Can you think of the "winning" review? I am working these days on releasing a new products review website and I wanted to find out what are the main guidelines that I should pay attention to when I write a product review. Let's use an example: If you had to write a review about cosmetic, or beauty product: What would be the structure of a review like this? Can you think of a simple formula I can adapt for all the reviews in my site? Thanks
Ok i'll have a crack at this and i'm sure people can add to it. 1. Brief summary - what the product is does etc 2. Positive points of the product - Why its good - who makes it etc 3. Negative points (always good to appear balanced) 4. Overall opionon - is it good bad? who is it suitable for? 5. Other recommendations. Of course there may well be more needed depending on the word count you're looking for. This would cover a 300 word to maybe 500 word review.
MagicMonkey makes some good points. I would just add that you should avoid a biased tone. If you are reviewing products you have for sale, it's really obvious if you have 10 positive points and just one negative point. Stay fair and balanced. Photos and videos help, especially if you can show a video of yourself using a product or use a photo to show readers a product flaw or defect. Good luck!
well actually magic monkey said it all, i have written many product reviews, you need to write an intro, stating the purpose of the product. various age groups for its use. exclusive usage etc...price ranges and where it would be available. in stores or online ordering etc...hope this helps
It depends - if you're reviewing stuff that's not too expensive and people want then a general format is ok because people will search and probably find your review. If you're marketing something that's more expensive or has a smaller market you should focus more on the problem that the product solves and demonstrate that in your review. For example, a face cream review could start with "My Face Cream really works - it makes my skin so moist that people say I look like I am sweating!" - you get the idea - you can make a claim and say it works - no further discussion necessary. A review for a pick up truck needs to be different. You can say it pulls 20 tons, but what weighs 20 tons and why would I want to pull 20 tons to begin with, why not pull 5 tons or 50 tons? In this case your review could start out with you wanting to take your boat from one lake to another by road - you could describe how easy it is to hook up, how well the mirrors work, the truck's acceleration, etc - more details about the problem and how the product solves the problem - it's more of a story than a review. Make sense?
There isn't a 'simple formula' for reviews. A huge part of the task will first be identifying the intended audience. Keeping with your example...If <insert name of super hot movie/music star currently popular with teens and tweens> uses the product, that might be all you need to sell to that age group. If selling a cosmetic to a more senior audience, you may need to focus more on coverage and age-inhibiting factors. People between those two extremes may be more concerned about durability i.e. will the foundation last through the entire workday? Only after determining your audience do you start thinking about presentation and formatting.
...thanks Magic for a the good blueprint for reviews but I have to use the product myself, bottom line
just be real with your products. inform your customer the advantages of your product and why people need to buy that one. what benefits they could get from it
I usually just write short ones. I begin with Ingredients; what is in the product if it is a physical product from a store. Then I write about the directions that are given for proper usage of the product. I then move on to costs of the product and claims made by the product (this is usually listed on the box.) Finally, I state my personal experience with the product. That is how I do it!