Admittedly, I feel a little like a kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar right before dinner. Citing Amazon as a great source of inspiration to a community of independent retailers inherently feels wrong. But as any parent would tell you, sometimes there are battles that just aren’t worth fighting, and you let your kid enjoy that pre-dinner cookie. And, in this case, the e-commerce giant showcased a bit of creativity that is worth highlighting.
Online reviews are an incredibly important part of any online strategy today – 76 percent of U.S. consumers said they always or regularly read reviews of local businesses before engaging with them, according to a 2023 Local Consumer Review survey. Understanding how much influence these reviews can have on a customer – 52 percent of consumers say they trust reviews from other customers – makes it that much more imperative for a business to have a strategy for how they collect and use reviews.
Enter Amazon. Known for having some seriously over-the-top reviews, the brand decided to turn to Hollywood for a little help in showcasing some of their more, shall we say, dramatic 5-star product ratings. Their holiday marketing plan this year includes a series of hilarious short videos featuring Adam Driver (Kylo Ren, for the Star Wars fans out there) who delivers theatrical readings of these reviews in the most eloquent, tongue-in-cheek way possible. To be clear, these aren’t your standard, “This product is awesome,” kind of reviews. They’re more along the lines of, “This banana slicer saved my marriage.”
No, seriously:
Other product reviews performed by Driver include a Dutch Oven and a Seal Plush Toy.
You don’t need to spend an entire year’s budget hiring an A-list actor to help push some of your best reviews on YouTube, but the sentiment is there. There are plenty of ways you can get creative with customer reviews – both in featuring them and soliciting them. Consider some of these ideas.
To Solicit Reviews
1. Gamify the Process. We’re a competitive species by nature. We want to win. Leverage that in your reviews process. Offer customers a small incentive for leaving reviews, like a free entry into a monthly raffle. Or, borrowing from a platform like Reddit, offer badges for milestones – a great basis for a loyalty program that incentivizes repeat reviewers with special recognition or perks.
2. Open a Review Hotline. If you’ve ever listened to sports radio, you know those call-in segments tend to provide some of the most entertaining and unpredictable moments. A station near me in Philly opens a hotline for after every Eagles game, win or loss, giving fans the opportunity to vent about the team, coaching decisions, individual performance – you name it. Open and promote your own hotline for reviews, and then feature them on social media, your website, and product pages.
3. Personalize the Request. After the sale, follow up with that customer via a handwritten note or personalized message of some sort, asking them to review a product or their overall experience with your company. Leave a business card with a QR code linking to a review platform to make it even more user-friendly. Want to take it a step further? Offer them a custom prompt like, “Tell us about your delivery and installation experience.”
To Showcase Reviews
1. Create a “Wall of Love.” Be it an actual in-store display or something that leverages your digital signage, showcase those positive reviews in your store for the next customer to see while they’re walking around your showroom.
2. Act on Negative Reviews. We know not every interaction is going to be a positive one. It’s inevitable. But how you respond to those negative reviews or experiences can say a great deal about your business. Take a negative experience and find a way to make it a positive one – then showcase the work you did to improve or correct that experience in a separate marketing campaign.
3. Celebrate Your Reviewers. Pick a reviewer each month and highlight them across multiple channels. Feature their review on your website and social media. Honor them with a special reward. Showcase them on your in-store digital signage.
4. Thank Your Reviewers. You could go all Adam Driver and sit down next to a fireplace with a stiff drink and read your reviews in an attempt to win an Oscar. Or, you could just record a quick thank you video, highlighting some of your best (and not-so-great) reviewers for taking the time to provide feedback. It humanizes your business and creates a deeper connection with your community of customers.
