What once was a one-way channel is now a two-way conversation between brands and consumers. The New York Times described product reviews a “a report on the match between reality and expectations,” and consumers clearly relish their collective power to hold brands accountable for the promises they make via their marketing.
But brands shouldn’t fear reviews; quite the opposite. Product ratings and reviews (even some negative reviews) are proven sales drivers on retailer sites like Amazon or Walmart.com. According to Bazaarvoice, 54% of online buyers and 39% of in-store buyers read reviews before purchase. What’s more is that product reviews lifted conversion rates by 52%.
Why? Because consumers have three times more trust in reviews than in brand advertising. However, not all reviews are created equal. The volume and recency of reviews will affect their impact.
Benchmarking Online Product Ratings and Reviews
At Unilever we’ve set requirements for our brands to hit a minimum review volume and star rating per SKU. While most of our products more than exceed these standards, it’s especially important for our brands with large assortments to keep these targets in mind. Often, the focus of our brand teams is on launching a new innovation. However, we want to ensure that brands have full product review coverage of their assortment—especially the core items that make up the majority of their business.
Additionally, we need to remember that recency is an important variable when it comes to reviews. Like many of the products we sell, reviews also have a shelf life. Reviews older than a year aren’t seen as relevant to consumers as newer reviews, so our brands aim to hit their review benchmarks every year.
Utilize Existing Communication Channels to Ask for Product Ratings and Reviews
To help drive the volume of your core products, it’s often as simple as asking. Brand managers should use existing communication channels to ask their current customers to write reviews. When planning out collateral or sample delivery, simple tweaks to brand communications can help to drive review volume. For example, our Hellmann’s brand team placed banners within their email communications, testing if a header or footer callout performed better. Both placements drove similar amounts of volume, however, the real learning came from the fact that this simple email ask drove the same amount of review volume as a sampling campaign and a much lower cost.
On the Dove.com homepage, there is a rotating call to action to leave a review for a specific product. Whether driving reviews for a new innovation, or if a core item needs a little support, the brand can switch out this placement as needed.
Use Social Media to Target Core Consumers
Our Dove Men+Care’s team re-engages consumers who comment on the brand’s Facebook posts. If a consumer states that they love a product or have been using it for years, the brand responds and drives the consumer to the review form, thereby catching consumers at a “micromoment” when they are most engaged. While 1-1 requests drive a small amount of review volume, the team is targeting a very valuable segment.
Product Ratings and Reviews Campaigns Activate Influencers
Sampling and sweepstakes are great ways to target your influencers. When executing these programs (whether in-house or through a third party vendor) you can include communications that educate the consumer on how to use a product or explain the product benefits. This foundational information often leads to better experiences, and thus better reviews.
It’s important to note that the Federal Trade Commission has strict guidance around the need to disclose if a review has been incentivized in any way. To help ensure we stay compliant, we use a Simple Submission Link (ssURLs) to auto-tag the review, disclosing that the consumer has been incentivized in some way.
