With a fair bit of flurry, together with coverage in some media outlets, the Which? Report on ‘how Facebook fuels Amazon’s fake reviews’ was published just a wee bit after it might have been useful for the Christmas rush. There are no surprises for anyone in email marketing. It covers the easiest ways a purchaser can spot particular forms of fake review, or at least try to, and there is little to argue about on that score. We’ll come back to it the moment.
The main thrust of the article is their research on the mechanics of bought reviews, and the way producers manufacture five-star ratings. The subheading states that, despite promises of a crackdown, fake reviews are thriving on certain outlets. The methods used are quite predictable. It’s almost a how-to manual for anyone who, just for authoring corrupt reviews, wants to obtain products free of charge, although rather poor ones it seems.
Obviously, one of the ways we highlight a good product in marketing emails or on our websites is to link to reviews by purchasers, and such a report might well hurt this side of our business. How can we convince customers our products have been well received with trusted publications telling them reviews are false? There is a way.
One of the paragraph heads says, ‘Honesty not the best policy’, but, as this refers to writing reviews for profit, it is the exact antithesis of what we should be doing. There’s nothing more convincing than the truth. In advertising, it can be your strongest weapon, one that increases in effectiveness the more your subscribers come to trust you.
A couple of media outlets have covered the part of the article which is on methods anyone can use to limit the chances of being deceived by a review. The four highlighted are: to read a mix of reviews, to check the most recent ratings, to look for suspicious review pattern, and to look for signs of incentivisation.
While all these methods to spot a fake review are probably known by you, many of the subscribers to your email marketing list might not be aware of them, at least in a way to make them of practical use. This is where we come in.
If, and you should, you take steps to ensure all reviews that you include on a marketing email are genuine, and say this to all your subscribers and those browsing your website, you could encourage sales. I’d suggest being specific as to your methods, and following them for every review. One error can ruin years of building trust.
Why not include a hotlink entitled, ‘Concerned about depending on reviews?’ Let it take your subscribers to a page that explains your processes intended to actively ensure your reviews are honest and dependable. It will take you time to get up and running and you should not launch before you are sure it’s working. If you can guarantee it to a high level of probability, the investment will pay you back in the trust of your customers.
