How to get Amazon reviews in 2023

Have you ever had a business go from 7 figures to $0 overnight?

Here’s how it happened to me.

It’s October 3, 2016 and I’m sitting with my business partner in a McDonald’s.

We came to McD’s to try and process what just happened.

We don’t say a word.

Because we can’t.

We’re totally shocked.

October 3rd 2016 is the day that Amazon banned incentivized reviews.

This TechCrunch article is spreading like wild fire: https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/03/amazon-bans-incentivized-reviews-tied-to-free-or-discounted-products/

And we have 1 huge problem:

We’d built a business helping Amazon sellers get reviews using discounted coupon codes.

Oops.

Pre-2016, getting reviews on Amazon was easy: offer your product at a 99% discount ​​​​in exchange for a review. Get reviews. Done.

But Amazon just changed the rules.

And our 7-figure business was gone.

Ever since:

Getting Amazon reviews has never been “easy”.

These days, only 1 in 100 people who buy a product will review it.

And buyers can opt-out of communication.

But sellers still manage to get them.

So how?

(I don’t advocate any black hat stuff, obviously)

Here are my 3 favorite ways:

(1) The request button

Click the “Request a review” button on every order in your “Manage Orders” page in Seller Central.

Shoppers will get an auto-populated email asking them to rate the product.

You’ll see a nice lift there.

Costs $0.

This is the ultimate “can’t hurt, might help” ​action.

(2) Build your own email list

This is my personal favorite.

Because sometimes, stuff that’s harder to build lasts longer.

Identify which networks your customer avatar hangs out in (e.g. Instagram, TikTok, specific subreddits, certain forums, etc.).

Offer a ridiculously valuable digital freebie (like a course, guide, book, cheat sheet, etc.) in exchange for email addresses.

Email your newfound friends when a new product comes out.

Like we talked about, don’t offer a discount in exchange for the review.

You can, however,​​ give your email list a special coupon code. And then, unrelated to that code, email the buyers afterwards and kindly request a review (if they’d like).

I like this tactic because you can “go back to the well” over and over again.

It’s the hardest to build.

But it lasts the longest.

(3) Amazon Vine (public link)

This is a paid program from Amazon itself that sends your product to hand-picked Amazon “Vine Voices”.

They’re professional product reviewers.

If your product quality is immaculate, they can be kind. And you can build 10-15 reviews quickly.

If not…

…then perhaps not 😉

That’s my top 3.

Note: I do not recommend getting personal friends and family to review. Those reviews are sometimes flagged and removed.

The idea is to build a genuine, objective review base over time.

It’s going to be work.

But nothing increases clickthrough rates and conversions quite like 1,000 Amazon reviews.

So, keep at it.

Climb that mountain.

And you’ll get there.

But, no one said you had to go it alone.

After my business folded in 2016 (and after a Big Mac or two), I got right back to work helping Amazon sellers.

How?

Post-2016, I realized that the best way to get BOTH reviews and profit was going to be Amazon PPC ads.

And so that’s what we do today.

For 100s of brands.

If you’d like to know whether our Amazon PPC Playbook can unlock profit in your business (since I don’t know your specific situation yet), I’d like to invite you to a free, private 1-on-1 Zoom call where we’ll look at your business in detail.

You’ll leave the call with insights from our $13m in annual Amazon ad spend.

And best practices from the brands we work with, like Everlast.

You schedule your call here at your convenience:

https://calendly.com/asteroidx-chat/eval

https://calendly.com/asteroidx-chat/eval?from=slack

https://calendly.com/asteroidx-chat/eval?from=slack

Amazon bans incentivized reviews tied to free or discounted products

https://calendly.com/asteroidx-chat/eval?from=slack

https://calendly.com/asteroidx-chat/eval?from=slack