The goal of an affiliate marketing site is to redirect traffic from the product and service promotion pages to the seller. Once a visitor gets redirected, they need to carry out a particular call to action, such as purchasing a product, downloading a file, watching a video, and so on.
While affiliate marketing sites can be profitable, they are also a huge investment. The competition is fierce even in relatively narrow niches, and there are no guarantees that the traffic you attract to your website will convert.
One of the ways to improve your chances of success would be via customer reviews. On the surface, it seems like adding customer reviews on an affiliate marketing site is redundant. Why? Because once someone visits a landing page, they are likely to explore a website themselves and discover prior shopper feedback.
Well, as an affiliate site owner, your goal is to convince your traffic to click a call to action, and if customer reviews help, it would be a waste not to utilize them.
Importing Reviews
Perhaps the simplest solution would be to utilize tools to import reviews directly from landing pages of goods or services that an affiliate marketing store is trying to promote.
For example, Opinew is a great product reviews app that simplifies the process. You can import feedback directly from major platforms and provide more information to your site visitors.
If an affiliate site is promoting different products or services and is using an affiliate program that is relatively unknown, then finding reviews to import might prove too difficult.
However, it is important to keep in mind that even if you cannot find prior customer feedback for some promotional content on your affiliate pages, it might not be the case for others.
Now, if importing reviews is not feasible due to various circumstances, such as the lack of available feedback, you have an option of encouraging your site visitors to leave reviews on your site rather than doing it the other way. That is what the next article section will focus on.
Encouraging Review Submission
Once again, it might seem counterintuitive to ask for reviews on an affiliate site. However, if your primary objective is to convert traffic and make them click on a call to action, then you need to make the most out of everything you have available.
At the end of the day, the goal is to make more money, right? Imagine someone browsing through your affiliate site and reading a review of a product. If they like what they see, they might click on an affiliate link.
The problem is when someone sees multiple similar options and hesitates on whether they should click or not.
Well, it just so happens that feedback from people who opted to click and carry out the call to action is a good way to persuade someone to do the same.
Just look at the statistics. According to Oberlo, roughly 9 out of 10 online shoppers read reviews to get a better idea about goods or services. Testimonial Engine says that more than 70 percent of customers will not take action before they read customer reviews.
Finally, Spiegel carried out a survey and found out that if a product gets as few as five reviews, the odds of it being sold increase almost 3 times.
The numbers speak for themselves, and while these are used for regular ecommerce stores rather than affiliate marketing sites, the idea is more or less the same.
One of the problems that affiliate site owners face is coming up with ways to get feedback from site visitors.
Usually, brands would provide perks, such as free shipping or discounts for a product if a customer submits a review. Unfortunately, those are not really possible options because affiliate marketing is being a middleman, and you cannot offer free shipping or discounts unless you manage to strike an agreement with your affiliate program.
No, what you need is to look for different methods. One possibility could be a contest. Running a weekly or monthly raffle and selecting the best reviews to reward them with a prize could work as a means of encouragement.
Simplifying a review system is worth a shout as well. One might be reluctant to bother with a detailed review, but it might not be too bad they had to fill out a survey.
Benefits of Customer Reviews
Other than increasing conversion rates, customer reviews also offer other benefits. Those benefits include and are not limited to:
- SEO boost
Customer reviews are valuable content, and you should not underestimate how much of an SEO boost an original piece of feedback can provide. You might start ranking for keywords you would not have thought of, thanks to website visitor originality in writing, for example.
Google loves original content, and every little bit helps for an affiliate marketing site that is trying to attract relevant traffic organically.
- Social proof
Social proof is another example of how beneficial customer reviews are. If a business wants to stand out, it needs some backing up from people who actually use the services. Even a few customer reviews offer solid proof that a business is reliable.
- Consumer voice and loyalty
Thanks to customer reviews, consumers get a platform to express their thoughts. It might not seem like a big deal, but such freedom is an important step toward building a loyal community.
It would also not be a stretch to suggest that customer reviews can translate into discussions. For instance, someone might leave feedback and get a response from other site visitors. A developing conversation is another sign that a website is doing great because the content gets engagement.
Conclusion
All in all, there is value in customer reviews. While affiliate marketing businesses might not seem like a good fit for shopper feedback, there are benefits. If nothing else, you can give customer reviews a try and see how they do on your affiliate site.
