How to Capitalize on the 2018 Facebook Reviews Update

Jan 8
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3
min Read
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Reputation Management

As far as social media channels go, there has yet to be one with the same reputation and clout as Facebook. With over 2.27 billion active users signing in every month, Facebook is the largest social engagement channel in the world. It has successfully surpassed being simply a platform for updates as well. People now turn to Facebook for streaming, shopping, and everything in between. For businesses, the Star rating system was a great way to connect with consumers on a dynamic platform that offers all sorts of engagement opportunities.

In August of 2018, Facebook announced that it was updating the old Star rating systems for Facebook Business to a recommendation-powered page. According to the company, these changes were made to make it easier for businesses to engage and communicate directly with consumers, and to make it easier for consumers themselves to share details and information about local businesses and providers.

How is it different from the Star system?

While a star rating system is a pretty typical way to rank businesses and service providers, the new Facebook recommendation system adds an additional element of personalization and humanization to the process. Instead of just clicking a few buttons, Recommendations allows customers to give more context into their actual experience by making them:

  • Engaging: Today’s consumers want to read reviews like an actual person is making a recommendation. This means it’s more than just a 4-star rating. There are words describing what was good and what was bad, along with pictures showing the business both outside and in. Additionally, pre-generated tags help customers sort and organize reviews based on industry or service.
  • Authentic: Social media is a breeding ground of uncertainty and false information, which is why Facebook has made it so easy for businesses to monitor reviews and keep an authentic tone with prospective customers. Businesses can easily report a false or spam-generated recommendation and quickly get it removed to avoid any negative feedback.
  • Intuitive: When someone leaves a review for a friend or posts in a group, this review is automatically added to your business Recommendation page. These recommendations are simultaneously shown across Facebook when anyone searches for or mentions your business. The intuitive Facebook platform makes it easy for consumers to stay in touch with each other, as well as your business, no matter where they are in the world.

How to generate more Facebook recommendations

While the Star rating system may have gone out the window, a unique business score is still on the table. Now, every business’ Facebook page includes their business rating score, which is comprised of a few different factors – including the reviews and recommendations that are posted by customers. This means that it is possible to proactively increase your Facebook business rating by adding the social channel into your larger recommendation strategy.

If your team is leveraging an innovative text message review strategy, try sending your customers a link directly to your business’ Facebook page. This way, they will have direct access to the channel that you’re looking to increase reviews on.

If you’re not texting customers to generate reviews, it’s time to start. Texting consumers takes the guesswork out of customer reviews and puts the power in your consumers’ hands. Review requests that are sent via text are responded to more than 30x more than those that are sent by email. Customers appreciate the ease of simply clicking on a direct link from a text and filling out a review on the next page, instead of scrolling through an email or worse – typing in a URL after receiving a phone call.      

Corner social media recommendations with Kenect

The Kenect two-way texting platform makes it easy for your team to connect and engage with consumers via the Facebook platform. You can learn more by scheduling your free consultation today.

Get texting for your business