How to Improve Your Amazon Review Strategy in 2022
Your Amazon review strategy
Your Amazon review strategy is something that should never remain static. The marketplace is far too dynamic — and reviews hold way too much power — for you to phone in any part of this process.
But if you’ve been on Amazon for a while, the basic review tactics that you used to employ may not be bringing in the ratings that you’re used to. Online reviews remain as important as ever for eCommerce businesses, but buyers are making you work harder to get them.
So how can you break through this wall of consumer apathy and actually get more ratings? Keep reading for three tips on how to improve your Amazon review strategy in 2022.
Pay Attention to Email Timing
Part of the problem may be that you’re not reaching the right buyer at the right time. The timing of your product review requests can make a huge difference in your email open rates and conversion metrics.
While Amazon requires you to send requests within 30 days of order completion, you shouldn’t always rush this just to mark it off your list. Some products require more time for people to develop informed opinions of them.
If your review request arrives too early and the buyer hasn’t been able to try out the item or really experience its benefits yet, chances are the request will be ignored or the review may say the product isn’t working properly. Or, if your request is sent too late, the buyer has probably already forgotten key details about the item and the review, if one is even left, may not be very helpful (i.e. the product was “good” or “worked okay”).
You want to reach customers in a sweet spot in time when they’re the most excited about the product and, subsequently, are more willing to speak on its value.
While there’s no hard and fast timing rules to follow (again, it depends on your product), our 10+ years of experience with helping Amazon sellers get more reviews has shown us some good guidelines to follow:
- 5-7 days after delivery for small, consumable products such as office supplies, toiletries, phone accessories, and food items.
- 8-10 days after delivery for sports and outdoor items that require more of someone’s free time (like a weekend) to enjoy. Leisure items like books and movies also apply.
- 14-21 days after delivery for larger, longer-lasting items like furniture and appliances and those that take more time to become familiar with, such as electronics and shoes.
- 30 days after delivery for anything that requires an extended period of time to see the true benefits of. This is often the case with many beauty products and vitamins or supplements that instruct buyers to use them for 30 days.
Also keep in mind that many seasonal items and holiday gifts and decor are ordered ahead of time, so you’ll want to change the timing for those requests to be closer to when the items will be used.
Monitor Your Reviews and Take Action Accordingly
While adjusting the timing of your requests can help improve the quality and consistency of your ratings, close attention should also be paid to what your customers are saying about your products. Monitoring your reviews allows you to stay in tune with two of your business’s biggest assets: your products and your customers.
For example, let’s say you recently launched a new product and suddenly see an influx of negative reviews. Was this a bad product investment, or is there something wrong that can be put right?
Digging deeper into common review trends can help uncover the problem. Is the same product issue, perhaps a clasp that’s prone to breaking, mentioned multiple times? Talking to your manufacturer about switching materials or changing the product design could solve that. Or, do several buyers say it doesn’t work or something else (like the size or color) isn’t as described? Check out your product listing for any errors or missing information. The product packaging and/or instructions could also be too confusing, causing people to use the product incorrectly. Fixing these things can turn the tide back in your favor and result in more satisfied customers.
Today’s Amazon seller also has to be conscious of fake reviews. Worried your reviews aren’t real? If you see a big spike of non-verified purchase reviews, this could be the case. Analyze these reviews very carefully for suspicious content and report them to Amazon if you suspect they aren’t legitimate.
Identifying review trends like these helps you monitor what’s going on with your products and gives you great intel on areas for improvement that could lead to better ratings. You may even see some inspiration for new product ideas or ways to bundle existing items to increase sales!
(Pro Tip: Monitoring the reviews of top competitor ASINs is a great way to keep track of what the competition is doing and can also help shed light on how to improve your own offerings.)
Set Up Product Review Alerts
Your Amazon review information is clearly important, but monitoring even just a few ASINs every week can be a huge time commitment. Short of manually monitoring your product pages, it’s hard to know when new reviews come in as Seller Central doesn’t communicate this.
If enough negative ratings appear before you’ve had time to address the issue (speaking to your supplier, updating your product listing or, if you’re brand registered, contacting the buyer directly), it may be too late to ward off sharp fluctuations in your sales and hard-earned product ranking.
Wouldn’t it be nice if someone could simply monitor your reviews for you and let you know when something is wrong? While you probably could hire some help to do just that, remember that you’ll need around the clock coverage to truly stay on top of things. Fortunately, there’s a better, more efficient way.
You may already know FeedbackFive by eComEngine as one of the top feedback and review tools for Amazon sellers, but it’s also renowned for its product review management features. FeedbackFive monitors your products for new reviews 24/7 and makes it easy to analyze ASIN-level trends. You can quickly sort and filter review data to see how buyers are rating your products and download a detailed review history for each item for further analysis. Better yet, FeedbackFive sends real-time text and/or email alerts for new positive and/or negative reviews received. Now when a buyer is unhappy, you can take action as soon as possible.
Need More Amazon Review Help?
Developing a successful Amazon review strategy can take time and a lot of trial and error. Continue to stay on top of the best review practices so you can find what works for your business. If you have any more review questions, reach out to us here at eComEngine for help!
Author information:
Ellen Sipp-Paris is a Marketing Content Specialist at eComEngine. Her goal is to help educate Amazon sellers so they feel more confident in what can be a complicated marketplace. When she’s not writing, she enjoys taking nature walks, reading, and going to concerts.