• Review Storm Has Arrived

    By ZonSupport | Posted on August 5, 2018| Blog

    With many clients losing some or all of their reviews, it is timely to highlight the dangers of playing what we call “grey games” in generating Product Reviews.

    Amazon has clearly put huge resources into how they now manage reviews.  Clients who have been selling for less than a year losing all their reviews, despite only generating a few reviews through personal connections.

    Longer term clients with high volume sales have lost large numbers of reviews, but not all. More like a smack on the wrist.

    There are many analytical programs that look for inconsistencies in reviews. Here’s one worth checking out: https://reviewmeta.com/

    Take a look at all the data points they use for assessing reviews. Great insights into what not to do! Make sure you understand each and every point before you start. 

    Also, be very clear. This is against Amazon TOS so if you get caught there will be unwelcome consequences.

    They will remove most if not all of your reviews and may restrict your listing from getting new reviews for a period of days, weeks or months.

    Some clients have also had their listing(s) suspended and sit on the sideline watching their BSR plummet while they spend money to try and get reinstated.

    If you are already in urgent need, go SLOWLY and carefully. Two reviews in your first week are two too many!

    Keep it all in perspective…it’s almost impossible to get reviews so if you list and pile on reviews in the first few weeks, then you are asking to have your account flagged. 

    Brand new listings with daily reviews complete with pictures and paragraphs of content look fake…mostly because they are!

    Sure, Amazon’s Early Reviewer Program is known for writing longer reviews, but they are labeled so customers know their source.

    It is quite clear that to be successful on Amazon, you need to have a database of customers you can call on when you are launching a new product. Start now, by whatever means possible to build a tribe of followers that you can leverage to give you some control over your destiny. 

    Once you have these, you can then fish for the occasional review. 

    Step back and look at the benefits of your product. What need does it solve for your customer?

    Resist the urge to cram the review with every feature of your product. You want one or two lines of text, not two paragraphs! 

     You need to play a long game on Amazon. Remember, it’s their platform and you are their guest. It took you 3 or 6 months or more to find your product so don’t expect to smash your sales expectations in your first month.

    Take every precaution not to upset your host.  You need them a lot more than they need you:) 

    As always, ask us anything. If we don’t know, we’ll know someone who does!

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