If you are an affiliate marketer looking to learn how to write a product review (so effective, it gets sales, not just clicks) then look no further.
In the next 10 minutes you’ll discover why I often get more affiliate sales than my competitors and hear me uncover my proprietary affiliate commission-boosting method, step-by-step, right before your eyes.
My job as a super affiliate marketer is to ALWAYS be authentic and know what I’m promoting better than the product owners themselves. Does it sound hard to believe? Not, if you do what I do; you too will soon start to crank out affiliate product reviews like never before, and get (more) sales, not just clicks.
What is a product review
and why should you care?
A product review is NOT a template you buy, fill in the blanks and see $300+ in your PayPal account overnight…
A product review is NOT a hard-sell “fool the reader” blurb that fills your pockets with cash…
A product review is NOT a sponsored blog post where others bribe you (for little) to sugarcoat their lame stuff…
A product review IS: your personal experience with a product (service or program) you found so useful that you cannot help but tell others about it and share your experience — the good, the bad and the ugly.
The best product reviews I’ve written…
Or stumbled upon, were the ones that were specifically targeted to the ideal reader/buyer and filled the gaps. That’s why such reviews will always be responsible for massive sales, even with very little clicks.
Now, let’s compare two affiliate approaches and see the winning method. Suppose we have…
Affiliate A (let’s call him John) who gets 500 clicks on his blog ad, and…
Affiliate B (Mary) who gets 300 clicks as a result of her blog post (link) product review.
John would get 1% conversion, 2% if he’s lucky or 5% if he’s already “known in the field”.
Total sales John makes: 5% X 500 clicks = 25 sales
Mary would get at least 10%, sometimes 20% and even 25% sales conversion because of her personal review, pulling-in 75 sales (25% X 300 clicks)
Ask any reputable super affiliate and they’ll tell how by writing even a simple, mini-product review could double if not triple their sales compared with merely placing a sidebar ad or text link in their posts.
You have to understand:
what makes a winning product review
Yes, it is important if you are already honest and known in the field (like an authority, guru, and so on). But if you simply place a sidebar ad or embed your content with text links on your blog, then your sales will never skyrocket like it would when you do product reviews.
That’s why banners and text links are 10x times less effective than a personal, insightful product review. It has always been that way and it will always be!
People do NOT buy products but solutions to their problems…
Or results to their needs!
I learned this the hard way:
People often buy the right solution at the right time for needs or wants they think they have.
That’s why pre-selling your affiliate product recommendation is key, so NEVER tell someone about a product until you’ve talked about their problem, and then lead them to the ideal solution…
A link or a banner ad cannot tell the (whole) story. These two methods are similar to spam, or cold-calling, as ineffective and a waste of time as when trying to sell a car to a stranger on the street.
Don’t understand me wrong: your car might be the hottest driving machine in town, just that a stranger will refuse your (irresistible) offer because they don’t know you, they doesn’t like you… hmm, I guess they don’t even trust you!
How can they? Did you spend time with them? Did you tell them your story? Did they know why you’re selling the car, why to them and why today? No. Because this takes time and we don’t want to waste time, we want to make money… bad approach.
It’s all about THEM and YOU… not just you!
Whenever you’re recommending something, free or paid, you risk your reputation. It’s either going up, or down.
Yes, your reputation is on the line, whether you consciously think that way, or not.
Get this: you’re not only recommending a product (through your product review, banner or text link), but also the customer support team and their service.
If the product is good, but the support is terrible, refunds will probably be at the order of the day, reducing you less sales and spreading the word about your promotion and marketing practice.
Imagine this…
Last week I told one of my best friends to watch “The Town” movie. I thought it was good because I’ve seen it. My friend didn’t like it. He cannot stand Ben Affleck. Now, do you think I’ll ever recommend him a Ben Affleck movie ever again? Nah, I’ll change my strategy, instead I will make sure to ask about his favorite actors, find out what genre he likes and only then make custom-tailored suggestions.
It’s not only about the product you recommend, but also who you recommend that can build or demolish your reputation as well as your friendships and relationships.
If I told you to click this link and buy SEMRush (a keyword research and competitive tool I just subscribed to 48 hours ago) would you do it simply because I told you so?
No, unless I inform you of the benefits and advantages of this tool and what it could mean for your business and search engine rankings, right? I’ll leave that for another post (product review) though – thank you for the idea!
What kind of Affiliate Products
you can (and should) review…
Anything you can think of: from physical products, offline and online services, digital products, software tools, you name it. There’s no limit to what you can review and generate affiliate sales with.
Digital marketing and media trend analyst site – Emarketer.com says in a report they sell for $695 (yes, that’s not a typo!)
“Reading product reviews is a growing part of consumers’ prepurchase search ritual. Over the past few years, consumers have increased the number of reviews they read and the overall time they spend reading them.”
Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey shows that…
“Recommendations by personal acquaintances and opinions posted by consumers online are the most trusted forms of advertising globally, according to the latest twice-yearly Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey of over 25,000 Internet consumers from 50 countries.
The Nielsen survey, the largest of its kind, shows that nine in every ten Internet consumers worldwide (90 percent) trust recommendations from people they know, while seven in every ten (70 percent) trust consumer opinions posted online.”
It’s not always about you, but about the other person at the end of the line that has a major need or problem and needs a solution, now, not next month. And if you step in with the right recommendation and provide with your link, they’ll buy it…
But what about FTC “scary” rules
and (recent) affiliate guidelines…
What do you think happens if you disclose affiliate links (endorsements) and make your affiliate-vendor relationship transparent?
Will you get less clicks? Will your affiliate checks be cut and will your earnings be reduced by half?
Not at all; in fact, quite the opposite. I’ve made more money when I was honest with readers and told them: this is my link, buy the product or not. It’s your choice. And I’ve also made even more money when I told them: buy from my link, I get a commissions for telling you about it, and I’ll also send you this bonus ___ if you order today (or by XX.XX. date).
“It takes a lifetime to build a good reputation, but you can lose it in a minute.” — Will Rogers, American actor and comedian
FTC wants to protect both your consumer and your reputation. When you understand this key principle, you won’t fear FTC rules but embrace what they’re doing and be open to their suggestions.
Personally, I purchase online and offline regardless of the affiliate-vendor relationship. If a review is honest, I can tell. My gut feeling tells me if a person is lying or not. I don’t have to read their affiliate disclosure to decide if I like what I read, trust the product and buy.
What about you?
How I Went from Zero to $1,000’s
in Affiliate Commissions
I’ve started just like you: from scratch… with no site and no domain name, knowing nothing about placing links or displaying banners on a web page.
I recall the first time driving 57 clicks (or hits?) to an affiliate link and thought to quit because all I got was no sales and sheer frustration. After talking at length with the vendor and other affiliates, I soon realized that writing affiliate product reviews is KEY. And the rest is history.
Now, let’s be honest, nobody can write a good product review, unless they know:
1. What the reviewed product or service is supposed to do!
2. Who was it created/designated for!
3. What problem, issue or challenge does it solve, and more importantly, how!
You achieve all this by performing in depth research and close product (service) inspect.
There are no shortcuts, trust me on this one. The more you study the product, the more knowledgeable your review.
Input equals output. What you learn/discover from your analyst is something you jot down or memorize. Your experience with the product is a direct reflection of your (written) product review and vice-versa.
Anybody can tell immediately from your review if you’ve personally tested the product or not. This gut feeling prompts people to either buy from you and recommend the product to others, or don’t buy and advise their friends to avoid the product.
There are so many fake reviews out there, in every niche; just around on Google and you will realize what I’m talking about. The Internet needs to be a better place, with carefully-selected, closely- reviewed products and services.
How to really write
affiliate product reviews that sell!
Here are the 5 top proprietary methods I use after I closely inspect, read about or try the product.
#1 – Keyword Research
If you are familiar with the product, you know what it does and who it helps. Now, it’s time for you to perform a keyword research. As I mentioned previously, I’m currently using Google AdWord’s free tool (will consider paid solutions next) – feel free to use whatever feels comfortable to you, just simplify things, it should be easier that way.
It’s not about rushing things, but keeping it simple, not simplistic.
#2 – Long-tail key term optimization
Use Google’s tool and you might find key terms related to the product title you’re promoting. They’re the best “buyers” keywords to focus on and optimize your blog post/product review.
SEO means search engine optimization. Optimization is not bad. Optimization is what we need and want in life. We want to get more, and do better.
It is your responsibility to help your reader find your product review in Google’s first page results. Don’t allow fake reviews to rank there. Optimize your post and readers will be able to find it easier when it’s custom-tailored to their specific needs.
SEO is a label you put on your content just like we label books with the right title and emails with the correct subject line.
If SEO is bad, then you’re not getting the full picture. Then you’re actually telling me that optimized subject lines and book titles are wrong? Not optimizing is bad and “black-hat”, a wrong practice!
#3 – Competitive Research
I spent 3 hours and 50 minutes (as per my content marketing research formula) just to find the right articles, sources and facts to help me crank the post you’re reading now (not including the 6 hours+ for actual writing and editing)
Was it helpful? Am I right when I say that if I had not performed such extensive research, my writing would have been regular, bland and boring?
#4 – Product Review Write
By now you’ve already noticed that learning How to Write a Product Review is actually not just about writing but product inspection and competitive research.
Since you’ve gathered all the information in one place (on paper on in a word doc for example), writing is easy, natural. Practice makes it perfect. You are not born skilled, you have to become experienced!
Your review should ALWAYS include…
- Product title
- Product benefits/advantages
- Product ideas – how you’re using it in your life or business
- Product missing link(s) – what you dislike about it, but found a solution that fills the gap
- Product call to action – it helps get the sale and reach maximum conversion (if done right)
- Product bonus offer (offer one or two exclusive items, not a bunch of useless “goodies”)
*** HIGHLY IMPORTANT:
Before you write your review, study at least 5 to 7 other reviews on the same or similar products if yours is the first. Your affiliate product review should be the best since you’ve already been exposed to your competitors’ reviews. But let’s not forget your personal experience with the product, this is priority #1 and this is what reflects the most in your review.
#5 – Product Review Edit
Editing is a different process than writing, so it should be performed separately. This is where you remove words or interchange phrases, add product images and link them to your affiliate url.
A picture is worth a thousand words or 1001 words are worth more than a picture according to a Chinese proverb.
Once you’re done, publish your review on your blog and wait for comments and sales to come in.
I sometimes spend about an hour just to edit the post and make sure it looks good prior pushing the send button.
Now it’s your turn to comment. What do you have to share about How to Write a Product Review … do you have any questions to ask or comments to add to the conversation?
P.S. If you need help on how to write product reviews, contact me. I provide consulting and do-it-on-your-behalf content writing services: affiliate product reviews, viral blog posts, emails, and much more.