We all rely heavily on verified customer reviews when deciding whether or not to buy a product.
It doesn’t matter if we’re out to purchase a new winter coat or a new car, product reviews all hold the same weight. Think about the last time you purchased a new product. Did you pay attention to the overall rating, read the reviews, or watch a YouTuber recount their personal experience with that product?
If you did, you’re not alone. It turns out that we all want the best deal and quality, and often turn to reviews before deciding to finally add the product to our cart.
The interesting thing about product recommendations is that companies also profit (quite literally) from those that are willing to share their experiences. The most advantageous facet of sharing your product recommendations publicly is that it can generate a healthy, passive income for you.
Where is the Money in Product Reviews?
Companies want to make their profit margin grow and, in order to do so, they want to spend less on advertising. When businesses find ways to save money on marketing, they often focus on improving their product, expanding their business, and hiring more employees to improve upon customer service.
This intersection is where the partnership between businesses and influencers (you) can come into play. Businesses will pay those with a large following for a product review, regardless of whether the followers are on social media, a blog, or a high-traffic site.
Each company varies on how passive income is made through its partnerships with influencers. Most companies will provide free or deeply discounted products for the influencer to review, and then provide commission from each sale. In most cases, influencers are provided a personalized hyperlink that contains a code that they can add to their social media posts, blog, or website. When someone purchases using that code, then the influencer collects the commission.
How to Get Started
The key to finding success by turning product reviews into passive income is to keep these helpful tips in mind and not overthink the process. The most important aspect at the beginning is to lay a firm and reputable foundation. These tricks will help you do just that:
Choose Your Niche
What are the products that you enjoy most? Are you a foodie? Do you live for all-natural beauty products? Is being a pet lover one of your favorite aspects of being you? Are you an avid gamer?
The niche you choose should be one that fits your interests and personality well. Meshing well with the products will make all of the difference in your presentation of the review. It also allows you to most accurately review the product. For example, if you’re a dog lover and can’t stand cats, then you probably shouldn’t review the new cat desk calendar. That might be an odd example, but the point is that companies don’t want subpar or biased reviews.
Stay in Your Lane
Once you choose your niche, it’s a great idea to stay in your lane. What does that mean? Stick to your niche to avoid confusing your audience.
Hopping from makeup to trash bags reviews, and then diving into the world of hamster food the following week isn’t going to create a committed following. It may seem that you are being versatile, but it really reads as inconsistent. Companies want someone that is knowledgeable of their product and eager to stick with them for the long term to review future products. Online reviews are the digital version of asking someone’s advice on a product. Influencers that stick with a particular brand are seen as reliable and even an expert.
You absolutely could review more than one type of product, but it would have to be executed well with your branding and persona in tow.
Establish Your Brand
Product reviews often take on a fun and personalized tone. Ensure that your brand and the product sync well. If you’re reviewing children’s toys, then you probably want fun and bright colors and fonts as your brand’s focal point. Make sure that your tone and niche are well established prior to posting on your website, blog, or social account for paid-reviews purposes. Businesses will be able to seek you out best when you are well established. Research the best keywords for your brand to be SEO friendly and set yourself apart on social through hashtags that pertain to your brand and the products you’re looking to partner with.
Use Omni-Channel Marketing
Social media isn’t the only place you can write and share product reviews. In fact, you can even review and promote different products by writing blog posts and engaging in email marketing. The more marketing channels you use to disperse your reviews, the greater your reach.
In your ManyChat dashboard, you have a whole host of options when it comes to creating and broadcasting a message blast to your subscribers across many different channels. Under the Broadcasting tab, you can choose to create a blast from a flow and push it via Messenger, email, SMS, and more.
How Do I Succeed at Product Reviews?
Now that you have established your brand, chosen your niche, and done your research for SEO purposes, it’s time to get to work. Use the following tips to help you find success in creating product reviews; these tips generally apply across the board to influencers or micro-influencers (those with less than 1,000 followers).
*Have any of your own tips? We want to hear them. Let us know in our Facebook community.
Treat Reviews as a Profession
Just because the income is passive, you also need to be willing to put in the work. You don’t have to turn reviewing products into your full-time career, but you do need to bring a high level of professionalism and courtesy to the table. Businesses who choose to partner with you do so because they believe you’re a great fit for their product. Feel honored!
Here are some tips to successfully partner with a company:
- Be reachable. Ensure that you’re checking all of your modes of contact (email, blog comments, social media channels, and DMs) and promptly reply when a partnering company reaches out to you.
- Be enthusiastic. Treat leaving reviews as if it’s your priority.
- Be interactive. If followers comment on your post with questions about the product, then make sure you are replying.
- Be articulate. Every review should be explained well and professionally. Avoid generalities. If you like something, explain why. Go into detail about the product features you love.
You can achieve all of these using the features available in your ManyChat dashboard. For example, you can set up a Flow that targets different subscribers that opt into your bots. These opt-ins can then be nurtured to a specific contact point. If a subscriber is a brand that wants to partner, you can tag them in your Flow as a potential partner and communicate with them according to their inquiry.
Share Disclosures
This rule of thumb is implemented more for integrity than best practices. If you’re compensated for your reviews monetarily or free products, then share that information with your followers, readers, or viewers. Some people cringe at the idea of an affiliate program, but candor and sincerity sometimes help waive any misgivings about how those programs actually work. It’s important to state that you are being paid for your honest review. You aren’t being paid simply for a review.
Share!
The best thing for all parties involved, the company, the follower, and you, is for you to share often. Make your reviews exciting and easy to find. Bump trending blog posts up to the top and share social posts often. The key is to make your reviews visible and frequent. If you aren’t sharing, then passive income won’t trickle in and companies will lose their confidence in your ability to represent their product. Of course, we recommend sharing with wisdom. Get to know algorithms and your personal audience to ensure that you’re working smarter and not harder. Posting twice a day at the right time is better than posting twelve times when your audience is “out to lunch” (in other words, not seeing the posts).
Key Takeaways
You don’t have to overthink your approach to get started as a reviewer, but you should utilize some common sense. Don’t agree to review 30 different products for 30 different companies at the beginning, risking burnout without much of an income. The most important thing to keep in mind is that companies are relying on you as their advertisement. That honor should be treated with professionalism and a solid effort. Establish your niche, brand, and persona from the start. This will help you to keep your focus and voice throughout your product reviewing venture.
