Back to Resources

I don’t know about you, but it seems to be a trend that after interactions with businesses, I receive notice that a review request will shortly be headed my way.

That’s because with the recent trend of companies cutting off access to their third-party data, customer reviews allow you to take a closer look INSIDE of the purchasing process to understand your prospective buyer a little better.

This post is going to focus on two main points. First, how to use Amazon reviews to get your product to the top of Amazon’s first page. And second, how you can use a free version of a popular Amazon sellers tool to do a lot of the heavy lifting to support your Amazon marketing strategy.

To begin, we unfortunately need to address fake reviews.

After typing in “Amazon review” to Google’s search bar, less than a second later I had 2.5 billion results.

 

Of course, the first results were Google ads placed there by companies offering assistance in getting reviews from Amazon customers. Conversely, the first organic results were from companies offering ways to identify less than authentic Amazon reviews.

With one Google search query, and in less than a second, we’ve gotten right to the heart of the problem.

But first, what’s the big deal about Amazon product reviews?

Why Amazon Reviews are a Key Part of an eCommerce Seller’s Success 

If you’re an Amazon seller, reviews are one of the most overlooked ways to supercharge your Amazon advertising, build a successful Amazon Store and grow your eCommerce brand. Amazon reviews offer valuable information that give you a clear understanding of what really matters to your prospective customers.

Amazon reviews create social proof, and establish immediate traction for Amazon sellers. They also have a LOT to do with making Amazon’s A9 algorithm VERY happy.

Just think! These are customers in your selling niche that have stopped what they’re doing to write about an Amazon product.

That is pure gold to an Amazon seller.

Doing final research on a new Amazon product? Taking the time to look through Amazon product reviews for similar products will tell you where your competitors have failed or succeeded.

Positive reviews from competitors will help you know what to try to duplicate as you attempt to win the Amazon Buy Box. Negative product reviews tell you what to steer clear of.

Amazon reviews pointing out serial breakage problems for a similar Amazon FBA products will help you understand the need for additional packing steps.

Amazon reviews allow you to see all of this.

But there’s a catch, you can’t always count on the authenticity of Amazon reviews.

You Mean That All Those Amazon Reviews Aren’t Authentic? 

Fake Amazon reviews are all over the news right now. Amazon themselves have admitted to a fake review problem. That’s because in the early wild west days of Amazon, paying for positive reviews wasn’t frowned upon, it was just good eCommerce business. An Amazon shopper wouldn’t be able to know (or trust) what was legitimate or not.

The problems with fake reviews were many, beginning with the wholesale corruption of Amazon’s image as an honest place to do business. Now, Amazon has cracked down to the extent that when it comes to reviews, sellers are very careful where they put their feet.

Even authentic reviews are getting flagged these days. The pendulum has definitely swung the other way. Still, you want to look closely at Amazon reviews to make sure that they’re the real thing.

How to Identify Fake Reviews

• To start, look at the percentage of one and five star reviews. If an Amazon account consistently reviews multiple products each week with the vast majority one or five stars, that’s a big red flag. It’s often the sign of someone hired to create fake reviews.
• Many sellers who “purchase” fake reviews will contract for them all at the same time. If you see a batch of 5-star reviews within a narrow window of time, look very closely.
• Any review that mentions a competitor’s product is a red flag
• Let common sense be your guide. If a relatively unknown product has a great number of reviews, that’s another red flag.
• This is a tricky one, but many fake reviews use a generic tone. If the language used makes it feel as if they could be written about either a USB hub, or a child’s play toy, that’s another place where you’ll want to treat the review with a healthy amount of suspicion.

Don’t Overlook the Hidden eCommerce Benefits of Google’s Chrome Extensions

Here’s a little secret. Many of the very best eCommerce software companies that specialize in tools for Amazon sellers offer basic versions of their suites of software tools for FREE.

Let’s take SaaS (Software as a Service) company, Helium 10 for example. As one of the premium Amazon seller tools out there in the Amazon marketplace, if you want (or need) to spend a significant amount of money, they have a product tier for you.

Admittedly, these are high-performing tools used by some of the biggest companies and most successful Amazon sellers out there. But, there’s also a free version.

That brings up another eCommerce tool hidden in plain sight, Google Chrome extensions.

As you can see, more than a few different eCommerce software companies offer Chrome extensions.

Let’s look at how Helium 10’s Chrome extension can help Amazon sellers filter through product reviews to do everything from Amazon product research to determining the best way to differentiate their existing Amazon product. That’s possible because Amazon product review tools also highlight the most common keywords (both positive and negative) from Amazon customers’ comments.

How to Sign Up for a Free Helium 10 Account

I started this process by signing up for a free Helium 10 account.

During the signup process, Helium 10 will hint (vigorously) that it’s in your best interest to sign up for a paid plan. Depending on where you are in your Amazon digital marketing journey, that may very well be the case.

However, this post is about how you can use the free plan to filter through reviews and a lot more. (The free version of Helium 10’s plan supports 50 launches of the Chrome extension)

Once I’ve politely declined Helium 10’s offer, I’ll sign up for the free plan, and log in.

Now, I’ll navigate over to the Amazon site and take a look at a product or two. Let’s imagine that I was interested in selling a premium metal dog bowl. I’m going to look on Amazon and see if I can’t find a product that matches what I’m thinking about.

I’ve chosen a metal dog bowl that has an overall four star rating with Amazon reviewers. But, let’s see if there is anything in the reviews that jumps out at us.

Once I’m at the Amazon product listing, I’ll open the Helium 10 Chrome extension and select Review Insights.

Drill Down to Get the Data You Need with Filters

Before we start, Helium 10 asks us to make adjustments to the filters in Review Insights. I want to see what buyers DON’T like about the product to see if I can’t use the reviewers’ concerns to make improvements to the product.

I guess there’s a reason that they call it the big “C.” Obviously, a cancer warning will get a pet-loving buyer’s attention. If I was starting from scratch, I might look at other materials (metals included) that didn’t require that warning.

Let’s flip the script and I will show you a way that we can use positive Amazon product reviews to help Amazon sellers do a better job of optimizing their own listings for similar products.

In this case, I’ll look at a piece of electronics, specifically a USB hub from Anker.

Now, after making sure that I’m logged into my Helium 10 account, I’ll open the Helium 10 Chrome extension, choose Review Insights and filter for verified, five-star reviews.

Finding Keyword Opportunities for Amazon Product Optimization

This shouldn’t really be a surprise to anyone who uses an Apple MacBook, but the most used keyword phrase in customer reviews has nothing to do with the product itself. Instead, the keyword phrase concerns WHY a customer would need the Amazon product in the first place.

In their quest for the thinnest and lightest laptops, many computer manufacturers (I’m looking at you Apple) have left USB (and other) ports off of their computers.

It’s clear from the screenshot above that if you’re selling a similar product on Amazon, you will want to make sure to optimize your Amazon listing to include variations of the keyword, “MacBook.”

Selling on Amazon can be challenging. Make sure that you have as many resources as possible in your quest for Amazon’s Buy Box. Customer reviews are one resource you don’t want to overlook!

How CANOPY Management Can Help

CANOPY Management is a full-service marketing agency for Amazon sellers. Our team consists of former Amazonians, multi-million dollar sellers, and award-winning experts. When you consider the many ways that CANOPY Management can help you grow your business, you’ll see why selling on Amazon is much easier “under the Canopy”:

• Strategic Growth Planning
• Listing Copywriting Optimization
• Listing Photography
• Product Videography
• Advertising Management
• Customer Service
• Demand Side Platform (Amazon DSP)
• Amazon Posts
• Full Service Management
• Amazon Review Aggregation