Most sellers and vendors want to figure out how to get better reviews on Amazon. Reviews can seriously impact your sales. In the world of online shopping, they are extremely valuable for building trust and establishing that you can deliver in terms of quality and customer service. When customers can’t physically see your products, they have to rely on their judgment about your business and reviews from other unbiased users. Here’s how to increase your positive reviews to attract customers and increase your ranking on Amazon.
1. Submit Products to the Vine Program
In the past, Amazon did allow incentivized reviews from users who received free products from businesses. However, a pattern emerged that showed these reviews trending in the direction of positive reviews. That made these reviews less trustworthy in the eyes of other users. The Amazon Vine program and the Seller Central version Early Reviewer Program represents an attempt to curb dishonest reviews, and it gives Amazon the power to invite users to the program based on how helpful their reviews have been rated over time. These users are called Vine Voices, and they receive their free products from Amazon instead of directly from businesses on Amazon.
2. Stick to the Rules
Can you buy Amazon reviews? The answer is, not legally. There are lots of services out there that encourage you to bend the rules on Amazon reviews. In the long term, this method is likely to end in your account being banned and the loss of all the hard work you put into your business. Amazon is constantly working to ensure that reviews are as honest as possible, which means they keep track of the methods people use to try and game the system. It is rumored that Amazon will crawl your Facebook friends and LinkedIn connections looking for patterns of friends and family leaving positive reviews.
3. Remind Customers to Leave a Review
Generally speaking, getting a positive review is much more difficult than getting a negative review. For many customers, leaving a product review is not something they immediately do after they receive a product, even if they’ve had a positive experience. It may not occur to them that their review can have an impact, helping other users and even your business.
Good news is Amazon will allow you to reach out to your customers and ask them to leave reviews for their purchases. It’s important to remind them of how important their opinions are for other shoppers and your business. Reminders can be printed out physically and packaged into orders or sent out via email. A simple reminder can encourage more users to leave reviews.
As with any outreach strategy, building a relationship with your customers is vitally important. Customers appreciate you asking about their experiences. And with this encouragement, you can increase the number of positive reviews, since customers who have a bad experience are sometimes more eager to share their outrage. Make sure all your customers know that reviews are an integral part of the Amazon selling landscape.
4. Develop Brand Recognition
Establishing a brand is vital for online commerce, even on an existing platform like Amazon. Whether you are a seller or a vendor on the website, you’ll want to make sure that your own message and personal touch doesn’t get lost as you adapt your listings to Amazon criteria. For sellers, a well-designed Brand Store is vital for getting repeat customers who learn to trust your products. When customers purchase a product from a specific brand, especially one where they have had positive experiences, they are often more inclined to leave a review in favor. Having consistency with your brand messaging, product listings, and imagery are all key to building a successful brand on Amazon.
5. Create Amazon Promotions
Learning how to create promotions for your Amazon products is an excellent way of attracting attention and giving customers a great deal. Money off promotions allows you to give discounts on items. You can add stipulations that require customers to spend a certain amount of money or buy a certain number of items to qualify for the sale. Other options include Buy One, Get One and Free Shipping. Saving money always primes customers for feeling satisfied with their purchases, increasing the likelihood of positive reviews.
6. Focus on Customer Service
When you sell on a big platform like Amazon, it’s easy to lose the personal touch you bring to your business. Customer service is one area where it pays to be more personable and understanding of the customer’s complaints. When you respond to messages, use language that acknowledges frustration instead of minimizing it. A positive tone and active phrasing will both show that you plan to take their concerns seriously instead of brushing them aside. You may also want to set up an automatic response so that customers are certain their message has gone through and it is only a matter of time before they get a response. This is a great method of increasing positive reviews on Amazon. By addressing customer concerns as they occur, you can show that you truly care about customer satisfaction. Customers researching products understand that there will be negative reviews, but how the seller/brand handles those issues can be more valuable than a generic 5-star review.
7. Address Negative Reviews
Undeserved negative reviews are frustrating to deal with. If a review unfairly attacks your business or had FBA shipping issues, you can ask Amazon to review, and hopefully remove, the offending review. You can do this by reporting it as abuse or by emailing Amazon’s Community Help service if you think it violates the guidelines for reviews. In other cases, you can comment on the review to offer your own perspective on what happened or what has been done to resolve the issue. It won’t remove the comment, but you can publicly show your side of the story and let people know if the user is being unreasonable. Make sure to maintain a professional tone, even when responding to aggravating comments. Taking the time to make a thoughtful response shows customers that you care about achieving customer satisfaction.
Get Some Expert Help
When you put in the work designed to help you stand out in the competitive Amazon landscape, you can expect better reviews that reflect a positive shopping experience. Contact OperationROI today to learn more about how to optimize your Amazon strategies to increase positive feedback, appeal to more customers, and reach your business goals.
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