An Insider’s Guide on How to Get Reviews on Amazon for A New Product

Hundreds of sellers have made millions of dollars on Amazon, but becoming a multi-million Amazon entrepreneur is definitely not a walk in the park. As a highly competitive environment, you sometimes have to fight tooth and nail to win the Buy Box — and it’s also incredibly difficult to get positive feedback as customers generally write reviews only when they’re unsatisfied with a product.

Launching a new product on Amazon is also extremely challenging. You can’t get sales because Amazon’s A9 Algorithm has a unique mechanism that ranks the best-selling products first. As Amazon sellers, we’re left a chicken or the egg dilemma. You can’t get sales because you have low visibility — and you’re struggling to rank in the Amazon search engine because you have no sales. So what should one do?

One of the best ways to obtain sales traction and improve your new product’s search engine rank is to get a few positive reviews. Studies show that more than 90 percent of online shoppers check Amazon reviews first before buying a product, so having enough positive reviews can help you gain sales traction and eventually improve your search engine rank.

Why Is It Difficult To Get Amazon Reviews?

As a buyer-centric platform, Amazon has created a strict set of rules to protect the integrity of product reviews to ensure they remain truthful and helpful. You can’t ask your family members or friends to write reviews, and you also can’t pay someone to give you a good review.

In 2016, Amazon banned incentivized reviews. This means that you’re no longer allowed to give away discounts and free products in exchange for feedback. You can still do promotions, however, but you can’t compel your customers to write a review in exchange for a freebie.

Insider Tips: How to Get More Amazon Reviews

The world of business is dynamic and ever-changing. To grow your business at an accelerated rate, you have to effortlessly enter the era of artificial intelligence.

If you’re stuck between the dilemma of needing reviews to get sales and vice-versa, here’s a list of tips to get more positive reviews for a new product:

1. Sell a high quality and unique product.

This may sound like a basic tip, but you’d be surprised to know that a lot of Amazon entrepreneurs sell low-quality products and somehow think that they could just cheat their way to getting good reviews.

Producing a unique and high-quality product is the first step to getting good reviews. If your customers are extremely pleased with your product, they won’t mind spending a few minutes writing a good review.

2. Write an interesting, readable, and honest product description.

Nowadays, customers appreciate an honest product description over a deceptive one. Say for example you’re offering a secondhand luxury item like a designer’s bag. It’s better to indicate that it’s ‘pre-loved’ in the listing title, rather than say it’s ‘brand new’ and have your customer discover that it’s actually not after purchase. You’ll end up having to deal with a bad review, not to mention the hassle of refunds, returns, and added fees.

Additionally, you have to keep your product description interesting. Focus on the benefits and not on the features. Make sure that your post has clear and accurate photos. It’s wise to hire a professional to do your product photoshoot.

Take time to really sit down and write your product description. Proofread your description and use bullet points whenever possible. Avoid jargon unless you’re targeting tech geeks.

Take advantage of the Amazon Enhanced Brand Content (EBC) feature if you can. EBC allows you to showcase your product from different angles. It also enables you to add rich content that pushes customers to make quick purchasing decisions.

3. Offer great customer service.

Customers will always remember how you make them feel. The product could be nothing out of the ordinary or even of standard quality, but if the customer is treated with exceptional customer service, then they’re more compelled to leave a positive review. Moreover, it also inspires brand loyalty and enhances your brand’s reputation in the long run. Though offering great customer service doesn’t directly increase your visibility in the Amazon ecosystem, it’s essential in building a solid “word of mouth” marketing plan.

Great examples of exceptional customer service can include 24/7 customer support, detailed instructions for complicated items, genuine interactions without the use of a messenger bot, or simply just being patient and friendly no matter the customer’s attitude.

4. Join the Amazon Early Reviewer Program.

The retail giant knows that getting the first few reviews is a challenging feat. This is why they created the Early Review Program (ERP).

Here’s how ERP works: You pay $60 per new product (or SKU), then Amazon sends follow up emails to shoppers who have already bought your product. Amazon offers a $1-3 reward to these customers in exchange for reviews. The retail leader stops sending follow up emails after one year or after you have already received five reviews.

But, there’s a catch – ERP is not for everyone. You must be a brand-registered seller to join this program and your product must cost more than fifteen dollars.

Keep in mind that ERP does not guarantee that you will get good reviews. This is why you have to make sure that you sell high-quality products. You must also offer great customer service. Otherwise, you won’t get anything good from the $60 that you spent on the early review program.

5. Try the Amazon Vine Program.

Amazon Vine is a reviewer program available exclusively for vendors. You can use this platform to launch new products.

Through this program, Amazon invites credible and trustworthy reviewers to be part of a group called “Vine Voices”. This group receives free products in exchange for honest reviews.

This program helps you get high quality, credible, and well-written reviews, but it’s quite expensive. You need to pay around $2,500-$7,500 per ASIN depending on your product category. The program only allows you to send 10-100 items per ASIN. This means that you won’t get as much reviews as you would hope. Plus, you still have to make sure that you sell a high-quality product since there’s no guarantee you’re going to get a good review.

6. Use packaging inserts when shipping Amazon new products.

Packaging or marketing inserts are promotional materials that you can include alongside your packaged product. You can use these inserts to cross-sell, upsell, and market your other products, but you can also use it to encourage feedback.

You can include a simple thank you card that says “Thank you for your purchase. Your business is important to us. Let us know what you think and leave a review. We’d surely appreciate that!”. But, keep in mind that you cannot directly ask your customers to leave a positive review.

7. Use the Facebook Messenger Bot.

The Facebook bot is a great tool that you can use to generate reviews, increase your sales, and eventually improve your visibility on the Amazon search engine.

This bot is actually an interactive Facebook ad that allows you to start a conversation with your potential customers. This AI-powered system works both as a customer service and a marketing tool. It helps you identify leads and also do e-commerce transactions, plus it allows you to highlight your product’s benefits.

Facebook bot is similar to regular sponsored ads. You need to set it up, define your target audience, and set up your messaging system to answer frequently asked questions. Then, make sure to direct your customers straight to your Amazon listing.

Offer discounts via Facebook Bot. For example, if your product costs $50, offer it for $30. Create a sense of urgency. You can encourage your customers to leave a review, but you cannot compel them to write a positive review.

The Facebook Bot is not a guarantee that you’ll get good reviews, but it’s one of the most effective tools that you can use to get more reviews for your new product. Just remember to keep the conversation’s tone genuine, as bots may come off as spam-like messages to some customers.

Final Thoughts

To increase your chances of getting reviews for a new product, combine the following techniques:

Sell a high-quality product. Otherwise, you’ll end up with negative reviews. This can destroy your reputation as a seller and could lead to huge financial losses.

Run Amazon ads. This helps you reach potential customers, get sales, and eventually get reviews. Just remember that no amount of promotions can hide a bad-quality product.

Optimize your listing. Do keyword research and strategically place the top niche keywords in your product detail pages. This makes it easier for customers to find your product, which can increase your sales and review count.

Use packaging inserts to encourage your customers to leave a review.

Try Amazon Early Reviewer Program (for brand-registered sellers) or the Vine program (for vendors).

Use Facebook Bot. This marketing and customer service tool allows you to interact with your audience in real-time while you attend to other business tasks, helping you maximize sales and customer service at the same time to generate reviews.

To get reviews for a new product, you must first make sure that your product is both good and useful. Once you’re sure of that, you have to prepare your listing and make sure that you have rich, interesting, and optimized content. Then, you can drive sales by using Facebook Bot or joining Amazon’s reviewer programs.

Not sure how and where to start?

Our team here at MarketplaceOps would love to hear from you. If you need help in building a successful Amazon business, we can assist you in building a solid marketing strategy that can help you achieve your business goals – be it to generate more sales or to get more positive reviews for a new product.

Schedule a free consultation with us today — no fees, no commitments — and see how our expert team can supercharge your brand’s growth on Amazon.

Visit MarketplaceOp’s website to learn more about their services.