Will writing product reviews help you sell products online? It could. Many affiliate marketers are making money via reviewing products that pay them an affiliate commission when a product is purchased through their affiliate code. Here are some examples and some success tips:
Know The Product
One of the worst mistakes an affiliate marketer can make is to start promoting a product they know very little about. The potential problems that could happen include: being ineffective at selling it and / or getting numerous return requests if you do happen to sell any because they product didn’t live up to its promises.
By learning about the product you’re selling, you can sell something you know will be useful to your customers and write effective reviews about the product.
Writing Product Reviews – Use The Right Keywords
Keyword research is important. Not only will it help you rank well in the search engines but it can help you figure out what is the best approach to take. Some affiliate products are ultra competitive but perhaps there are some long tail keyword phrases you could capitalise upon.
When writing product reviews, one approach is to begin targeting people who are already ready interested in the product but want further information on it. The right keywords can help you get found by this target market.
Another approach is that you’re sharing your experience with a product to people with a problem that the product solves. The right keywords will help you get found by your potential demographic and your product review can speak to their motivators.
Answer Questions
A person considering a product purchase typically has questions they want answered in order for them to feel that it’s worth the risk to buy the item. By anticipating what those questions are and then addressing them, you’ll overcome objections to buying.
Use Social Media And Web 2.0 Pages
Social sites can help you promote your product reviews. In fact, some of them are suitable for writing your product review as well. Beyond setting up a blog, a landing page that re-directs people to a sales letter, or website to review a product, you can use free publishing sites such as Squidoo, HubPages, Info Barrel, eHow, Tumblr, MySpace, Blogger, some article directories, WordPress.com, and others to help you share your opinion about a product.
Note the editorial guidelines for the site you’re writing for. The product review can reside on that page or you could begin a page that redirects someone to your actual review. This can be a great way to get traffic from multiple places.
After creating your reviews, don’t forget to bookmark them on social tools and blog and microblog about them as well. If they’re very helpful they can also go viral and even be used on your email marketing list to share with your subscribers who may, in turn, buy from your affiliate link and tell their friends about the product, too.
Product reviews can definitely sway a person’s opinion in a specific direction and a lot of people use the web to help them make buying decisions. Writing reviews could definitely help you increase your affiliate marketing income. Study some product reviews in the niche you’re interested in to help you as well.
Most of all, before you even consider writing product reviews, find products you like and believe in. This will solidify your trusted advisor status if you’re marketing to your subscriber list and can get you not only a client today but a repeat client that doesn’t hesitate to take your advice again in the future.
Sean Rasmussen
Aussie Internet Marketer
Learn Affiliate Marketing with Year Of The Affiliate © 2012
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Excellent info Sean.
Knowing the product is definitely an essential ingredient. As you say social media is pretty underused for this purpose.
A Facebook fanpage would be another place to be promoting
Right on Gee. It’s not possible to market a product to it’s full potential unless you know it inside out and believe that the end user will actually benefit from it. That’s my personal opinion anyway
Sound advice Sean.
I have several review’s that I have posted on my site. I have personally used each one in order to know the in’s and out’s of what I am putting my name to.
.-= Cemil´s last blog ..Add Custom Footer to Thesis Theme =-.
Good to hear you are using the products yourself Cemil, it is something more people should do when reviewing a product… unlike some who just write whatever they will to achieve sales.
Hi Sean,
I need to move into writing product reviews. This was one of my mistakes with my early affiliate marketing attempts. I didn’t make any attempt to showcase how good the product actually was.
Would you actually write a product view and put in on your main site? Is that acceptable as long as you disclose that all links on the post are affiliate links and you will be making a commission on them?
.-= Jazz Salinger´s last blog ..Learn and Earn – It’s a Marathon Not a Sprint =-.
You surely can publish the product review to your site Jazz, as well as many other places outlined in this article
Hi Sean,
Okay, I’ll start doing it this week. I haven’t done it so far as I didn’t want to appear too pushy and aggressive but that approach hasn’t worked. So, I’m ready to try something new.
.-= Jazz Salinger´s last blog ..Finding Your Passion =-.
Hi Sean,
I have found that if you can answer all questions asked about a product than there’s a good chance the product will sell. It’s good to know that there is only so many questions that can be asked on any one particular product.
Be ready with the answer when questions are asked or better still have the questions answered before they are asked gives the product credibility and builds trust in the salesperson.
.-= Jill Brown´s last blog ..Couples Marry at Common Law =-.
Writing an (honest) product review is a great way of building trust and show that you actually know (and use) whatever you recommend and want to sell to others.
If it is a high end (and price) product I can easily imagine having that on one dedicated website that is only dealing with a topic where this product fits in.
For lower priced products around the same issue it can be a good idea to review them one by one on a website. After you have used really tested them yourself.
.-= Renee´s last blog ..Self Improvement Books – What Are Your Favourites =-.
The more I read, the more I realise how many mistakes I was making with affiliate marketing. I have been joining programs here and there without knowing the product. Writing a product review which informs your potential customers how you liked the product will definately give you more credibility.
.-= Jackie Stenhouse´s last blog ..Types of Child Anxiety Disorder =-.
Thanks Sean,
Great advice here as I never thought about writing product reviews before & it sounds like answering potential buyers questions is a sure way to gain sales. I also agree with purchasing products that you intend on promoting & find that it is a lot easier to write about something you have tried for yourself.
.-= jeremy´s last blog ..jlagatule- RT @tonyrobbins For you night owls still upCome be the first to have a sneak peak of R Breakthrough insiders site http-bitly-caSRxw =-.
It certainly is a lot easier to write quality copy if you have purchased and used the product yourself, it’s really the only way to write an honest review as well