Kaspien Holdings Inc.

05/17/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/17/2021 12:23

5 Ways to Get Reviews on Amazon

Are you ready to improve search rankings and increase sales for your Amazon products? Getting more reviews is an important piece of any Amazon growth strategy.

After all, the recency and relevancy of your reviews impact your Amazon rankings. Shoppers look to reviews for social proof. Reviews also let you know exactly how your products are perceived, helping you make sure your items are delighting customers.

Verified purchase reviews, which are reviews left by customers who purchased your product from Amazon, carry the most weight in the search algorithm. Reviews are not shared across child ASINs within a product set. If you create a bundle or use Amazon's virtual bundling program, the bundle has a separate ASIN from the products that make up the bundle. If you're selling internationally, reviews are not shared globally, but may be highlighted as ratings from other countries.

In other words, you need reviews, and ideally you want those reviews to come from shoppers who bought your products on Amazon. In this article, we'll explain where to find Amazon review policies and share five ways to get reviews on Amazon.

Amazon Review Guidelines

Getting reviews on Amazon doesn't have to be complicated, but you do need to understand Amazon's guidelines. Amazon takes customer reviews very seriously and has many rules in place to prevent abuse of the review system.

You should get familiar with all Amazon review policies, but here is a brief overview of what you need to know about requesting reviews:

  • You cannot offer any type of compensation in exchange for a review. This includes free products, coupons, and discounts. Do not participate in social media review groups.
  • You should only send one request for a review or seller feedback per order.
  • Never ask for a positive review. Your request should use neutral language. Avoid if/then statements that divert buyers with a negative experience to contact customer service instead of leaving a review.
  • You, your family, and your employees are not allowed to review your own products or your competitor's products.
  • Do not include marketing messages, promotions, or links to sites other than Amazon in your review request.

Here are the Seller Central pages you should be familiar with:

Feeling overwhelmed? Don't worry, requesting reviews is easy when you know what not to do. Keep reading to learn about five ways to ask for reviews while operating within Amazon's review policies.

5 Ways to Ask for Reviews on Amazon

Request a Review

Amazon introduced the Request a Review messaging system in late 2019. This message is sent to the buyer on your behalf, directly from Amazon. Since Amazon controls the messaging, this is a foolproof way to request reviews without violating any of the policies mentioned above.

The message is instantly translated into the buyer's preferred language. It includes a seller feedback request in addition to a product review request, along with an image of your product. You can send this message manually by clicking the 'Request a Review' button on the order details page in your Seller Central account. You can also schedule automation for this message with Amazon review software such asFeedbackFive, which we'll explore later in this article.

Buyer-Seller Messaging

You can send review requests through Buyer-Seller Messaging in Seller Central. You'll need to create your own message, so this is where you need to make sure you are following all of Amazon's guidelines related to reviews and communicating with buyers.

Sending messages directly from Seller Central requires you to go to each order you'd like to send a request for and click on the buyer's name to compose your message. You can also create a message template to automate with software, saving you time so you can focus on other tasks.

Automated Review Requests

eComEngine's FeedbackFive software makes it easy to send review requests, whether you want to send Request a Review messages or customized requests via Buyer-Seller Messaging. Either way, you simply set up the message you'd like to send, choose your preferred message timing, and enjoy the results! You can exclude orders (such as refunded orders), send requests that are specific to each of your products, control the timing of your messages, and much more.

You can also see the impact of your review requests with detailed campaign analytics. This graph shows your order volume, emails sent, and reviews received so you have a clear understanding of how your requests impact your reviews.

You can also see how many written product reviews you receive compared to the number of one-tap ratings received along with your positive feedback percentage, average review rating, and other details.

Amazon Vine

The Amazon Vine program is another way to request reviews. You'll need to enroll in the program and provide free products for review. (This is the only exception to Amazon's incentivized review policy; you can feel confident about participating because this program is managed by Amazon.)

Amazon Vine Voices are among the most trusted reviewers on Amazon. Participating in Vine can be a great way to jumpstart reviews for a new product.

Some sellers and vendors report great results with the Amazon Vine program, while others are not impressed. It might work well for your product, but there are no guarantees that your products will be reviewed. Participating in the program can be costly, so you'll definitely want to do your research to get an idea of whether this makes sense for your business.

Product Inserts

As with any communication with buyers, you'll need to follow Amazon's Communication Guidelines if you plan to include a product insert in your packaging. Some sellers have seen good results from including a review request in this format.

If you regularly shop on Amazon, you've almost certainly received at least one product review request that blatantly violates Amazon policies. Don't risk it! If you plan to include a review request with your product, check outthis guideto see what not to do.

Getting Reviews the Right Way

Amazon reviews are integral to the continued growth and success of your business. Although there are many social media groups and 'gurus' who may tempt you with black hat tactics, you're now armed with knowledge and resources to get reviews without risking your seller account.

As with everything associated with your Amazon business, you'll want to exercise caution and do your own research to make sure that any action you are considering won't lead to account suspension or other issues. Automating review requests is a smart way to save time while continuing to build your Amazon reputation. Working with unverified software could put your account at risk. Be sure to look for software that is in the Amazon Appstore, like FeedbackFive!

If you have any questions about getting, managing, or analyzing reviews, check outour Amazon review guideor contact us for afree product review strategy discussion.

Learn More About Amazon Marketing Strategies

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Content Marketing Managerat Kaspien, Inc.
Matthew Boardman is the lead writer and editor for Kaspien's ecommerce blog. Matthew collaborates closely with leading industry experts throughout Kaspien to write informative content on ecommerce strategies and news.