The Ultimate Guide to Getting Great Reviews on Amazon (20 Strategies)
Updated on September 15, 2021
Positive reviews are a currency in the e-commerce world. They’re essential for making sales, yet they are not easy to obtain.
Amazon sellers in particular know the importance of positive reviews for their brand as they are crucial to standing out in the crowded FBA space.
So, in a world in which everyone climbs over one another to get reviews from their busy customers, how do you grab customers’ attention and convince them to respond to your product over everyone else’s?
This in-depth guide explores 20 distinct ways to earn the reviews that are vital to your success. We’ll reveal how to get them without breaking the rules as well as how to cope with a review that goes a bit wrong.
Great reviews also make your Amazon business more attractive when it comes time to sell your FBA brand. Buyers love to acquire brands that have well-reviewed products as it acts as a huge stamp of approval.
So, let’s look at the wild world of Amazon reviews.
Why Are Amazon Customer Reviews Important?
In the internet age, no one makes an uninformed decision.
With an abundance of information and referrals from everyday people, customers approach their buying decisions prepared to act and open their wallets.
Over time, according to a study by Search Engine Land (SEL), people need fewer reviews of a product or business to make a decision on purchasing their goods. In 2013, people were reading only seven reviews before making a buying decision, and 73% of consumers claimed that reviews made a business seem more trustworthy.
It’s no surprise that SEL concluded, “Positive reviews have a real, actual impact on purchasing decisions. Reviews influence both attitude and the resultant actions of consumers. They have a direct impact on whether a consumer chooses to use one business over its competitors.”
Amazon sales reflect the same degree of impact inspired by trusted reviews.
Better reviews can increase your ranking in Amazon’s algorithm and attract more customers, which can lead to more reviews in a kind of virtuous circle.
Good Product Reviews Lead to Robust Customer Conversion
Word of mouth is the best marketing tool, even for your Amazon product.
Reviews provide social endorsement: evidence that people like, trust, and feel strongly enough about a product to recommend it to others. Recommendations ease the burden of searching for something trustworthy and make potential consumers feel more secure.
That’s why an abundance of good reviews for a product—especially five-star reviews—can catapult its sales.
And there is safety in numbers. The more reviews you have, the better. A lower-rated product with a greater number of reviews can convert better than a very highly rated product with fewer reviews.
Amazon Verified reviews vs. non-verified reviews
Not all reviews are created equal.
Amazon Verified Purchase reviews confirm that the products being reviewed have been purchased through Amazon. To qualify for verified review, a review “cannot be made by users who purchased at a heavy discount (greater than 50% of product cost), received the item for free, or purchased the item from another website.”
Non-verified reviews can be contributed by any Amazon user for any product and require no verified purchase history with Amazon.
Because trust sells products, Amazon prioritizes verified reviews in its algorithm. These reviews will appear higher in the review list and can boost the visibility of products around the marketplace. With more “Verified” badges attached to reviews, your Amazon Best Seller Rank (BSR) and Amazon conversion rates will improve.
Clearly, Amazon reviews are crucial to your brand, so, without further explanation, let’s consider how you can win your coveted reviews.
Twenty Effective (and Legit) Ways to Get Amazon Reviews
Solicit feedback after purchase with follow-up emails
Amazon sends a generic email to customers, but a personalized email is more likely to build a relationship. In your personal follow-up email, you can ask for reviews or make other offers to your customer to keep the dialogue going.
Use your addressable audience (newsletter, social media, etc.)
If your brand already has an established audience on social media or through an email list, they are the perfect people to tap for reviews.
Mention that you’ve had some new products go live and ask for feedback and reviews. You’re more likely to get a response from people who are actively interested in your business than from anyone else.
Ask users who’ve reviewed similar products to review yours
You can find people who’ve purchased from your competitors or bought similar products on the “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought” and “Customers Who Viewed This Item Also Viewed” sections of your listing page.
When searching the reviews of those products, see whether the reviewers left contact information. If so, you can send an email asking them to leave a review of your products.
Have friends and family review your Amazon listings
Your closest network would likely be happy to review your products.
They want to see your business succeed and are likely to provide high ratings for your products. Of course, you should leave the door open for them to leave honest constructive feedback, but, in this case, they’ll be more apt to report to you directly than leave that in an Amazon review. It’s a win-win for gaining reviews and constructive feedback that you can work with through a non-public platform.
Consult Amazon’s list of top reviewers to ask for an objective review
Some people make a living by writing reviews. To get a review from a top reviewer, you’ll have to provide the product for free.
Use this list to find top Amazon reviewers. You can see how helpful their reviews are and find relevant tags for related reviews and products.
To stay organized, manage the contacts in a spreadsheet with the reviewers’ email addresses. Send a thoughtful request for feedback and review that explains why they should give you the time of day. Remember, they get thousands of requests, so you must make it worth their while to gain their attention. If you manage to score a review, the results can be significant.
Use Amazon’s “Request a Review” button
This feature can be found in Seller Central’s Order Reports. Each time an order comes through, you can select the “Request a Review” button above the order details. This sends an automatic follow-up email to the customer within four to 30 days of purchase
You can send only one review request, but, because Amazon automatically sends a review request email after the sale, this should be more than enough contact to attract the customer’s attention.
This feature can produce a massive spike in reviews. If it seems daunting to use the “Request a Review” button for every order, Jungle Scout’s extension can save time by letting you request reviews in bulk.
Use Amazon’s Early Reviewer Program
The Early Reviewer Program gives customers an incentive to leave reviews on new products, offering customers a $5 gift card in exchange for a review.
To start, you must submit your product to be enrolled in the program. You’ll be charged to the tune of $60 for these reviews by Amazon, but most sellers find that getting reviews for new products is worth the expense.
Use the Amazon Vine program
Amazon banned incentivized review programs and groups in 2016, but—in typical Amazon fashion—the company has reinstated them on its own terms.
The Amazon Vine program is the company’s solution to help sellers gain needed reviews in a way that Amazon can control. Amazon vets reviewers, called Vine Voices, who receive free products and then test and review them.
To qualify for Amazon Vine, you must have brand registered products and fewer than 30 reviews. Reviewers get the product for free, and you’ll submit 30 units of inventory for this. The program generates much-needed Amazon product reviews for sellers trying to launch their products and brands.
Use product inserts
Product inserts—small sheets or cards included with your shipped product—have long been used to communicate with customers. They offer a great way to thank them and encourage them to engage with your brand, but you must be very careful in how you use them.
The wording of your inserts must strictly abide by Amazon’s Terms of Service (TOS). You are allowed to ask for reviews, but you can’t request a five-star review. And, no, subliminal messaging won’t work here; even showing an image of five stars on your insert violates Amazon’s TOS. Just ask for honest feedback and you should be fine in Amazon’s eyes.
Many sellers neglect the opportunity to enhance their insert strategy. Make the insert a valuable piece of content in its own right, not just a review generator, by talking about your brand or product. Customers will remember when you make the insert a part of your brand experience.
Bonus tip: Product inserts can further monetize your customers by including related offers or upselling them on other products.
Promote your product on other marketplaces
Amazon offers promotional markets such as Jump Send where your products can be featured. Many shoppers feel obligated to leave positive feedback due to the discounts offered there.
You won’t be able to ask for a review, so using this marketplace does not a guarantee that you’ll get one, but the marketplace can promote your product outside of Amazon.
Use Facebook Messenger
It’s possible to send traffic to Amazon via Facebook ads using click-to-messenger JSON ads. The ad will open a Messenger conversation with an automated flow to follow.
Once customers interact with the conversation, you can target them using tools such as ManyChat. From there, you can request that customers go to Amazon to leave a review.
Get your reviews in the right place
Some customers accidentally leave reviews in the Seller Feedback section instead of the actual product listing page.
When you see this in your Seller Feedback report, reach out to the reviewers, thank them, and ask that they copy and paste their feedback as an actual review on the product page. A simple request can get your review where it belongs.
Use your customer service
When a customer-service interaction is resolved—for example, via a help ticket or a question about a product—ask the customer for a review.
If you’ve helped them and provided quality service, they will usually leave a positive review. Again, make sure you don’t ask for a positive review; be neutral to abide by Amazon’s rules.
Product discounts to spur reviews
When launching new products, offer steep discounts to boost sales and thus generate more reviews.
Don’t give a discount of more than 50%, however, as Amazon will then consider the buyers to be unverified. You want them to remain verified to add extra weight in Amazon’s SEO.
Beautiful product packaging
Branding is a vital part of building a strong Amazon FBA business, and packaging is crucial to your branding.
Creating a wonderful experience by means of superbly designed packaging reduces returns and eliminates buyer remorse while identifying you as a true top-tier brand. This can encourage positive reviews without your having to ask for them.
Recruit passionate members of the community
Use communities such as Reddit, YouTube, Quora, and relevant blogs to find people who love the niche your products serve.
Reach out and ask them to leave an honest review (remember—and this can’t be repeated enough—do not ask for a positive review!). You can send free products in exchange for a review.
Bonus Tip: Find the top 10 affiliate blogs in your niche. Most of them will monetize through the Amazon Associates program, and you can often affordably cut a deal with them to list you at the top of their roundup reviews, driving increased traffic, sales, and, potentially, reviews for your brand.
Using Google Ads
Like Facebook, Google Ads is a great vehicle for driving off-Amazon traffic to your listing.
The major difference is in the users’ intent. Google Ad shoppers have a higher intent than viewers of Facebook ads and are thus more likely to buy and leave a review of the product.
Encourage buyers to leave only a star rating
Give your customers the easiest possible way to leave a review. People can be lazy. If they feel they have to write an extensive review, they may not leave any feedback.
Let them know that Amazon allows buyers to leave only a star rating without having to write a review.
Any number of stars counts toward your final tally, so having them contribute to your overall rating can make a difference.
Tradeshows
Tradeshows are great places to connect with influencers, reviewers, and experts. If your products have a strong niche with lots of passionate people, a tradeshow is a great place to reach them all at once.
You can give your product to them and ask for feedback via Amazon’s review system. This bolsters your product’s credibility by having perceived experts and influencers endorse what you sell.
Local charity and community groups
Find an organization that needs your products or would gladly accept them to make their work a little easier.
Offer to donate your products and request that the organization have its members share their experiences online. This is a great way to support organizations while soliciting feedback.
What Can You Do with Bad Amazon Reviews?
Bad reviews are an unavoidable part of selling on Amazon.
Rule number one is to avoid reacting emotionally. Don’t let negative feelings consume you and lead to even worse behavior.
For example, don’t go on a spree of pointing fingers and trying to damage your competitors’ reputations. Attempting to gain ground in this way will only hurt you and your brand.
Accept that bad reviews are going to happen no matter how many great reviews you get. It’s just a fact.
Amazon in its TOS has done its best to weed out fake reviews, but the effort has not been failproof. There are ways to recover your reputation, however, which we’ll go over next.
A tale of two bad reviews
A bad review can crop up under Seller Feedback, your report card as a seller, or under Product Reviews. Here’s how to address a bad review in each category.
Seller Feedback
If a bad review pops up, first consider whether the problem can be resolved.
What’s the reviewer’s criticism? Can you do something to convince them to withdraw the review? If you get a bad review that is actually about your product under Seller Feedback, you can get that removed pretty quickly.
You can remove feedback for up to 60 days after it’s posted if you move quickly to resolve the problem.
Bad Product Reviews
Responding to a bad product review can be a dangerous tactic as other reviewers may side with the unhappy reviewer.
Your best move is to bury the negative review under new positive ones. That’ll involve using the steps already mentioned.
Amazon will remove the review if it involves privacy violations or obscene language, but that very rarely occurs.
If the bad review results from a fulfillment shortcoming, and Amazon is fulfilling your products, the company will probably remove the review if you open a case in your Seller Central account. Provide a link to the review and explain why you believe it was an Amazon problem rather than a “you” problem.
Looking Beyond Reviews
Now that you’re equipped with 20 effective strategies to garner reviews, you’re ready to take on the challenge of standing out in the crowded FBA space.
If your business is doing well and you’re looking to take things to the next level, consider cashing out on your success with a profitable exit.
Your reviews can turn into dollar bills when you list your FBA business for sale, and, once it’s gone, hunting for reviews will be a thing of the past. Listing costs you nothing and you can continue to earn from it while we sell it!
If you want to know what you could earn, our valuation tool can provide a free estimate.
