How Improving Amazon Reviews Can Decrease PPC Ad Spend

In  2011 a case study revealed that 89% of site visits could be related to organic search results. Organic search results refers to the natural traffic you receive from search engines recognizing your credibility as a company or source of information.

Why does this matter?

From the following study conducted in December 2018, only 25% of people view advertising as positive. Consumer perception of advertising through a three-step process:

1. They see the ad
2. They recognize that it is an ad
3. They deliberately avoid clicking on the ad

That being said, there is a time and place for advertising your product or service. However, over-reliance on that tactic will eventually turn people off..

Amazon knows that PPC advertising is not the only marketing strategy. This is why the new A10 Algorithm updates will put greater emphasis on off-site traffic.  Off-site traffic tells Amazon that you are willing to establish a long-term strategy.

Links coming from social media pages, external websites, and other sources are essential. The same logic applies when establishing backlinks from third-party websites. That means someone on the internet trusts you enough to cite your content.

But how does this relate to product reviews?

From another unrelated study, we can say that 88% of customers put high trust in Word-of-Mouth (WOM) advertising. That’s a considerable amount   of customers. This statistic reminds us that Amazon PPC isn’t as effective when used as a stand alone strategy.

What does work with customers is social proof. Social proof is recognition from others in your same social group that something is good or bad. It is the evidence that turns good ideas into profitable ones.

There are many ways for you to get that first ounce of social proof. Many of those rely on automatic campaigns where relevant keywords are targeted between competitors. Those keywords meet buyer intent, increasing a seller’s chance for a conversion.

When you receive positive feedback, the Amazon algorithm recognizes your value. As a result, they then place you higher in search results. Amazon prioritizes positive customer experience. Without quality sellers to back that up, Amazon’s marketplace could fall apart.

By extension, more Amazon product reviews mean you can reduce your reliance on PPC campaigns. Instead, you can focus those efforts towards paying for Amazon SEO, growing your social media presence, or other strategies that work better in the long term.

From our article on the A10 algorithm, Amazon has affirmed what you read in the heading.

PPC is not a good long-term strategy 

That being said, PPC is an excellent short-term strategy. Paying for advertisement space among search terms is a perfect way for high spenders to gain recognition.

Pay-Per-Click is how ASINs get their first review. But what is important isn’t how they get the following reviews. Instead, people will most likely look for the products that have the most social recognition.

A significant amount of effort does need to be put into building a large customer base. This customer base is far more valuable than the single sale you make tomorrow.

Marketers are constantly talking about making people believers in what they sell. These sellers do that by providing value beyond what the product itself does.

They create a system that anyone could feasibly set up in any environment: Amazon or otherwise. Much of this from constantly being in a state of asking for feedback. You aren’t going to get many Amazon reviews if you don’t ask for them.

The same can be said for building your social media lists or email marketing campaigns. None of this starts without getting social recognition in the form of positive feedback.

Amazon has strict rules regarding how you gain reviews. However, they don’t say too much about leveraging them. Below, we will go through some of the top ways to utilize reviews to reduce your ad spend.

An API, otherwise known as an Application Programming Interface, allows two software ends to speak. If they talk, a data transfer occurs between the two sources. Data can refer to almost any information.

In this case, the information you’ll want to gather refer to Amazon’s reviews. Because the API is done with approval from Amazon’s system, it establishes the review on your site through an official entity.

However, you’ll also need to receive permission from the original poster of the review. Feasibly, you could look up the reviewer in your shopping history, but that is nearly impossible. The challenges to overcome (even when using the API) can be high.

That’s why most people just request additional reviews from social media and other sources. Not only can you incentivize those reviews (Amazon doesn’t allow you to incentivize reviews), but you can post them anywhere you want with the proper communication.

Just be sure to always appreciate the honest feedback. You won’t be able to grow as a business if you aren’t constantly looking to improve your product.

Amazon reviews for sellers are typically related to fast shipping, quality products, and easy-to-use products. But from the existence of storefronts on Amazon, we can affirm the importance of brands.

All you need to do is look towards significant brands as a reminder. In America, Coca-Cola is usually called “coke.” Coke is a word used synonymously with soda, pop. or generic caffeinated, carbonated beverages.

Your brand should focus on getting into people’s heads. Here are some quick tips that you can use to increase brand awareness:

• Consider creating a unique logo alongside your standard text-based ones. People are visual, so they will recognize the shape you use over the letters..
• Think about “custom packaging” that you can use to replace the standard Amazon packaging. The more places you can put your unique design, the more people will recognize it.
• Create ad campaigns promoting your brand story. People love a good story, and the “started in your mom’s basement” level of coming from the bottom is incredibly appealing.

One way to increase customer reviews is by using  product inserts.

A product insert can serve multiple purposes:

• Review request
• Instructional pamphlet
• Discount code for next purchase
• A thank-you note

All of these are great options but don’t include review requests with discount codes. Having them together has the potential to incite Amazon’s wrath against paid-for reviews.

Instead, include your review requests alongside instructional pamphlets.

Instructions reduce the chance of your order defect rate, a key to winning the buy box. Winning the buy box increases your opportunity to gain reviews.

When they see this alongside the review request, customers will be more likely to respond. Seeing you as helpful and “not too pushy” is a win in most customer’s books.

Yes, many customers have the opportunity to leave behind reviews if they purchased the product on another site than Amazon. However, customers are limited to five unverified reviews a week.

While most customers aren’t likely to run into this limitation, it’s best to keep your review request to Amazon buyers. Having an “unverified buyer” on this list won’t get you as much social proof.

Amazon’s default settings are to send email requests asking the buyer for reviews. Therefore, you do not technically need to do anything to request it, as Amazon will do it for you.

No. Amazon reviews typically appear three days after the post was initially made. Some reviews come sooner, while others come later.

Amazon takes all reviews through its review process to ensure they abide by community standards. Amazon wants reviews to focus on the buyer experience. Any reviews that include inappropriate content are removed.

Amazon fake reviews are typically found based on the lack of a “verified” tag on the purchase. That’s one big sign that the review has nothing to do with the product.

Also, some reviews are entirely too positive. There’s no critical aspect of them, and they use terminology like “must-have” to open the door.

No. Amazon once had an early reviewer program for their favorite people. However, it turned out to be a bit hypocritical, so Amazon ended the early review program some time ago.

There is no way to get paid for an Amazon review without breaking the TOS.

If you sold your first product to friends (which isn’t uncommon), you might be tempted to ask them for reviews. However, Amazon may frown upon this activity, as friends are those you have a personal relationship with.

Amazon frowns upon reviews with any chance of favoritism. Given that they want all reviews to be honest, you might see those go down if they determine you know the reviewer.

Amazon reviews are a great way to gain exposure and draw attention. With this in mind, more attention from this source means less reliance on other sources. Diversifying your advertising platform is crucial to keeping steady conversion rates.

Through data on Amazon Seller Central, you can utilize review information to power your responses. While your ultimate goal is positive feedback, you’ll want to be responsive to all feedback in general. With this, you can benchmark product changes and see how they work.

For an alternate form of gaining attention with your Amazon product reviews fame, check out Datahawk’s SEO Analytics tool. Our system can help your products rank well for effective keywords.

Titles

• How To Gain Positive Customer Feedback to Reduce Advertising Costs on Amazon
• How Positive Amazon Reviews Can Reduce Advertising Costs
• Reducing Amazon Advertising Costs Using Customer Reviews