Do you trust product reviews on blogs?

When it comes to writing about (and endorsing) products, the line bloggers walk can be as treacherous as walking across Niagara Falls on a tightrope. Balance is important but determination, faith and focus on the end game also contribute to whether you’ll drop in the drink or make it to the other side safely.

Writing product reviews isn’t new or even unique relationship though. Magazine and newspaper writers and editors have been doing it for a long time. What’s new is how the writer/blogger is paid – and that’s what makes the issue tricky.

Writing a product review for a magazine

As a former editor for a national print magazine (ePregnancy) product reviews filled a substantial portion of our editorial. It provided content and a way to incite advertisers. Here’s what the flow looked like:

• The managing editor assigned me, the senior editor, the product reviews
• I doled out assignments to writers
• Products were sent to the writers (from the manufacturer)
• I edited and submitted the stories along with product shots and logos of the brands
• If needed, a fact checker called writers and interviewees to confirm quotes
• Stories were edited again (by a copy editor and finally the managing editor)

While the editing process for a magazine is clearly much more involved than it is for many bloggers, there’s also another very big difference. The magazine paid the writer – not the manufacturer. And because the editing process involved so many people, the tone of the review was litmus tested multiple times before it hit the stands. Overly enthusiastic (as well as brand damaging) reviews were massaged so articles provided helpful buying information.

As an editor and writer I never knew what kind of advertising would eventually sit beside my editorial in the published magazine. And I was rarely told which brand to review – just to review a certain product. If it was a round-up, I’d find 5 stroller brands and compare them, for example. In other words, the advertising didn’t affect my review because it was handled by a different department. The magazine paid my bill, not the manufacturer.

Writing product reviews on your blog

Bloggers who write reviews face unique struggles most magazine writers don’t. Because bloggers are paid to write reviews on their blog by the manufacturer, that unbiased, journalistic distance is lost. What’s more, most bloggers aren’t trained journalists and when it comes to being unbiased, training matters. And it’s natural to want to please the hand that feeds you.

Bloggers have some terrific advantages though. They are the publishers, editors and writers of their content, which means they can get personal with the products and brands they use, talking much more intimately about their personal experiences. They have a community of followers that trust their reviews and will ask questions they wouldn’t ask a magazine.

Bloggers are relationship curators

Because the reader relationship is as important as the advertising relationship, conversations on a blog post can get deep fast. The blogger becomes the communication channel between the product and the consumer. And because those relationships are strong, bloggers can provide brands with valuable product insights – talk about free crowd sourcing for product research and development.

Many bloggers work with brands over a long period, which means relationship grow and blossom overtime. Sometimes the association between the blogger and the brand becomes so strong, the blogger becomes a naturally appointed brand ambassador. Ambassadorship is more powerful than a review because it ties the bloggers hard earned reputation to the brand – and that has equity.

Not all bloggers embrace integrity

It’s easier to spot a hack in the blogosphere than it is in a magazine – mostly because of the editing process. Writers who sell their soul for free products are weeded out by good editors. If everything a writer delivered to me was always sunshine and roses, I questioned and did my own fact finding before accepting their work. If the facts didn’t add up, that writer was relegated to the slush file. Writers who consistently delivered product reviews that simplified the buying decision of my readers became part of my go-to-writers group.

Bloggers rely on brands to pay their bills and finding the balance between writing an honest review and nurturing the brand relationship is downright treacherous.

Let’s get a few thing clear first though…

For the bloggers

• Receiving a product for free or a trip to a fabulous resort, all expenses paid, doesn’t constitute a relationship.
• Free product is not payment. It’s part of your job.
• Writing product reviews and not being paid for your time devalues your work and the work of your fellow bloggers.
• If every review on your site is 100% positive and lacks critical comparisons of similar brands, what does that say about your integrity – to your advertisers and to your community?
• If you have critical comments about a product or a brand, offer them constructively and thoughtfully – gratuitous negativity is as damaging as overly-effusive positivity.

For the manufacturers

• Engaging a blogger to write a review is the same as buying media – metrics are important.
• If a blogger is unwilling to be transparent about traffic numbers, why are you looking at them?
• While metrics are important, engagement is too – factor in anecdotal conversations in your final report.
• Do you want honest, thoughtful reviews? Read other reviews from that blogger before entering into a relationship.
• If you want your product reviewed, monetary compensation is part of the conversation. You work for money, so do bloggers.

For the readers

• Reading multiple reviews on the same product is simply smart buying practice – caveat emptor.
• Give equal weight to comments on a blog post as well as other posts by the same author – integrity (and the lack of it) is easy to spot.
• Understand the blogger/manufacturer relationship and then get over it. If you’ve done your research, you’ll know which bloggers to trust.
• If a blogger review has helped you, let the blogger – and the manufacturer – know.

So let’s hear it. What do you think of blogger reviews? Do you use them? Do you trust them? How do you feel about the blogger/manufacturer relationship? What advice do you have for any or all of the participants?

Share your comments below or shout out to me on Facebook or Twitter – let’s continue the conversation.