Articles, Presentations, & Press Releases

PRODUCT REVIEWS

Product reviews are written evaluations of a new product done by third party reviewers, most commonly for high-tech products. These reviews may appear in print publications or online at websites. Reviews supply technical details about the functionality of a product and how well it compares with alternatives and competing products. Obtaining product reviews is similar to the public relations process: trying to get third party reviewers interesting in testing or reviewing the product. You don't have to pay for product reviews, but you will likely have to give your product to the reviewer and won't get it back. Why do it? Compared to press releases or brief articles, product reviews provide more of a proof point of the product's features, functions, usability, or appeal. If you get the right reviewer with the right publication with a great review, it can really spread awareness quickly and generate sales.

Product reviews are different than customer reviews
If you sell products directly through your own website or other companies' websites, there may be a place where customers can rate your product or provide uncensored reviews (such as those at Amazon.com). Those are different than product reviews done by a qualified third party reviewer, and are not addressed in this newsletter. (For more information on customer reviews and success stories, see the July 2005 issue of the Launch Pad).

Does your target customer use reviews?
Before going down the path of obtaining product reviews, you need to think about whether your product lends itself to being tested and reviewed, and more importantly, whether your target customer pays attention to reviews or uses them when making purchasing decisions. If you have existing customers or even beta customers, you might ask them if they use reviews and whether they find reviews helpful. If your customers don't really pay attention to reviews, then perhaps some other form of publicity or even paid advertising might be a better use of your time and money.

Which industry, which publication?
If you have determined that your target customer does use reviews, find out what publications in your industry publishes reviews, and whether these publications have credibility in the industry. Contact the publication and ask for demographics of their target audience. Sometimes they may not give out the information, but you can always request advertising rates, which will include demographic information. Does the target demographic audience match your target customer? If it is not a good fit, it may be a waste of your time. The goal is to find the best fit between the publication and your target audience.

Finding a good reviewer
If you've identified some candidate publications, obtain copies of these publications and read the reviews. Are they done by a team of people or the same person each time? What is the technical background of the reviewer? You should do a search on the reviewer's name to find out their "style" - are they fair or biased? Are they technically savvy? What are some of their pet peeves and what types of products have they liked in the past? Another issue is the process they use to test and review products. Do they actually use the product and put it through its paces, or do they merely read promotional material and then write the review?

Making a pitch to the reviewer and the publication
When you've identified the publication or organization, you need to contact the technical editor of the publication and inquire about the process for product reviews. You will have to put together a pitch, including a media kit similar to what you'd use for a press tour. The kit should have copies of all of the marketing materials created for the product, along with technical details about the product, such as white papers or specifications and requirements for using the product.

Benefits
Many high tech companies pursue product reviews as an active part of their marketing and launch campaigns today. If you get a positive review in a key industry publication, it may yield sales leads and prospects. You can also leverage a positive review in other marketing and public relations campaigns by providing links to the review or excerpts from the review itself.

Risks
Just as with public relations activities, the risk is that you might get a less than favorable review of your product, which could turn potential customers away from your product or toward your competitor's. Another risk is that the product isn't used in the way you intended it, or the reviewer doesn't fully understand or test the functionality; that could result in a review that is completely off target from a technical perspective.

To overcome these risks, it pays to do your homework to find out as much as you can about the reviewer and publication ahead of time, and to make sure that you supply the reviewer with enough technical information to do a thorough review. And despite all of that, even if you still get a bad review, there may be other opportunities in other publications that may be more favorable for your product that may help your overcome any adverse publicity received. Remember that marketing and P.R. campaigns span months or years, so you may have multiple opportunities to get positive publicity and endorsements.

Catherine Kitcho, The Launch Doctor