10
Decisive Tactics That Win Product Reviews:
The Best Publicity Money Can't Buy!
Words
To The Wise™ By Marketingsage Staff. Updated April 2006.
There is little question that “Two Thumbs Up” sells
movies and a “5-star” rating sells hotel rooms. Prospective
customers turn to the media to learn about solutions and to help
choose between potential offerings. Many never look beyond these
endorsements and buy on the basis of their credibility.It's not just consumer products that benefit from product reviews.
Business-to-busin
Product Reviews as Part of a PR
Strategy
We've yet to meet the marketer that does
not want product reviews as part of their PR strategy. The
issue is not whether to participate, it's how to participate.
Reviews are often started 3 to 6 months
ahead of their publication so to participate you need:
1. Regular contact with likely reviewers
so they remember to invite you.
2. A calendar of potential opportunities.
Regular consistent contact with editors
is by far the most important tactic for getting included in
reviews because many reviews are not published on editorial
calendars.
You can even persuade editors to review
your product on its own without any of your competition participating.
Once you find a review to participate in
you need to have he available skills and bandwidth to manage
the process. Reviews are too important to be managed as an
afterthought.
How does advertising change the
odds of winning a review?
I've never seen a case where you can overtly
buy a favorable review against your competitors. Nor do I
want to.
However, because Marketingsage manages advertising
as well as PR we have seen many reviews influenced by spending.
Here are some examples of how this happens:
The publication or analyst firm may cover
an advertisers product on its own, without commenting on your
competitors.
A publication or analyst firm might narrow
the review category to favor an advertiser and exclude competitors.
An customer's competitors may not be invited
to participate.
Spenders often get introduced to the editors
and therefore get more exposure and additional opportunities
to make their case.
You'll win award, but the media or analyst
company will require you to purchase a "Promotional Package"
to publicize it. One large analyst firm attempts to charge
"award recipients" $20,000 to $60,000.
Or course, you can purchase an advertorial
(an advertisement that looks like editorial) and write what
you want about your product.
While advertorials are not true editorial
reviews, and they are usually labeled as advertisements, they
can be very effective. |
ess products also benefit. In particular, new products,
complex products and expensive products can see substantial benefits
from being included in product reviews. One PC-clone manufacturer claimed privately that their PC Magazine
Editors Choice Award added about $5-million to their bottom line.
Another software developer we know saw their sales leads jump 60%
after placing well, but not winning, a product review.
The Rewards
A positive media review can dramatically boost your sales and marketing
results in two significant ways:
- You get publicity that you would otherwise have to purchase.
This publicity increases the awareness of your offering in the
marketplace and exposes you to more potential customers.
- A third-party endorsement adds credibility to your offering
in a way that no self-serving advertisement can. This endorsement
adds to the value of your brand and builds your prestige, giving
you a competitive advantage. This prestige may also justify a
price premium, increasing your profits.
There are many ways you can win from a review, even if you are
not the editor’s first choice.
- You can win if you can extract a favorable quote from the review.
You may use these quotes to strengthen the credibility of your
advertising.
You also win by the fact that your product and brand has been
exposed to a wider audience. Name recognition plays a big part
in product selection and prospects often cannot recall where they
came across the brand they recognize.
- You can even “turn lemons into lemonade” if you
know how to respond to a negative review.
The Risk
To some extent you take a risk when you submit your product or
service for review. You risk an unfavorable review and unfavorable
publicity. If you do badly, there is the possibility of lost sales.
Also a competitor may proactively use a negative review against
you. However, unless your product is obviously a poor fit for a
review, a really negative review is unlikely. Most reviews are positive and neutral, not patently negative. And
most competitors will not want to lend credibility to your offering
by even mentioning you. Also the reach of any given medium is limited.
Not every customer reads every magazine so damage may be relatively
contained.
10 Tactics for Winning Product
Reviews (without changing your offering or cheating)
Once you decide to pursue a review-based strategy, here are 10
tactics that can increase your changes of winning and being able
to capitalize on the win.1. Be selective about the publications and reviews you
choose to enter. While the term “free publicity” is often used to describe
editorial coverage, this term is a little misleading. Preparing
and tracking product used for review purposes is often quite time
consuming. Also, if you have an expensive product, you may not be
able to afford to have units circulating for review. This is especially
the case where reviewers do not return the product or damage it.
So before you get started, consider your ability to do the job right.
Sometimes no review is better than a poor review. Some reviews give you publicity but not an endorsement. Many publications
do not express an opinion, so their reviews tend to be bland, listing
product features and a few pros and cons. Consider also, the medium’s ability to generate sales of
your offering. If you have to choose which media to work with, evaluate
them as if you were about to advertise with them. For example, a
full feature in a small-audience newsletter may not be as valuable
as a paragraph in a major publication. Additionally, people buy only when they have an interest in your
product, so a small circulation publication that directly addresses
your target audience may produce more sales than a large circulation
publication that does not. 2. Before you enter a review, know what the reviewers are
looking for. Know what excites them and what irritates them about the products
they review. While many reviews are highly structured and pseudo-scientific,
reviewers are people and they have perceptions that will affect
the review. Learn who the reviewers or product testers are and who
the writers are. If the review is technical in nature, it is possible
that the tester and the writer will not be the same person.If the reviewer and the writer’s names are not published,
the PR manager can ask for this information. The advertising manager
may, however, be more successful getting the information from her
contacts. You should also read both previous reviews in the publication,
and previous articles by the writers. This will give you a flavor
of what the hot buttons are. 3. Appoint a cross-functional review team.
This team typically includes a product manager, a PR manager and
a technical expert. It might also include the product designers.
Because reviews can be so valuable and damaging, this team should
not only have a plan, but also the ability to execute it. They need
to be able to short-circuit any internal bureaucracy that would
make the company appear unresponsive to the press.
A word to the wise on managing expectations: Brief key executives
in advance of the decision to participate in the review and
explain how reviews work. In some cases you'll need to remind
executives that reviews represent the opinions of the reviewer,
not your marketing message. Additionally, journalists can
and do make mistakes. You'll want to avoid the Dilbert-like
scenario of an executive demanding that you call the publisher
to stop the circulation of the magazine and retrospectively
edit the article. It happens! |
4. Choose the right product for the review criteria. Knowing what the reviewers are looking for, helps you choose the
product that is most likely to do well in the particular review.
For example, a Porsche is not likely to do well in a review of compact
cars even though it is a physically small car. It could lose on
price and the number of passengers it can carry if these were criteria
for the review. It may win on performance, but not many people buy
compact cars for performance.Remember to choose a product you wish to sell at the time the review
is published. Some reviews can take months from the time you submit
your product to the time the story hits the streets. Creating demand
for a product that will be obsolete on the publication date will
not be very useful. 5. Test the exact product or service you plan to submit
before you submit it. Even if your failure rate is one per 10,000, this is not the time
for that one faulty unit to show up. If you offer a service, make
sure it is being delivered well. You don’t want the reviewer
to test your responsiveness at a time when you are short staffed
or the rookie is manning the phones.Have a back-up product tested and ready to ship immediately if
a problem occurs or if the original one gets damaged in transit.6. Provide all the components the reviewer needs to properly
set up your product for testing. Don’t frustrate the reviewer by making them hunt for connecting
cables, screws and tools. Also, you want to make sure all these
components work as expected. If a customer would not normally get
all these components, you can package them in an identifiable “Reviewer’s
Pack”. 7. Provide all the instructions and benchmark data the
reviewer needs to set up and satisfactorily test the product. Many reviews have been lost because the reviewer set up the product
incorrectly so it performed poorly. The reviewer did not know what
the product was capable of and therefore accepted the results without
question. Point out the key features of your product. Provide benchmarks
that tell them what they should expect. If they don’t see
the expected results they can call for help, or at least make sure
they configured the test correctly. If a customer would not normally get all this information, you
can package it in an identifiable “Reviewer’s Pack”
along with the product and other components. You might also want
to include a special reviewer support telephone number so they get
fast competent help if they need it.8. Follow up with the tester shortly after the deadline
for receipt of products. Your objectives are to:
- Make sure the product was delivered Make sure the product gets configured correctly Highlight key features
- Find out when the product will be written up for the article.
If it is a technical test, have the support expert and the product
manager call, not the PR manager. 9. Follow up with the writer when he or she is writing
the article. Remember the writer is looking for a story, not a set of benchmarks.
Offer a list of reference customers who the writer can interview
for the story. Of course, you should pre-screen these references.
You can also offer photos and to set up executive interviews.
Talking with the writer allows you to put test results into perspective
for them and allows you to highlight key features that may not be
part of the standard test criteria. You may even suggest a “side
bar” article on the technology, customers or trends.
A word to the wise on pricing tactics: The
writer may ask about your price or you may have to provide
a price as part of a qualifying questionnaire. A product can
have many prices including the manufacturers recommended list
price, the “street price” (what consumers pay)
and discounted/sale prices. Which price should you use in
the review?
If your list price is relatively high and you submit this
price for review, you could lose the review based on a perception
of poor value for money.
If you submit a discounted price or any price at the lowest
end of your range, you increase the perception of good value
for money. However if the consumer cannot find the product
at that price, they may continue to shop around without making
a purchase.
The best price to quote is close to street price, but erring
on the high side. Customers will either find the price they
read about, or a lower price that exceeds their expectations.
They will feel they found a bargain. |
10. Thank everyone involved. A simple note or phone call is enough. It is inappropriate to send
gifts to the reviewers. If you do not win, and no mismanagement was involved by the publication,
don’t get mad at the publication and don’t threaten
to “pull your advertisements”. Remember there will likely
be another review soon. If you have a legitimate beef and the publication
wants to make amends, suggest they write an independent story about
your offering, not necessarily a retraction. A new positive story
that you can use as a sales tool is far more valuable than a “correction”
in the small print of some future issue.
Summary — The Dos and
Don'ts of Winning Product Reviews
Positive reviews by the media can dramatically boost your promotion
results. There are however, circumstances when they can hurt your
business. Do
- Do have a marketing plan and strategy. Do understand the resources required and be selective. Do understand the review criteria. Do appoint a cross-functional review team to manage the review. Do choose the right product for review. Do test the exact product or service before you submit it for
review.Do provide all the necessary instructions and performance benchmarks. Do follow up with the tester. Do follow up with the writer.
- Do thank everyone involved.
Don’t
- Don’t offer products that will not be available at the
time of publication. Don’t take unnecessary chances. Reviews must be managed. Don’t undermine your street price. Don’t threaten to “pull your advertising.”
- Don’t offer gifts to the reviewers.
About Marketingsage
Marketingsage is a full service marketing firm that helps other marketers and business executives increase revenue by cost-effectively generating sales leads, building brands, launching products and developing sales channels. With Marketingsage you can add expertise, bandwidth, specialized tools and contacts when you need them, for as long as you need them.
If you think Marketingsage may be able to help you and your business, please give us a call at 925-426-0488 or click here to have us contact you.
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