Facebook reviews — officially called Facebook Recommendations — on local business Pages can help you build your company’s online reputation, expand your search visibility, and attract more customers to your business locations.
According to research:
- Facebook holds 19% of all customer reviews. The social media platform also ranks fourth just behind Google, Yelp, and Tripadvisor on the list of review sites people check before visiting a business. (Online Reviews Statistics)
- 18.3% of U.S. adults made a purchase through Facebook in the last year. (eMarketer)
- 2 out of 3 Facebook users visit a local business Page at least once a week. (Hootsuite)
- 55% consider the social network as the most common place to learn about new brands and products. Meanwhile, 66% are likely to share their thoughts, experiences, and opinions on their purchases on Facebook. (Facebook Reputation Management guide)
One thing to note: If you haven’t done so already, we suggest taking the time to learn how to claim a Facebook business page.
Doing so ensures that you have an official place on Facebook where people can leave online reviews. For brands with multiple locations, we suggest you also check out our guide on how to manage multiple Facebook Pages with Facebook Business Manager.
What are Facebook Reviews / Recommendations?
For years, Facebook business Pages featured traditional online reviews and ratings. This changed in 2018, when the social network rolled out a series of visual changes and features that included “Facebook Recommendations.”
With the update, Facebook followed the trends set by Netflix and YouTube by ditching the 5-star rating system in favor of Yes/No options. Now, a query field appears on a business Page’s “Recommendations and Reviews” section with the question: “Do you recommend (business name)?”
Users can answer by pressing the “Yes” or “No” button and can add further context to their recommendations with tags, photos, and more text.
As a local business Page owner, you will no longer see any star-based reviews coming into your Page. Customers will rate your business simply by choosing whether or not they recommend it.
How Do I See Facebook Reviews and Recommendations?
If you’re wondering how to see reviews on your Facebook business Page, simply go to your Page and click the Recommendations or Reviews tab found under your profile picture. (If you’re using Facebook Business Manager, you can follow the same procedures for Pages to which you have access.)
If you previously enabled online reviews on your Page, Recommendations have been automatically turned on. To make it easier to find specific Recommendations, you can apply a “most helpful” or “most recent” filter to sort all your Recommendations and ratings.
Are Facebook Recommendations Public?
All Facebook reviews and Recommendations are publicly displayed on your Page’s Reviews or Recommendations tab. They cannot be set to private.
What Happened to My Ratings?
If your business managed to compile a fair amount of Facebook reviews with high rating scores before Recommendations were rolled out, don’t worry: your ratings did not go away.
They are still taken into account for your overall rating, which is also still displayed on your Page. As for how Facebook calculates this, it’s a mixture of reviews based on the past 5-star rating system and the current Yes / No Recommendations.
How to Set Up Facebook Reviews
By default, Facebook reviews are activated when you create a Page. If, for some reason, it isn’t available when the Page is created, you can turn it on manually via the Manage Page section on the left side of the screen. To turn on Facebook reviews:
- Go to your brand page.
- Click on the “Settings” button on the Manage Page section.
- A new window should appear. Click on the “Templates and Tabs” section.
- Toggle the “Reviews” option to ON.
To make it easier for people to leave unsolicited feedback, you should make sure that people see the Reviews section on your page. You can change the order of the sections in this area through the “Templates and Tabs” section in the Page’s settings. Drag the dotted icon next to the section name to change the order.
How Do I Respond to Facebook Reviews?
Facebook reviews and Recommendations appear like traditional posts in the Reviews section. This means you can respond to any review on a Page by commenting on it. You can also “like” or “love” a Recommendation.
Before you do so, make sure you’re responding using your brand’s Facebook account and not your personal profile.
Before typing a response, it’s important to learn how to respond to negative reviews as well as positive feedback.
According to research, 44.6% of consumers are more likely to visit a business if it responds to negative reviews. But don’t wait too long before typing out a response: 53.3% expect a response from a company within seven days.
The way your brand handles criticism or praise goes a long way towards brand success. Choosing the right words and taking feedback to heart can put your brand above the competition.
Can I Delete Facebook Reviews?
Currently, you can’t delete individual Facebook reviews and Recommendations from your page. If you don’t want reviews, the only option is to disable the entire feature. To do so:
- Go to the “Settings” section of the Manage Pages tab.
- Click on the “Templates and Tabs” button.
- Next to the “Reviews” section, toggle the switch from On to Off.
Turning this off might not be the best idea because it removes all reviews, including the positive reviews your brand might have accumulated throughout the years. In many ways, a page with reviews is better off than one without any reviews at all. That feedback serves as valuable social proof for consumers, and they’ll be quick to dismiss a brand if it doesn’t contain any consumer feedback.
If you believe a Facebook review contains spammy content or doesn’t meet the terms of use and content guidelines, you can send a report to Facebook.
What Companies Should Know About Facebook Recommendations
Recommendations and reviews are geared towards making your brand more discoverable and trustworthy on Facebook.
According to the social network, having great Recommendations “may make your Page easier to find in Facebook search” — similar to how Google reviews can impact your local SEO performance.
Recommendations are also useful for understanding the customer experience. The updated interface encourages your customers to provide richer, more detailed feedback about their experiences.
After users make the choice of recommending your business or not, they will be asked to provide additional details using tags, text, and photos. Selecting a tag will allow common themes to emerge, making it easier for potential customers to see your business’s highlights.
How To Get Facebook Reviews
Asking for reviews for your Facebook Page doesn’t have to be difficult (or awkward).
If you have your customers’ contact information, you can send personalized SMS messages or emails asking for their feedback. (Make sure you get their permission to send messages to them before doing so).
For those physically visiting your locations, you can give them physical reminders like cards or use stickers and posters in high-traffic areas to make customers aware of your Facebook page.
Based on our own research, the best time to start asking for reviews is around 2-3 p.m. or 6-7 p.m.
Regardless of when you ask for feedback, the important thing is to keep it short, sweet, and uncomplicated. Quickly tell people why you want their feedback and provide a short link that doesn’t require people to jump through multiple hoops before they can leave a Facebook review.
The Importance of Facebook Reviews
Facebook reviews, along with reviews on other business review sites, are important marketing assets for any brand. 92.4% of consumers use these reviews to guide their purchasing decisions. People need social proof to know if a product or service is worth the time, and more importantly, the investment.
On a popular site such as Facebook, reviews carry plenty of weight, and you need to use it to your advantage to improve the experience, attract more customers, and beat the competition.
