Amazon Product Reviews 101 For D2C Brands
As more than 85% of customers check at least 10 reviews before making a buying decision – Amazon product reviews are the new digital word of mouth for your business. Good reviews are public proof that people like your product. Positive Amazon product ratings not only attract new customers, help build a brand reputation but also help you rank higher in search listing and win the buy box, guaranteeing more sales.
But getting product reviews and star ratings is not as easy as it seems, especially when selling on Amazon because of their strict guidelines. And now that Amazon has stopped its early review program, many D2C companies struggle to get good customer reviews.
So, in this blog, we help you plan your Amazon customer feedback journey. Right from asking for reviews from your first customers to managing the negative customer reviews on Amazon – we have covered it all. Read on!
Do’s and Don’ts of Requesting Amazon Product Reviews
Before we get started on how to increase your Amazon product reviews, let’s briefly discuss what is accepted by Amazon as a genuine review and things you need to be careful about while collecting customer reviews. Here is what you need to know:
- Don’t ask the customers to leave positive reviews. Be neutral in your communication with the reviewer.
- Don’t provide any rewards, free products, or discounts in exchange for positive reviews
- Don’t provide links to your website or review page in your messages
- Don’t offer a coupon code for future purchases for positive reviews
- Don’t use “if and then” language to send satisfied customers to the Amazon review page
This doesn’t mean that Amazon forbids you from seeking reviews from your customers. You just need to be careful in your communication when you request reviews.
Amazon seeks two types of reviews from your customers – seller feedback and product reviews. Don’t get confused between the two. Seller feedback is the review of your services like shipping time, customer service, etc., and is not visible to the site visitors. Whereas customer reviews that you see on the product page are amazon reviews for your product and are visible to all customers visiting your product page. Here is the difference between seller feedback and Amazon product reviews,
Keep in mind that Amazon tracks the quality of your reviews and frequency, giving higher weightage to the reviews you got recently. Hence, being consistent in your efforts is important.
How to get customer reviews for your newly launched product on Amazon?
When launching new products, getting reviews from your first customers is important as it impacts how Amazon ranks your product. Try to get at least 25 customer reviews before spending money on Ads for better conversion.
There are many ways to collect reviews – from utilizing your existing email list to using Amazon’s tools. Here are the white hat tricks you can use to get more Amazon product reviews:
Tip 1: Leverage social media and work towards building email-list of your future customers
When launching a new product on Amazon, you should leverage social media to create awareness and build an email list. The email list building will help you attract customers and grow your Amazon product reviews. This is how you can do it:
- Step 1: Start creating a buzz online on your social media by talking about your product. Highlight the benefits and how you are different from your competitors
- Step 2: Once you have enough traction on social media, start directing traffic to your landing page. Where you collect the email address of customers by offering discounts/ freebies
- Step 3: On the day of launch on Amazon, send an attractive email with a link to your Amazon product page.
- Step 4: Utilise your drip email campaign for every successful sale on Amazon; more details below
- Step 5: Use your social media handle to share posts seeking Amazon product reviews which is a great form of promotion.
Tip 2: Set Up a drip-email campaign for amazon product reviews
Use Amazon’s buyer-seller messaging system in your Seller Central account for your drip campaign. It will help you keep records of all customer-related communication. As these emails are triggered automatically based on action taken by the customer – it reduces your workload.
When building your drip email campaign, here is what we recommend:
- Email #1: Send the first email after the product is shipped. Thank them for the purchase and provide them with valuable information about the product – like care instruction or set up guide. It is also a good idea to include your customer care details if the customer wants to get in touch.
- Email#2: This email should be sent immediately after the delivery. Ask them how satisfied they are with the product – if it is as per their expectation. Include details on getting in touch with you in case of any questions or concerns. This is also a good way to prevent negative customer reviews. Rather than writing publically, they can contact you directly.
- Email#3: This is the email where you ask for genuine product feedback and honest reviews from your customers. Send this email 5-10 days after the delivery. Let them know that you hope they are enjoying their product. Thank them for the purchase and ask for product feedback. You can share the link to the Amazon review page. If you believe that you have created a good product, then don’t fall into the trap of getting fake reviews.
Here is a sample email template for Amazon reviews that you can modify and use,
Hello [First Name],
Thanks for the purchase, and we hope you are enjoying your [Product Name]. We at [Company Name] strive to create the best products in [Category], and your reviews help us achieve that.
If you are happy with your purchase, please leave your review here for more people to benefit from it: -{Link this to Amazon review page}
If you have any questions or have any feedback for us, feel free to reply to this message.
We are always here to help!
Thank you for your support.
Customer Service
[Company Name]
Tip 3: Include product inserts
Do you know 40% of customers are more likely to make a repeat purchase from the brand that provides premium packaging? Interesting, isn’t it.
As a D2C brand, you can use product inserts (customized cards inserted in the box) to tell your brand story and create a close personal relationship with customers. You can also use it to get Amazon reviews for your products. Just remember to stay away from persuading your customers to write positive reviews (Remember the Amazon communication guidelines!)..
Tip 4: Convert sellers feedback to Amazon product reviews
You can ask for product reviews from the customers who have written good seller feedback but have not provided any product reviews. The chances of them leaving a product review are much higher than your other customers.
Some shoppers might leave product reviews on seller feedback without realizing the difference. You can ask Amazon to remove product reviews from the seller feedback and simultaneously reach out to the customer for product reviews. Don’t forget to include a step-by-step process of leaving product reviews in your message or send them a link to this Amazon Support article.
Tip 5: Use request a review button on Amazon
You can use the request a review button on Amazon seller central to submit product reviews. This button is available for each order, and you can use it from 5-30 days after the purchase. Here is how it looks,
Even though you cannot customize the message and have to use a third-party tool to send the request in bulk (as Amazon themselves don’t allow bulk messaging), we recommend you to use it as much as possible.
Tip 6: How to tackle Negative Amazon product reviews
No matter how much effort you put in providing the best product and exceptional customer service – you cannot keep everyone happy all the time. If you are a registered brand on Amazon, you can use the contact customer feature to address negative reviews or offer refunds.
As the communication is highly gated by Amazon, you can not change the message, but at least your customers will know that you are ready to address their problem. Here is now you can connect with your customers,
Step 1: Open the main navigation of seller central and find Customer Reviews under Brands.
- Step 2: Note that your Amazon app will only allow you to contact customers who have rated 3 or below. You will see “Contact Customer” on the top right side.
- Step 3: Click on the “Contact Customer,” and you will see two options. You can either choose “Courtesy refund” or “Customer review”. Amazon will send a templatized email to your customer, notifying them that you would like to address their concern.
You can report the negative review by clicking the Report Abuse button (right next to the review) or ask Amazon directly to remove it based on any policy violation. We suggest writing a direct email to communityhelp@amazon.com for faster action.
Note: Always read amazon’s terms of service and it’s zero tolerance policy carefully in order to think of the best way to promote your product without a hiccups.
Last Thoughts!
Attracting and managing customer reviews is just a small part of the puzzle. To increase your revenue from Amazon especially as a new seller, you need to have a multi-pronged approach. Check our other blog on product listing and winning the Amazon buy box to crack Amazon for your business. If you want to go the extra mile, you can also enroll into amazon vine program which has a bunch of vine reviewers who give really insightful reviews about your product. This is an early reviewer program developed by amazon to help new sellers increase the number of reviews on their product.
Stay Tuned for more such insightful blogs!
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