Marketing to Consumers is always a hot topic for Honorees. In our May post, we answered the question Why No one Knows About Your Award-winning Product.

We focused specifically on the MCA Shop, because that’s where shoppers go when they are looking for your award-winning product or service.

Consumers want the best for their families, and they’re doing the research before they buy. According to a January 2013 study by Cisco Technology Services …

• Nearly 9 out of every 10 consumers use the internet to research goods and services (regardless of point of sale – online, brick and mortar store)
• Shoppers prefer online ratings and reviews by a 4:1 margin over advice from store employees.
• 1 of every 3 shoppers is using their mobile device in a brick-and-mortar store to guide their purchasing decision.

Can you guess where most consumers go to start their pre-buying research?

Yep! Amazon.com.

With all that data coming at them, it is important that your product stands apart from the crowd. Here are three things you can on your Amazon product page to add visual interest and increase the attention your award-winning product or service receives from those research-driven consumers.

Show Consumers your Honoring Excellence Seal with these three tips!

1. Make sure your product image has the seal on it.

When someone wants to find products on Amazon.com, they generally start with a subject or topic:

• DVDs for preschoolers
• parenting books
• puzzles for children

What potential consumers get from that search are pages of lists, with teeny-tiny images. One very easy way to make your thumbnail stand out is to have your MCA Honoring Excellence seal on the cover.

Follow these easy instructions to update your product image on Amazon.com.

2. Include the Honoring Excellence Seal among your product images.

We love how Jill Westfield of Peek-a-Bear Publishing included the MCA Honoring Excellence Seal among her product images.

Not only is it clever, it is eye-catching and gives consumers a reason to linger on the page. Click here to see how it adds to the presentation of the product description page.

To use the MCA Honoring Excellence seal online – including your Amazon.com detail page, your website, blog, or social media profile pages – you must have a Tier 1 License.

3. Get more reviews.

As the stats above show us, those reviews and ratings can make a difference for consumers. Whether at home or on their mobile device, the majority of shoppers look to reviews and ratings before making a buying decision.

The glow of those stars pop on the listing page (right-hand column). They also appear at the top of your product page.

• Have you ever asked your fans and followers to write a review?
• Do you have an email list of people to whom you send news or newsletters?
• Send a note to your distributor, publicist – anyone in your sales chain – to ask them to send out a review query.
• If you work directly with stores, ask the owner or purchasing rep to add a review.
• Do you sell your product / service on your website? Be sure to send a follow-up note to those buyers thanking them and saying you’d appreciate a review on Amazon.

Each of these groups is part of your consumer base. Ask them to take a few moments to write a review, and be sure to include the link in your email. That way they can click right away to do that for you.

Will you get 5-star reviews every time? Probably not. But that is Okay … really. If the review that accompanies the stars is thoughtful and detailed, consumers might just say click to say “Yes, the review was helpful.”

When consumers see that people thought particular reviews were helpful, they will linger longer on your page … giving them what they need to make an informed decision about buying your product or service.

Please note – I purposefully did not recommend contacting family to ask  for reviews. Not only is it frowned upon, but it can very easily backfire on you if it looks like you are “padding” your reviews.

Got an image of ways that you have promoted your Mom’s Choice Award-winning product or service? Be sure to leave a comment and include a link!