Are you a new business owner looking to establish a presence on Facebook? One of the most important things you need to do is manage Facebook reviews.
Facebook is the leading social media platform on the internet, with almost 3 billion users who spend an average of 19.6 hours a month on Facebook.
With the most users spending the most time—and making the most social media purchases—on any networking site, Facebook is easily the number one social media platform for businesses to expand their reach and improve sales.
And one of the driving forces at the heart of any reputable business page on Facebook is customer reviews.
If you’re new to Facebook, everything you need to know about using Facebook reviews to build your online reputation is covered in this guide – from the importance of Facebook reviews to how to get reviews on Facebook.
What Are Facebook Reviews?
Facebook reviews, also called Facebook Recommendations, are online content posted by customers providing their opinions of a business, its products or services, and overall customer experience.
Reviews have the potential to boost consumer trust, making them the most important online resource for businesses small and large.
As much as 93% of consumers say online reviews have an impact on their purchase decision. This is where trust plays a big part, as customers read the reviews of other customers to decide whether or not a business will deliver on its promises.
Positive reviews are social proof, as a result, that businesses need to leverage to build a good online reputation.
And since Facebook is the leading social media platform and one of the most popular review sites on the internet, businesses need to get Facebook reviews.
What Is The Difference Between Reviews And Recommendations?
On any Facebook Business Page, under the “Reviews” tab, you’ll see “Recommendations and reviews”, which might make you wonder what the difference is.
Overall, there isn’t a big difference between Facebook reviews and Facebook Recommendations except for the way Facebook users interact on business pages and provide their reviews.
Facebook has not provided a statement about the change, but it’s apparent that Facebook wants to make reviews easier and more accessible to its users.
For that reason, Facebook users no longer need to provide a star rating – or even write a review. On all Facebook Business Pages, Facebook simply asks whether the customer recommends that business with a binary choice of “Yes” or “No”.
A business’s Facebook star rating, scored up to 5, is now generated by how many users recommend or don’t recommend the business.
The Importance Of Facebook Reviews
As mentioned, positive reviews build consumer trust. This trust and confidence can influence customers to interact with and use a business, which will increase sales as a result.
More specifically, however, Facebook reviews and Recommendations have benefits that are unique to the platform.
These include improving page visibility and the chance of being promoted in users’ News Feeds. And by earning a high business star rating on Facebook, your business will become more visible and clickable.
What’s also beneficial to businesses on Facebook is the user interaction Facebook reviews offer. They can be liked, commented on, and shared, which can not only boost engagement on your page, but help your business reach a wider audience.
Another advantage of Facebook reviews is that they may be displayed, with your business, in search engine results pages. This can encourage clicks, resulting in more traffic and page engagement.
How To Turn On Facebook Reviews
Facebook reviews can be enabled and disabled. This is important to know as when Facebook reviews are disabled your business won’t have a star rating displayed and it won’t be able to receive new Facebook reviews.
Businesses can disable reviews to stop new reviews from being posted when undergoing improvements or new business changes.
For any other reason, however, disabling Facebook reviews isn’t recommended.
Facebook reviews are turned on by default, but it’s worth checking by following these simple steps (if turned on, make sure not to change the setting):
- Log in to your Facebook Business Page
- Click on “Settings” (located at the top right-hand corner)
- Click on “Templates and Tabs” (located in the left-hand sidebar)
- Scroll down to “Show Reviews” (in the “Reviews” section) and click the toggle “On”
- Click “Save” to confirm the change
Can You Delete Facebook Reviews?
A negative Facebook review can leave you deflated – especially if you do everything you can to provide your customers with the best possible experience.
It can also leave you questioning whether it’s possible to remove the review.
Unfortunately, deleting Facebook reviews isn’t possible – even if it’s your Facebook Business Page. The person who creates the review owns it and is therefore the only person who can delete it.
It is possible to report Facebook reviews (to delete them), however, this should only be carried out if the review does not follow Facebook Community Standards – for example, qualifying as spam or misinformation.
It’s also worth mentioning that it’s not recommended to try to ask or persuade the customer to remove their review, as this can do more harm than good for your reputation.
Ultimately, the best way to deal with a negative Facebook review is to respond to the review.
How To Respond To Facebook Reviews
Businesses should aim to respond to their reviews – no matter whether the review is positive or negative. Replying to reviews shows appreciation and care, which can influence customers in different ways.
In fact, people spend around 49% more at businesses that respond to customer reviews while 7 out of 10 customers changed their opinion after a business replied to their review.
On Facebook, reviews and Recommendations appear as posts, so replying to reviews is as simple as commenting on the customer’s review using your business account.
Despite that, how your business responds to reviews will affect brand reputation, i.e. what customers think and feel about your business. This makes it vital to be professional and value the customer’s opinion no matter what.
If the review includes negative comments, it’s just as important to offer a solution (if applicable) or, at the least, the reassurance that your business has taken the customer’s comments on board to improve.
How To Get Facebook Reviews
To get Facebook reviews, you need to have a Facebook Business Page, needless to say. You also need to add your business information (phone number, address, etc.) and post content to make your Facebook page discoverable and authentic.
Once set up, your business will gradually receive Facebook reviews from customers it deals with.
This can be a slow process for most businesses as, unfortunately, collecting enough positive reviews to build an authoritative online reputation doesn’t happen overnight.
But this is what makes it essential for business owners to actively strive to get more reviews from customers. After all, reviews build trust and confidence, which helps to drive more business.
There are different ways to get more Facebook reviews from your customers (such as advertising and marketing your business to get more customers and therefore more reviews) but the most direct approach is requesting reviews.
How To Request Facebook Reviews
It might seem “forward” to ask for reviews from your customers, but the fact is it’s the most commonly used method to get more reviews. For businesses small and large, this typically involves sending review request emails.
Review request emails do not have to be detailed or formal. In fact, the most persuasive review requests are short, direct, and to the point, expressing why the customer’s feedback is valuable and where the customer should write a review.
Due to that, it’s essential to include a Facebook review link in all your review requests. If clicked, it will send the customer to the review section of your Facebook Business Page, making the process as quick and easy for them as possible.
Just remember that it’s not good practice to offer incentives and payments for reviews, or exclusively ask for positive feedback.
This also means that you’ll want to avoid asking exclusively for positive Facebook Recommendations, as Recommendations are positive reviews.
The Best Way To Get More Reviews On Facebook
Finally, it’s important to know that the best customer reviews—reviews that will have more of a positive impact on other customers—are genuine, detailed, and new.
In fact, 85% of consumers think reviews older than 3 months are no longer relevant.
This means it’s not just essential for businesses to get positive reviews, but to receive new online reviews on a regular basis.
The quickest, and most effective, way to achieve this is to automate review requests.
And it’s what ReputationStacker does best. Its streamlined, fully automated funnel won’t just increase Facebook Business reviews, but help your business get Google reviews, get Yelp reviews, and more.
Now that you know about Facebook reviews and the importance of reviews in general, all you need to do next is get more reviews using ReputationStacker.
