_edited.png)
Competing on Amazon isn’t easy. The platform has almost 30,000 small and medium-sized brands… and that’s just who’s active this year!
Every day, new brands enter the territory looking for a piece of the pie… with no luck. That's right! Even well-established brands with long histories in department stores and on your mother's pantry shelf struggle to make consistent, reliable sales on Amazon.
So what’s the secret? What helps some brands succeed on Amazon, while others flounder? It’s simple, really: They have product reviews.
Every brand on Amazon wants reviews, and it’s no wonder. Even one review can mean 65% more sales for your product. One review! Add a few more, and that number begins to skyrocket faster than a supersonic jet breaking the sound barrier.
Before we dive in, it's important to note that Amazon strictly prohibits soliciting reviews in exchange for free products or discounts. However, there are two exceptions to this policy. We’ll explore them below.
In this article, we’ll show you how to…
Optimize your listing so that customers get exactly what they expect, and come back to say it.
Email your buyers without triggering Amazon alarm bells or sounding irrelevant and forgettable.
Ask your existing website reviewers to review your product on Amazon too.
Use Amazon Vine and product sampling to increase attention to newer and lesser-known products with thirty or less reviews.
Add an irresistible message to packages that encourage buyers to review your products.
Plus, we’ll show you how to do all this without breaking the rules, breaking the bank, or getting your staff to write those bad boys themself.
(Because let’s face it, we all can spot that phony review Justin in Marketing wrote after the staff meeting. Does he even use pumice stones?)
Let’s dive in…
Tip 1: Make Sure Your Product Listing Looks and Sounds Like a Top Listing
If you want more reviews on Amazon, you must first make sure your product listings are optimized.
But how do you optimize all 6,423 of your products without hiring five more staff?
You start small. Ideally, we want all of your product listings optimized (it will help your Amazon compliance too), but let’s start by focusing on a few new or low-review products that you want to get more reviews on.
We’re assuming you don’t have the next seven months to dedicate exclusively to this, so the following steps are a quick-and-dirty checklist you can use right now:
Optimize-Your-Listing Checklist
⬜ Have I written compelling product descriptions that highlight key features, benefits, and unique selling points?
⬜ Does the title accurately describe the product, including details like material, color, size, capacity, and notable features?
⬜ Are the product images optimized to occupy around 85% of available white space, with a stark white background and no elements spilling off the screen?
⬜ Have I crafted persuasive bullet points that succinctly highlight key product features and benefits?
⬜ Have I included relevant keywords in the title, description, bullet points, and backend search terms?
⬜ Have I optimized pricing and promotions to attract more customers and boost sales?
⬜ Is the product information provided accurate and detailed, without misleading or false claims?
⬜ Have I optimized the product listing for mobile devices, ensuring proper display and navigation?
Want a quick downloadable version of this to keep and reference? Click here.
Test these out and let us know what you think!
Tip 2: Write a Dynamite Post-Delivery Email Autoresponder for Your Purchasers That Practically Gets Reviews for You
If you’re on Amazon seller, you can enroll in or set up a third-party tool that allows you to share an email autoresponder with your buyers, asking them for a review.
While Amazon restricts changes to the subject line of this email, you can still update its contents.
Remember, you cannot ask for a positive review, offer incentives, or direct unhappy customers to contact customer service.
However, you can personalize your email by including specific details, showing empathy, and, most importantly—keeping it brief.
Want to see how that might look? Check this out…
Review Invitation Example for Amazon Buyers
Hi {First Name},
I hope you're enjoying the [insert product name] you recently purchased! My wife Jenny is also a big fan.
Before making your purchase, we understand that reading reviews played an important role in determining whether our product was the right fit for you.
Someone just like you is currently browsing and could benefit from hearing your opinion too!
Not to mention, we genuinely love reading your feedback. Would you mind sharing some with us?
[Leave Your Review Here >>]
Your input is invaluable in helping us grow and improve, and we'd be endlessly grateful for it!
As you may know, our company is located right here in the US, and we rely on customers like you to keep our operations running smoothly.
Thank you for being a valued member of our community!
[Your Signoff]
Tip 3: Reach Out to Product Reviewers on Your Website and Ask Them to Leave Reviews on Amazon, Too
Another option you can use to get more reviews on your products is to contact past purchasers from your website who have previously left reviews on your products.
Once you collect the emails of these reviewers, keeping the product they purchased in mind, you can now direct them to the same product page on Amazon and ask them to post that same review there.
Although these reviews may not be “verified,” they can still make a big difference.
Here's an example of what you could write them...
Review Invitation Example for Previous Reviewers
Hi {First Name},
Thank you for being such a loyal customer to us and reviewing our [product name].
We want to help more people with [describe a possible problem your product solves or solution your customer desires your product to provide them] find and benefit from the [product name] too.
Would you be willing to make the same review on our Amazon product page here?
[Review It Here >>] ← Make sure this link goes directly to the product review page!
Again, we’re so thankful for your support over the years. You help us keep offering this product to the public, and it means the world to us.
[Signoff]
Tip 4: Offer Free Products or Discounts in Exchange for Reviews Through a Sampling Program
Although offering discounts or free products for reviews is generally frowned upon—and sometimes prohibited outright, there are two notable exception that many brands use to get more reviews on Amazon.
One of these is the Amazon Vine Program, which is an invitation-only membership for reviewers who want to get access to free products in exchange for reviews.
To be eligible for the Vine program as a brand, you can submit a free product for inclusion if it has fewer than 30 reviews for consideration.
When your product is accepted, it is posted inside the Vine's database of available products. Once reviewers buy it and review it, your reviews grow, helping you build authority and visibility within Amazon’s marketplace.
The second way to get more reviews for your products is through a sampling program.
There are a number of tools online that automate this process, including Amazon's own Send Me a Sample program.
This can be a slippery slope, however, as Amazon's restrictions on exchanging products for reviews are strict.
Want to learn how to get more product reviews through your own sampling program? We partner with you free if you qualify. Set up a call here.
Tip 5: Add a QR Code to Your Product Boxes Before Shipping
Another nice touch that can encourage buyers to leave reviews is to add a QR code to your product box before shipping.
You can either add it to the box itself—especially if you are shipping to Amazon for fulfillment, or you can add it directly to each package if shipping yourself. It might be a sticker, paper insert, letter or small gift bag.
Remember: The message included with your QR code mustn’t promise anything in exchange for a product review.
We suggest saying something like…
“Did our product meet your needs? Scan this code to let us know.”
“Your feedback helps us keep offering this product. Scan here to share it.”
“Help others find this product too. Leave a review now.”
That’s it! We hope the above article gave you some actionable steps that you can’t wait to go test out.
We know from experience that when you apply these steps, they can grow your product reviews like wildfire. It’s something we do consistently for our brand partners.
If you just read all that and thought, “These ideas are great, but I don’t have time to do this alone!” we encourage you to reach out to us for help.
Did that help? You can implement these tips and get more Amazon reviews over time, or you can do it faster with us. We'll help you create an influx of reviews (and customers) in three months or less.
Comments