I have a PR man-crush on Product Reviews. More important than ever with the rise of web-based media, influential blogs and Social Influencer Marketing (SIM), Product Reviews are the great equalizer between the Davids and Goliaths in brand development.
While landing home-run product reviews is a speciality of ours at Triumphant Communications, it isn't rocket science.
Here are 5 principles to use toward acquiring meaningful, high-ROI product reviews:
1. Seek and Analyze "PR-Friendly". It's the quickest way to identify a blog that conducts product reviews. But before professing undying love for "PR Friendly", consider why and how the blog advertises it. I'll typically test a few advertised PR-friendly blogs for ROI but I never bank my clients' entire campaigns on them. Advertised PR-friendly can quickly become a free-for-all. I prefer blogs that insert review policies deeper in the site, especially ones that include an email address. Sometimes the blog won't even mention product reviews - you'll then need to research the blogger to find out if he/she writes a column on new products for sites like The Examiner or other larger, commercialized blogs. It's like dating - the blogger who plays hard-to-get may have the most social influence.
2. Expertise before Hawking. Media outlets, both traditional and web-based, aren't going to offer your product free marketing unless they already use it regularly or professionally respect you. If you are a start-up, chances are they are probably not using the product, so try the latter. I suggest winning over a freelance writer, editor or blogger by offering free expertise that enhances their own relevance to readers. Again, this requires researching the writer and studying patterns in past columns, which is exactly how I recently acquired a parenting blog product review with high-growth-potential-ROI. My client is a college admissions coaching company and I first offered up the Program Director for a guest article. In this instance, I timed the feature to coincide with the arrival of those overwhelming college packets. My expert, a Top-50 school application reviewer, offered insider-tips on how parents can quickly identify the most important pros and cons of each packet without losing sanity.
3. Don't waste their time with fluff. If you can't describe your product in 1 or 2 sentences, how do you expect the blogger to write about it in 1 or 2 paragraphs? And DON'T EVER use superlatives. Bloggers don't want to hear how "great" you think your product is - they and they alone will determine its worthiness. For example, I obtained 35 product reviews in 60 days for a health bar company by simply stating the facts and purpose - "the product has zero this, zero that, lots of something important, comes in 10 flavors and is designed for the following consumers: 1) women looking to lose weight after a baby, 2) athletes training for marathons, 3) busy people needing quick protein because they skipped lunch; and 4)people with Diabetes and Celiac disease." That's all I needed to say.
4. Get on Yelp when applicable. Encourage and incentivize your customers or beta testers to write their own reviews. This is especially important if your product or business is local or regional in nature. Newspaper reviewers and local bloggers aren't going to drive up and down streets looking for topics. They go on Yelp because they read specific words and phrases that pique their interest. When developing a Yelp campaign, please ask your reviewers to be as detailed as possible. What was their favorite part of the product experience? Again, words like "great" and "loved" do nothing for a professional reviewer - their eyes will glaze over quickly without specifics.
5. Product Reviews are exponentially more important Testimonials. You would be amazed how many companies abandon product review campaigns within 90 days and demand that their PR firms focus on writing testimonials that are secretly assigned to the CEO's Uncle George or golfing buddy. You won't fool savvy bloggers and more importantly, skeptical consumers. People don't want to hear how "Sarah H" thought your product was the greatest thing since sliced bread. High-ROI product reviews can take time to develop and even longer to go live. Remember me mentioning those 35 reviews in 60 days? It took 6 months for all of them to go live. It was worth the wait.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
