Are Reviews Ever Real?
“I no longer trust any reviews on the Internet!” That was a statement made to me by my gf’s step dad yesterday when we were making small talk. He’s a regular Internet user…sends and receives email, pays his bills online, uses Google to search for how-to’s and if he ever wants to buy something he’ll check online for a review. Most items he’ll purchase offline unless it’s tech related he’ll buy on Tiger Direct.
What made him make that statement? He was solicited by Canadian Tire by email to submit a review on a product for the chance to win something. Canadian Tire didn’t know one way or another if had even purchased the product and truthfully he didn’t remember how they got his email address.
He always felt that the reviews he was reading were true renditions of what people really thought. Now he feels that in a lot of situations the reviews are fake and only written for monetary gain. And in most cases I agree with him.
Review Sites Convert Very Well
We are taught as Internet Marketers to design review sites because they convert well right? It is often taught that people using the keyword review in their search are just about ready to buy but still in research mode. However, if we drive traffic to a review site when people are searching for a general but specific product (does that make sense? an example: “youtube video download software”) and we offer them a review of 3 similar products, these sites convert like crazy.
People Trust Us And We Lie To Them
Review sites do convert like crazy, I can attest to that. My post about giving away software and getting high commissions discusses the affiliate program I use that has 1000′s of software products that I build review sites around and they work very well. The top ranked product gets downloaded 90% of the time, the 2nd ranked product gets downloaded 6% of the time and 4% for the 3rd ranked product. What does that say? People trust us and trust our reviews.
We’re Taught To Lie
When I was learning about using review sites to review 3 products I was taught to write the review as if I used all of the products and that I personally recommend them. Also, I was taught to put the one that gives me the highest commission the top ranking!
There Is A Better Way That Is Still Just As Effective
I chose a different route. I tried to determine to the best of my ability the most popular product of the bunch. Sure, my info might be skewed because of the fake reviews and my most popular product is probably just one that has been marketed better. Either way, I’m able to determine what is considered the most popular. So I ranked the 3 products based on popularity. Then I would just state facts about the product in my review. I would list out some of the features that stood out. I DO NOT write reviews saying that I feel this is the best product for you and that you will love it because I love it. And…I still get great conversions. I believe people appreciate a quick synopsis about a product and my low return rate mentioned in this post indicates that people are leaving happy and getting what they want.
Soliciting Reviews And Getting Dishonest Reviews
I agree…I am guilty of soliciting reviews. But sometimes to kick start things it is necessary. Also, some people need motivation and a reward for doing things so a monetary incentive may be helpful. Sometimes you will end up with skewed results. But ya know what…even honest reviews can be skewed. Take for example how many people get angry and say a computer sucks because Windows crashes (everyone has experienced Windows crashing one time or another I’m sure). The person or company who sold the computer will ultimately get a negative review. Was it a valid review? Not always! Windows is an unstable Operating System but it’s the most popular. Microsoft does a great job at promoting their products…doesn’t mean they are the best and in the case of Windows, that doesn’t mean the computer as a whole sucks nor does it mean that the company who sold the computer is at fault. I know from experience because I’ve had some angry customers after selling them a computer and Windows crashes.
The Point
I guess the point of all this…is that if we, as affiliate marketers, want to continue to earn a generous income by reviewing and suggesting products…there is NO NEED TO LIE. People (like my gf’s step dad) are on to the liars. They are catching on to the bull crap. If you don’t know about a product that you are promoting, learn about it, find out everything you can about it, and any comparison products, and list out some facts. You will then be paid (time and again) for your research. You saved time for the purchaser from having to go out and figure out for themselves what products were available and what the important features of each were. You won’t be mistaken for a liar of you relay facts. It’s really just opinions that people are starting to doubt.
Another angle for a review site, albeit opinion based, is to let your customers do the reviews. I wrote a post about how you can use WordPress to easily create a review site like this. You won’t be doing any of the reviews, the customers will. You have to decide though if it is worth the risk of getting dishonest reviews by soliciting for them.
Hot Contest
Oh yeah…Did you enter the contest? All you have to do is Social Bookmark 2 sites and leave a comment and you can win over $1800.00 worth of awesome prizes that will help you make money online!
May 26, 2008
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