Most products live and die by their reputations - whether those reputations are real or engineered. Many products exist in a cutthroat environment of unethical competitors, shills, and angry consumers. Thirty years of excellent products can be upended by one 'pissed consumer' with a keyboard. A carefully cultivated, truthful, online reputation management campaign is often necessary simply to keep the playing field level.
For products, Amazon reviews are often key. It can be impossible to filter bogus reviews and testimonials from real ones, but product managers are usually the first to figure out what is happening to them. Comparing like products and seeing radically different product ratings and unrealistically rosy testimonials for the other guys product is one way of ascertaining whether you think a competitors reviews are real. We like to think we can spot the fake Amazon reviews more often than not, but in the end there may be no way to prove it.
We prefer to take the high road by asking actual happy customers who have used the product to post their unedited thoughts on Amazon. Over time, this is often an excellent method for boosting the online reputation of a truly excellent product. We've also found that running opinion campaigns for free versions of a product is also a good way to increase positive online reviews in a truthful way.
We strongly suggest fighting the urge to simply have fifty positive five-star Amazon reviews written and posted in a day. First, you could get caught. Second, it's not good for your products karma. Third, people can tell they're fake. Studies show that fake reviews give off a slight odor redolent of over-aged fish (OK, we just made that up).
People are smart (well, enough people are). We can't stress strongly enough how important reality helps forge consumer trust. The higher the price of your product, the more people are likely to perform due diligence on it. They will compare the opinions of other people and more often than not go with the opinions of complete strangers. This is why products can benefit from true positive third-party comments on blogs and review sites. These comments and reviews can be influenced to assist with online reputation management for products.
In addition to third-party blogs and comments, promotion of positive press from search result pages further back, to the forefront can be a great help. A wonderful page of reviews on page six of search engine results does a product no good; really, how often do you even go to page two of search results
The necessity for product reputation management is simply a reality in today's competitive consumer environment. Whether in defense of unethical competitors, cranky consumers, or a handful of negative reviews, internet reputation management can help almost any good product defend their turf, or gain more.
