Five Tips for Soliciting Product Reviews By Vangie Beal
January 20, 2010
On-site product reviews are a big e-commerce trend as research suggests that customers now expect these item evaluations as a standard feature when shopping online, and more importantly, are more apt to buy after reading them.
By adding product reviews to your online store, you are giving shoppers the opportunity to rate and comment on products they've just purchased -- right on the product page. This helps e-tailers in two ways. First, it can boost sales as the reviews are displayed adjacent to the inventory. Customers who are considering a purchase are more likely to buy when they know others have had a positive experience.
The second significant benefit to using product reviews is that this user-generated content (UGC) helps your search engine optimization (SEO) effort. Google and other search engines favor fresh content, so when customers continually add product reviews to your pages, you're getting a steady stream of new updated text at your site.
Also, product reviews can increase your search engine rank for some keywords and phrases that customers use in their review.
Start by Simply Asking Customers for a Review
Once you have a product review system in place, the next step is to encourage your customers to start using the service. There are a number of ways e-tailers can convince customers to write and submit a review -- and it really isn't as difficult of a task as you might think.
RatePoint Inc.'s Co-Founder and CEO, Neal Creighton, suggests that getting the user-generated reviews is as easy as simply asking for it (see "Improve your Rep with RatePoint Reviews").
Most consumers are familiar with the process of writing reviews, and you will find many customers-- especially your loyal shoppers -- will contribute simply because you asked.
Requesting that a customer rate your product or service gives him or her a feeling of empowerment; it makes them feel like an important part of the process. Just by telling your customers that you appreciate hearing about their experience with a product is enough of an incentive for them to submit a review on your site in many cases, say industry experts.
Tips to Solicit Reviews without Being Intrusive or Spammy
In some cases you may want to increase the number of reviews on your site, for instance, perhaps you want testimonials to include in e-mail newsletters, or you simply want to launch your new reviews section with content already archived and present.
The following five tips can help you solicit reviews from your customers without being overbearing.
1. Incorporate Links
One of the best ways to gently solicit is to ensure your customers can see and access a "Write-a-Review" link on every product page. As they browse your Web site, this is a constant reminder and quick-access opportunity for them to leave a testimonial.
2. Use Your Mailing List
When you send out your e-mail marketing campaigns you can include links to your review service and encourage customers to click-through and write an evaluation. If you are promoting a special product in a mail-out, you can ask customers who have already tried the product to let others know about it by providing a summation of their experience. Another way to solicit reviews in your e-mail marketing is to feature a sentence or two from a user testimonial and link to the full-length review. This will encourage customers to leave their own reviews -- after all, it is a chance for them to be featured in your next newsletter.
3. Follow Up After Order Confirmation
After a customer has placed an order, you should follow up within 21 days and ask him or her to contribute a review. This time frame allows for the customer to have received the purchase and to have tried the product. Often, soliciting a review in a follow-up order confirmation will result in a higher response when compared to having a "Write-a-Review" link on a product page.
4. Offer an Incentive
If you find customers are slow to respond to review requests, try offering a small incentive. For example, try letting them know they will be entered in a drawing to win a free product every time they submit a review.
Another idea is to create a points program around customer reviews, where each review earns points that customers can accumulate and redeem for a discount on a future purchase.
Your incentive doesn't have to be big or expensive. A small incentive that is promoted as a token of appreciation for contributing is often enough to encourage customers to participate.
5. Keep Them Coming Back
Customers will be more likely to submit multiple reviews when you acknowledge their contribution and thank them for the testimonial.
They will also be more likely to contribute when you use minimal editing when publishing the review on your site. Editing a typo is fine, and many customers will appreciate a spelling mistake not being seen by others. What you need to avoid is rewriting the submission -- especially when it is negative. Publish these comments and be sure to follow up with a genuine, timely, customer service response to the review and also in an e-mail. This tells your patrons you are honest and care about their experience with your product or service.
Vangie Beal is a veteran online seller and frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.com. You can tweet with her online @AuroraGG.
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