To offer incentives or not to offer incentives, that is the question.
Published by Jon November 8th, 2006 in News, Jon Carder, advice, user feedback. Tags: advice, feedback, incentives, Jon Carder, mojopages, mojopages.com, reviews, user feedback.The team here at MojoPages is currently debating on the topic of whether or not to offer cash and prizes to users for writing reviews. It sounded like a great way to jump start the community but after we chewed on the idea for a bit it left a bitter taste in our mouths. We came to the conclusion that we should keep the community pure and allow users to write reviews to express themselves and help others but not for material gain. But MojoPages.com is not about what we think is best, it’s about what you and all other potential users think is best. So if you’ve got an opinion on this touchy subject click on the comments link right above this blog post and share it with everyone. We’re listening and we appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts.
advice, feedback, incentives, Jon Carder, mojopages, mojopages.com, reviews, user feedbackBookmark to:
8 Responses to “To offer incentives or not to offer incentives, that is the question.”
- 1 Pingback on Nov 15th, 2006 at 6:25 am
Leave a Reply
You must login to post a comment.
I’m not sure what you guys discussed but…
You could make the incentives not one for one but random (a drawing every month).
You could limit the number of incentives per user. (hard to police though - one person could have multiple usernames).
Users could have a community reliabilty rating (rate the rater) and a minimum score is needed for incentives.
My best idea - Allow those who waive their right to an incentive a top position in the list of reviews.
Those are great ideas Vince. I like the idea of random incentives because the users are still writing because they love to share their opinions and express themselves but then there is the fun chance that you can win something for doing so. The community stays pure and yet there’s that little nudge to get involved.
Vance - the random drawing is a good idea .
The whole incentive concept is tricky even if you reward people randomly, mainly because a random drawing works like a lottery . Posting more reviews will not necessarily increase ones odds of winning . We know this because the winner will win because he is lucky and not because of his hardwork or because he wrote more reviews .
Some companies have tried to reward people by awarding points
{ the more reviews one writes the more points they rack up } but awarding points will only encourage fake reviews and mostly a lack of public trust in the reviews that are written . Also if you start rewarding people to attract interest in Mobopages, when you stop rewarding, the system could collapse .
If a reward system is created inteligently it could work . Few will dispute the relevance of incentive in business . If you are going to implement a reward system you will have to compliment it with a trust system . A sysstem where people create circle of truststed friends or distruststed people i.e you can add all your friends or friends friends to your circle of trust and if you think someone is fake you can add them to your circle of distrust ….blah blah blah . By distrusting someone you will not see his reviews anymore blah blah blah
To work, a reward system can not be a one point system i.e you can’t just reward writers . You have to reward everyone - e.g
5 points - For Registration
5 points - For writing a review
2 points - When someone reads your review
1 point - For reading some one elses review
10 points - For referring a friend
2 points - For reviewing a reviewer
2 points - For commenting on a review
1% Cash back when you buy from advertiser
?? blah blah blah blah blah
Anyway there are websites like reviewme.com and payperpost.com that are just flat out paying people for their reviews . I guess it depends on what type of business model Mojopages is using. Normally Honest and Unbiased are 2 words that sound nice when used to describe Reviews .
Mojopages.Com -> Read : Honest Unbiased Local Reviews
Jon,
Combed through the site and couldn’t find your email so I thought I’d drop you a comment. First off, let me address your question…
Like you said I think it’s better not to offer incentives. With a good enough product, which I’m expecting MojoPages will be, participation from the user base shouldn’t be a problem. With the being said, Vance is onto something - If you take a look at the successful social media sites you’ll notice they have some way of keeping “score” which encourages activity and makes the site sticky….
MySpace - Top 8, Number of Friends.
Digg - Top users list
You seem like a smart enough guy and I think you get my point. Of course, every site is unique so MojoPages is going to need to figure out what works best for them. I’m sure that will consist of some trial & error.
Now, the original reason I wanted to contact you was because you’re local (SD). I like what you’re doing and I’d love to meet up sometime for a beer and hear more about MojoPages and share some experiences, ideas, etc. We have a few products of our own(some finished, some in dev.) that I’d love for you to try out, I think you would find them helpful with your business. Shot me an email and we can talk. cameron (at) acsseo.com
Best,
Cameron
Offering incentives sounds like a great idea, particularly while Mojopages is getting off the ground. Another incentive to consider is a referral program to increase the amount of users and therefore, exposure, to the new site. Once the site is up and running, you can reduce the amount of incentives, because people will view the site as a valuable tool, versus a way to possibly obtain free stuff.
Good luck! Meredith, San Diego
I’ve ‘given away’ lots of stuff over the years, and lotteries very rarely work, it’s always best to offer some concrete with clear rules - do X and we´ll give you Y.
However, I agree with your decision not to offer incentives to begin with, because when you first launch it’s important to understand how users react to the site, what they like and what they don’t and whether the basic design and structure work. If users are focussed on twinning their prize you’re not going to get this feedback and may think that the site is a great success.
I think promotions like these are always better when the site is more mature and you are clearer on the objectives which can change dramatically in the first 3 months. Also, you can do the promotion knowing that you have tweaked the site and it is compelling enough to entice users back.
I know of one Spanish site that offered a free cinema ticket for 5 complete reviews and it was a great success. They gained publicity, content and lots of new loyal users.
My first reaction to the rewards system was “yeah, that’ll get people going”…but it only takes a few minutes to realize that people will try to gaim it, they’ll write fake reviews…basically destroying the service that you’re trying to create.
I do like the idea of a more random drawing, but there is still not much motivation to write reviews. Some one else mentioned a points system. What if you combine those ideas where reviews will earn you points, and those points can be cashed in for chances in the drawing? The more points you have, the better you chances of winning the drawing.
It still encourages use, without someone being able to “guarantee” that they win a prize by writing a series of fake reviews.
You could make this work further by adding the “Did you find this review helpful?” thumbs up/thumbs down like Amazon. As users vote on what review were and weren’t helpful, those points that the review earns can go up, and down. If you write good reviews, users will find them helpful, and you’ll earn more points to win a prize…if you write crappy reviews then your points will tank and you “fake reviewing” efforts will have been wasted.
I would also suggest that, like digg comments, if enough users vote a review down, it stops being immediately available for everyone to see.