Step 1: Explore your Bazaarvoice Sampling tools
What is Portal and how do I get access?
From Bazaarvoice Portal (https://portal.bazaarvoice.com), you’re able to access Bazaarvoice solutions and tools. When first given access to Portal, you should receive an email from Bazaarvoice prompting you to set a password and sign in to Portal. If not, please contact your company’s Bazaarvoice Portal administrator or the person managing your Bazaarvoice program for access. They can grant access or submit a Support ticket on your behalf. If you're unsure who to reach out to, connect with your Bazaarvoice representative. Refer to the article on Portal Basics FAQs to learn more.
What is the Bazaarvoice Sampling community?
The Bazaarvoice Sampling community, also known as Influenster, is a network of over nine million everyday consumers who share authentic feedback to help other shoppers make informed purchasing decisions. With over 65 million pieces of user-generated content, including reviews, photos, and Q&As, this community is a powerful resource for generating genuine product insights and social content for your brand. Brands are able to send samples to the Influenster community, syndicate reviews across the Bazaarvoice Network and display reviews on their own websites.What is an Ambassadors Sampling community?
Ambassadors Sampling communities are private communities of customers selected by retailers who co-partner with Bazaarvoice to run their Sampling programs. Members are chosen based on their engagement with the retailer’s website or social media, past purchases, or review history. These members are expected to provide authentic reviews of the products they receive, just like members of the Bazaarvoice community. Reviews collected through these communities are badged to indicate they were part of a promotional program and are moderated to ensure compliance with the retailer’s guidelines. Reviews are displayed on the associated retailer’s website.What is Vibe?
The Bazaarvoice Vibe solution (located within the Bazaarvoice Portal) helps clients source content, manage it, and distribute to increase revenue and traffic. For all Bazaarvoice community Sampling campaigns, you will use Vibe for campaign creation and real-time content collection. Once you have access to Portal, you’ll also have access to Vibe. If you have any access issues, please contact your Bazaarvoice project team. Refer to the articles on Vibe to learn more about the solution. To learn about creating a campaign request using Vibe, refer to the Create a Bazaarvoice Sampling campaign article.What is Product Sampling?
The Product Sampling solution (located within Vibe), supports running campaigns in Ambassadors Sampling communities. Use Product Sampling for campaign creation and reviewing campaign results. Once you have access to Vibe, you’ll also have access to Product Sampling. If you have any access issues, please contact your Bazaarvoice project team.How can I learn more about what community I’ll be running my campaign in?
Refer to the onboarding emails sent by Bazaarvoice (via no-reply@bazaarvoice.com) to help clarify your next steps. For additional support, sign in to Support Community to connect with your Bazaarvoice project team, who can assist you in clarifying your purchase and determining where you’ll create your campaign request.What is the Support Community and how do I get access?
The Bazaarvoice Support Community acts as a centralized hub for managing all your active projects with Bazaarvoice, including your Sampling campaigns. It serves as your go-to project management platform throughout the entire project lifecycle. Once you have access to the Bazaarvoice Portal, you'll also have access to Support Community.Where can I request Sampling support?
The Bazaarvoice Support Community will be your main tool for requesting Sampling support at any point during your campaign process.
Note: If you don't see a response within two business days, check your spam and junk folders. Make sure to add clientcare@bazaarvoice.com and no-reply@bazaarvoice.com to your email contacts. Otherwise, our responses may be blocked by your company’s firewall.
Step 2: Create a campaign request
Where do I submit my campaign request?
Use Vibe for all of your Bazaarvoice Sampling campaigns. For additional support, sign in to the Bazaarvoice Support Community to connect with your Bazaarvoice project team, who can assist you in clarifying your purchase and determining where you’ll create your campaign request.What is a campaign request?
A campaign request is the ultimate blueprint for your sampling campaign—a one-stop shop where every detail gets meticulously documented by your brand, such as:Basics: Identify the request owner, Sampling program, fulfillment manager, and the line item for the campaign.
Products: Specify the products being sampled and supply the required product details.
Audience: Define which members you are targeting.
Tasks: Select the type of content you want participants to submit.
Fulfillment: Specify how members will receive your products.
Summary: Review all details on the campaign request before submitting, as no updates can be made after submission.
For step-by-step instructions on creating campaign requests, refer to the articles for creating Campaign Requests via Bazaarvoice Vibe and Bazaarvoice Product Sampling.
What types of products should I sample?
New products: Offer samples of a product before it goes to market so the product has fresh reviews on the retailer site the day consumers can buy it.Products with low review volume: Ensure adequate review coverage by offering samples of strategic products that have few or no reviews.
Products with old reviews: Having current reviews is important. Offer samples of strategic products that haven't been reviewed recently to get new content.
Seasonal products: Maximize sales during peak shopping seasons by having content at the beginning of the season.
Which product details will I be required to provide?
Please fill out the fields in the campaign request with as much detail as possible.Mandatory product fields include:
• Product ID
•UPC (12 digits) or EAN (13 digits)
• Product description
• Product name
• Product image
• Fair market value
Based on your Sampling project, you'll be prompted to complete additional fields in the campaign request as needed.
Can I include a product that isn't available for purchase in my Sampling campaign?
Yes. Make sure your campaign request uses the same product ID you want to associate with the product when it goes live. This ensures that the reviews you collect through your Sampling program display for the product when it becomes available for purchase.To determine the product ID:
Sampling-only clients—If you use a different service provider for Ratings & Reviews, include a product ID of your choice in the campaign request.
Sampling + Ratings & Reviews clients—If you use Bazaarvoice for Ratings & Reviews on your brand site, be sure to enter the product ID that is linked to the site code of your product page. To find the product ID, search for the product's UPC in the product catalog to find the corresponding product ID or confirm with a team member who manages your product catalog or brand site.
If you do not provide a live, active product ID, you can still include the product in a Sampling campaign prior to release. However, the reviews collected from your Sampling program will not be associated with the product until you supply Bazaarvoice with the live ID and the review content is migrated.
If I offered samples of a product before it was available for purchase, what should I do when the product becomes available for purchase?
If you collected reviews on a product before it was available for purchase, the reviews will appear on your brand site as long as the correct product ID was provided. They will also display on retailer sites if the UPC or EAN matches between the brand and retailer's product catalog. If reviews are not displaying as expected, please contact your Bazaarvoice project team for assistance.I want to sample two products to 100 people, how many units would I need for this campaign?
Each unit represents one product sent to a sampling community member for their review or social post. If you’re sending two different products per member, you’ll need two units per member, totaling 200 units for 100 people. If you’re sending multiple of the same product (e.g., two identical pillowcases for one bed), this counts as one unit, since the member will provide a single review for the product, even if they receive multiple. We recommend using the Additional Information field in your campaign request to clarify key details—such as whether members should sample both products together or if they should expect multiples of the same product.
If you have any questions while completing your campaign request, reach out to your project team for guidance to ensure your product requirements are submitted correctly.
Can I submit multiple campaign requests?
If you’re submitting multiple campaigns, please ensure you purchased flexible units. These allow you to allocate units across multiple campaigns. Non-flexible units, on the other hand, must be used entirely within a single campaign.Am I able to edit my campaign request after submission?
No, once your request is submitted and its status changes to Requested, you'll no longer be able to edit it. We recommend saving your request as a draft if you're missing or awaiting necessary information.How long will my campaign take?
You can use our Sampling timeline estimator to help plan and predict your Sampling timeline. Your Sampling timeline will officially begin once your campaign request is approved.How will community members request the products in my campaign?
Your campaign will be made available to members who meet the targeting criteria you’ve specified in your request. These members will receive invitations to participate. Participation is always optional, and members must opt in and request to sample the products. They select products based on the product name, image, description, and available variations. The fields labeled Visible to Participants in the campaign request are what is shown to the members.What do members do with the products after submitting their reviews?
Members keep all products they receive through the Sampling program. Returns are not supported.Are members required to write reviews for all products they receive?
Members join our Sampling communities with the understanding that they will receive products in exchange for honest and helpful reviews. The membership terms and conditions, along with review request emails, emphasize that failing to submit reviews may affect a member's eligibility to participate in future campaigns.What should I expect after submitting my campaign request?
Submitting your request will generate a case for the Bazaarvoice Sampling operations team to begin communication regarding your campaign. Bazaarvoice will review your request and reach out if any further details or clarifications are needed. Once your campaign request is approved, you will be notified when your next campaign task is ready for action. As a reminder, make sure to add clientcare@bazaarvoice.com and no-reply@bazaarvoice.com to your email contacts to ensure you receive all campaign-related emails.Where can I get support if I’m having difficulties with my campaign request?
Please refer to our detailed instructions for creating campaign requests via Vibe and Product Sampling as your primary support resource. If you have further questions, contact your project team in Support Community and provide as much detail as possible about your issue to help us assist you effectively.Step 3: Complete and track your campaign tasks
What type of tasks will I be responsible for?
Ambassadors tasks or actions will vary based on the type of Sampling program purchased. All clients are responsible for submitting their campaign request and then, based on what was purchased, specific tasks will be assigned to you as you complete the next steps in your campaign. Depending on your project scope, you’ll also be able to manage your community of Ambassadors.How do I take action on my project tasks?
From your project dashboard, select the Tasks tile. Update your Recently Viewed drop-down to My Active Tasks.
Note: Pin this view to set it as your default.
How will I know when a task is ready for me to complete?
You will receive an email notification from no-reply@bazaarvoice.com when a task is ready for your action. To ensure you don’t miss any important updates, please add this address to your contacts. You can also proactively monitor your campaign’s status and timeline by checking the project plan in the Bazaarvoice Support Community.Why aren’t all my projects displayed when looking at my project dashboard in Support Community?
Projects that are complete or expired are no longer viewable. If the project is active, check with your Bazaarvoice project team to ensure you are correctly listed as a project contact.Can I manually edit order tracking details directly in the Vibe table without uploading a CSV?
No. To ensure data integrity and security, all order updates and tracking uploads must be processed via the bulk CSV upload utility.
How do I process a re-shipment for a member whose product was lost, damaged, or returned?
Managing re-shipments and secondary order creation is not supported directly in Vibe at this time. Please contact your Bazaarvoice representative to manage fulfillment exceptions for lost or broken items.
Design your custom campaign box
How soon will I receive a draft of my box design after submitting assets?
After you complete the Submit Design Assets task in Support Community, the first draft will be ready for your review within approximately four business days. Once the draft is ready, the Box Artwork Feedback task will move to Ready, and you’ll receive an email notification prompting you to complete it.Can I design my own box artwork?
Yes, you've the option to design your own custom box instead of using Bazaarvoice’s design services. To ensure a smooth process, refer the instructions in the Design your custom campaign box article.What happens after the boxes are submitted for printing?
After boxes are submitted for printing, Bazaarvoice will finalize your campaign setup and member selection while you prepare your product inventory. As a reminder, all custom boxes take a minimum of five weeks to print.Fulfill your Sampling campaign
When do I need to have my samples ready to ship?
Inventory should be on hand, reserved for sampling, and ready to ship when the campaign launches.Who is responsible for shipping products?
If you're providing your own fulfillment, you and your fulfillment provider are responsible for shipping products to members by the shipping deadline. If you purchased Bazaarvoice fulfillment services, you and your warehouse are responsible for shipping products to the designated Bazaarvoice warehouse by the shipping deadline. All deadlines will be provided to you via Support Community once your campaign request is approved. Bazaarvoice is then responsible for shipping products to members.What if I don't have a warehouse to ship from?
If this is the case, ask your Bazaarvoice sales representative for more information. The Bazaarvoice Sampling community offers the ability to purchase fulfillment services through Bazaarvoice. You could also explore purchasing Bazaarvoice deals units, which are our non-ship solution for the Bazaarvoice Sampling community.How will I know when to start shipping?
If your campaign requires shipping, whether to a Bazaarvoice warehouse or directly to Sampling members, you'll be notified when your shipping task is ready. Your Bazaarvoice project team will also email you instructions to get started.When should I ship my products?
To maximize review response rates and enhance the member experience, we recommend shipping samples within one week of receiving the fulfillment file from Bazaarvoice. For your specific deadlines, please refer to the estimated start and estimated end dates in Support Community under the assigned task.Why is it important to include the shipped date, shipping carrier, tracking number, and tracking URL?
A completed fulfillment file enables us to mark your samples as shipped and unlocks the members' ability to write reviews. Providing tracking information reduces support inquiries and improves community members' overall Sampling experience.What if I ship products via a carrier that does not provide a tracking number or shipping status?
We highly recommend providing tracking information. If you can't provide tracking information, please include the shipped date and shipping carrier values. Add N/A to the Tracking Number and Tracking URL columns.What if a product I offered is now out of stock or unavailable?
Notify your Bazaarvoice project team as soon as possible via the campaign case thread or via Support Community. If the product will become available at a later date, we will message the affected community members to let them know there is a shipping delay. Please note that once a community member has claimed an item, a sampling unit will be deducted from your contracted number of units. The best practice is to only offer items for which you have confirmed available inventory.What do I do after I ship my products to the Bazaarvoice warehouse?
Once you’ve shipped your products to the Bazaarvoice warehouse, no further action is required. Bazaarvoice will confirm receipt of your shipment or reach out if any issues arise. To track the status of your shipment and fulfillment tasks, visit Support Community and review the tasks associated with your campaign.Step 4: Review your campaign results
When can I expect members to begin submitting content?
Content will begin generating within a week of members receiving their products. To estimate content collection timelines based on your campaign request submission date, please use our Sampling timeline estimator.When will my reviews display at retail via syndication?
Due to the dependency on product data coming from multiple parties, Bazaarvoice can't guarantee syndication to in-network retailers within a specific timeframe. However, based on historical data, we estimate that syndicated reviews will display at in-network retailers approximately 14-20 days after submission. For more information on syndication, refer to the Syndication article.When will my reviews appear on my website?
If your website’s ratings and reviews are powered by Bazaarvoice, approved reviews will typically appear on-site within 72-hours of submission. All reviews go through our moderation process to ensure authenticity before being published. For more information on our moderation process, refer to the Moderation article.Will the reviews display differently than other reviews on product detail pages?
In accordance with Bazaarvoice authenticity standards, we indicate the review was collected as part of a promotion. Reviews that come from the Bazaarvoice community will be badged as being written on Influenster.com.Does Bazaarvoice moderate reviews before publishing them?
As customers submit reviews, we moderate them to ensure they meet our authenticity standards, contain on-brand content, and don't violate any rules, such as containing profanity or pricing information. Once a review passes moderation, it syndicates to any corresponding retail product page in our network where there is a UPC match. If the review doesn't pass moderation, the review will not display in the campaign review content section of Vibe. If you have a Ratings & Reviews package with Bazaarvoice, you can view reviews that were rejected by moderation in the Manage Content section of Portal and see why the reviews were rejected.Can I share reviews between similar products (product variants)?
You can share reviews between product variants. A product variant is nearly identical to another product in terms of consumer experience, but it has a different SKU or part number. Common variants include color, size, package weight, and quantity per package. Please reach out to your Bazaarvoice project team via Support Community if you notice that reviews are not being shared between variants.Where can I see my campaign results?
You can monitor your campaign UGC content in Vibe.Step 5: Start your next campaign
How do I purchase more Sampling units?
Submit your next campaign request and a Bazaarvoice representative will assist in purchasing additional units based on the amount specified in your request.How many units should I purchase?
The number of units to purchase depends on your goal for the number of reviews you'd like to generate. We recommend purchasing 10-15% more units than the desired number of reviews to ensure sufficient coverage. For tailored guidance on the ideal quantity for your product, please reach out to your Bazaarvoice Account Director.Do my units expire?
Yes, units expire 12 months after purchase. You can find your contract expiration date in the Bazaarvoice Support Community or Vibe.What does “units remaining” mean?
A unit is available if you haven't offered it to the Sampling community. A unit is also considered available if it has been offered to the sampling community, but a member has not yet selected to sample it.