one piece of advice I'd offer is to change only one aspect on each additional type of ad copy you put out there.
For instance, as you are optimizing your Amazon Review requests on your product inserts,
for the first shipment put one version of your request in the box and then for the next shipment of products,
have a different version of your request inside with your product.
Then you can easily note which one worked better,
the 1st shipment or the 2nd shipment.
And then in following shipments,
you can continue to tweak and change up your review requests.
3. Sending Your Request for a Review at the Right Time
Here’s some do’s and don’ts:
Timing is the number 1 key when you are sending out your email follow-ups.
Here's an infographic to lay it all out clearly
If you are reading this and you either are looking to get started with Amazon FBA or have just recently started, you should have a strategy to getting your first few reviews to establish your product's credibility to curious shoppers.
That's what the 4th Technique is all about.
4. Just Starting Out? Check out the Early Reviewer Program
If you are looking to start selling on Amazon in 2020, one of your questions might be:
How do I get my first reviews?
BACKGROUND: The ways a lot of sellers got their start in the past was by asking friends and family to buy and leave reviews or by requesting them through black-hat review exchange Facebook groups.
In late 2016, Amazon really began to crack down on these “fake” reviews, and the silver lining that came out of cracking down was the Early Reviewer Program.
What is the Early Review Program?
Here’s what Amazon itself says:
What's Amazon’s goal of the Earlier Reviewer Program?
Look at the end of the 2nd question.
Does the Request a Review Work?
Here's a 7 minute video showing how the Request a Review feature in Amazon Seller Central can be used.
Here's the details of the program,
answering some of the frequently-asked-questions of who is eligible and who can be a part of the program, etc.
6 Pieces to the Amazon Early Reviewer Program Puzzle
1. Who can Participate: only U.S. Brand Registered Amazon Sellers are eligible.
2. What Products can be involved: an ASIN (Amazon’s Unique Product Code) is only eligible if it has fewer than 5 reviews and if it is priced over 15 dollars (USD)
3. Role of Sellers: Merchants can select which products (ASINs) to enroll in the Early Reviewer Program, but beyond that, it’s all up to the buyer. Amazon.com doesn’t change or get rid of reviews from the Early Reviewer Program, as long as they are in accordance within their community guidelines.
4. How Participants are Selected: Amazon randomly chooses customers from their long list of all buyers who’ve purchased items that are participating in the Early Reviewer Program, with the condition that they don’t have a history of leaving abusive or dishonest reviews. Therefore, most, but not all customers who’ve bought will receive reward offers.
5. How Participants are Rewarded: Those buyers who choose to leave a review after receiving Amazon Early Reviewer Programs’s request to leave one receive a small compensation ($1 to $3 dollars via Amazon gift cards). The compensation is Amazon’s way of showing their appreciation for the real review, regardless of whether it’s a 1 star or a 5 star.
6. How Early Reviewer Program Reviews are Identified: ERP Reviews are labeled with an orange badge on which “Early Reviewer Rewards” is written.
Once you've gotten your first 5 or so reviews, you'll find that your product sales rate goes up a notch or two because your product listing's credibility is increasing.
That's good news, because the next point is simply recognizing that the more products you sell, the more reviews you will acquire.
5. Sell More Products to Get More Reviews
As you sell more on Amazon, a ratio of products sold to reviews written will become evident
The average ratio that I experienced was for every 50 products I sold,
I’d get 1 maybe 2 reviews.
So, on average, 2% to 4% of buyers left me a review in 2019.
I’ve seen a decline in reviews written in the 3 years I’ve been selling on Amazon.
Hence why I’ve had to become creative in how I asked for those reviews.
(the result has been this list of techniques)
Going back to an earlier point,
it helps to have some skills in copywriting,
knowing what language and style is more likely to motivate buyers to take action.
If you don’t have copy-writing skills,
you can either develop them or
hire them out.
You can find many online courses showing you how to become a copy writing professional.
Or you can go to Upwork or OnlineJobs.ph and
hire a virtual assistant to get your job done.
Check out this article to start your copy-writing education.
It will show you the 10 basic approaches to lay a foundation to your budding skill-set.
The basic thing is don’t wait,
find a way to get what you need done accomplished. (aka learn or hire ASAP)
One very common trend I've noticed of those people who start online businesses is their hesitancy toward taking action.
The vital mental shift of those that have started successful online businesses is that they go from merely thinking about it (which is comfortable), to action (uncomfortable at first, but with practice, becomes easier).
Want to up your inner drive?
Here’s the secret that enabled me to find endless motivation.
The short of it is you need to find your why!
Just like you will need to redirect your attention back to the reason why you started your business to keep pushing forward, to get more seller reviews, you will likely need to ask buyers to move their feedback on your product from your seller profile to the actual product review.
Here's how to do it.
6. Redirect Seller Feedback Givers to Leave Product Reviews
There are two places on Amazon that shoppers can leave feedback:
1. Product Reviews
2. Seller Feedback
Sometimes shoppers get mixed up and leave a product review inside the Seller Feedback section.
You can send these customers a message through Amazon’s system,
so one successful strategy that I’ve hired and trained
a member on my VA team to do is
to act on these misplaced pieces of feedback,
messaging the shopper,
thanking them for their business and then providing a link to their intended product review location.
Additionally, you can ask shoppers who have left seller feedback of you
(stick to the positive ones obviously lol)
and ask them to leave a review on the item they’ve purchased from your selection.
7. Utilize Social Media to Get More Reviews
If you go on Facebook, you can find a variety of Amazon Review groups.
A dated review tactic was to participate inside these review groups and exchange reviews with other sellers.
Amazon has really become involved with making sure that reviews are legitimate and has developed ways of mitigating these manipulated reviews.
The best ways to encourage shoppers to leave reviews are having a lot of shoppers who have awesome experiences with your product.
A percentage of the above will review.
There's a lot of "black-hat" ways to get reviews,
but,
in my mind,
they aren't worth using considering the cost.
"What cost is that?"
you might ask
Well, Amazon will shut down your listing
and you'll have to start from scratch,
beginning with setting up a new amazon seller account.
Rather than shortsightedly focusing on getting reviews,
I made sure I had the follow up systems for my products' buyers and
then employed 2 social media strategies to increase sales using Facebook,
as Facebook is the most broadly used form of social media according to Global Web Index.
2 Strategies: Short Term and Long Term
1. Short Term Strategy: Run Paid Ads
As you are launching your product into the market,
A helpful strategy to get your item out in front of interested people is to run highly targeted Facebook ads.
Amazon loves when you bring additional shoppers onto their platform (they make more money)
And it helps your organic sales rank if they convert
(optimize your listing to increase your conversions)
When you post on Facebook, make sure your copy (words) and your images are tested and have a good conversion rate (above 10% is good).
2. Long Term Strategy: Develop a FB Community
The second strategy is organic, so it takes time to cultivate and grow.
Begin to put together a group centered around an issue or problem that your problem solves.
For example, one of the brands I developed was centered around organic honey.
And how I got the product idea was that organic honey was the solution to a problem I had when I was growing up (low energy and allergies)
If you look at the statistics on pollen allergies, at least 10% of Americans have hay fever.
The United States has 300+ million people as a population.
That means that there’s 30 million persons suffering from pollen allergies.
Flip over to Facebook and look for pages and groups that are focused on sharing solutions for hay fever.
follow up systems
Tons of results.
So over time, I put up a page and then a group and put valuable information on how to naturally solve pollen allergies and another page and group for those with energy issues.
A few times a week I did research and put together resources (hired some copywriters and graphic designers)
And then shared them to the group under my brand’s name.
(built up a good reputation over time)
Lastly, I shared my product within the group under my name and shared what organic honey had done for me.
(so that it came across as a personal story)
Stories are so helpful as they help shoppers connect with the product.
Putting together that story was easy btw,
as I believe in living healthy and have personally experienced positive results from locally made, unfiltered, wildflower honey.
After a year of building the groups,
Not only did I have additional product sales,
But since I built the communities under my brand name,
I increased the value of the brand,
Which increased the sale price until I sold it towards the end of 2019.
8. Get Back in Touch with Buyers You’ve Provided Customer Support
As you have customers who have issues
(and if you haven’t yet, you will)
That’s a great opportunity,
After you’ve solved their problem,
To request that they consider leaving a review on their product.
Because after you’ve helped them,
Buyers often will want to show their appreciation somehow.
So, when you request a review,
You’ll be satisfying their desire to show their gratefulness.
Here's how to request a review from your buyers that have not yet left one.
Amazon recently put out a new way to request feedback from those who buy your products.
Log into your seller central account and go to your customer orders,
then into each detail page,
in the upper right corner,
you'll see a button labeled "Request a Review"
That will stimulate Amazon to send your customer this message:
After you've sent the review request,
that's really all you can do with that customer,
since there's no way to make contact with them that is kosher with Amazon's Terms of Service.
If you are simply looking into how to sell on Amazon because you are looking to get some extra cash into your pocket,
I'd like to offer you two resources:
First, I've written a Complete Guide to Amazon FBA
My Experience from Building 2 Different Businesses (Lead Generation Makes More $ with Less Effort)
Second, I've built both an Amazon FBA business and a lead generation business over the past 5 years.
My Story: In the beginning I was looking for an affordable way to make money online,
Back in 2013,
Amazon FBA was becoming popular,
but I didn't have the time,
much less the money to get started listing physical products on what is now the largest eCommerce platform in the world.
I had just graduated from university with a degree in business in 2011,
which landed me a job selling car parts at an auto shop for 12 dollars an hour.
I hardly had enough to pay my rent,
much less the school loans.
So I became sick of my life
Sick of my soul-sucking 9-5
Sick of the ice-cold, frosty commute I had to endure in my 25 year-old beater in the dead of midwest winters
Pretty much every night I'd go home and hop on Google
looking for ways to make money online.
I wanted to get out and enjoy the different parts of the world that I hadn't yet been to
(was raised in Japan and came to the US when I was 8)
I wanted to be able to go to concerts and
just enjoy life on my own terms.
So after about a year of searching the web, I ran an article where a guy told me about how he helped out business owners and they paid him every month.
Hungry to be free from my 9-5 enslavement,
I looked into the coaching program,
reading all the testimonials.
Intrigued,
I booked a call
and the rest is history.
Six months after going through the educational program and
diving into the community of like-minded entrepreneurs,
I bid my 9-5 adieu
making 3x more than my job
providing leads for lots of local businesses,
including this tree service in Grand Rapids, Michigan:
Get more details from the infographic below
