Facebook has been allowing users to rate businesses on a five-star scale since early 2012, but the ratings were not displayed prominently on business pages. In November 2013, Facebook put the ratings front and center on these pages, turning them into a crucial element of any business page’s Facebook presence.
Previously, marketers relied solely on Facebook “Likes” as a way to gauge interest and engagement with their business. Although the number of Likes a business has may indicate how present it is in the public’s consciousness, it does not necessarily convey how people generally feel about it. Allowing users to rate a Page out of five goes beyond a simple “Like” option, providing the opportunity to have informative commentary in the form of praise or complaints.
How Can Ratings and Reviews Help Improve Your Reputation?
Star ratings not only make it easier for people to discover great businesses, the feature also encourages more people to rate businesses on the social network. Genuine reviews are more likely to appear in the Facebook news feed where they can help further spread the word about a business and possibly attract more customers. For businesses themselves, the rating system allows for a better understanding of the needs and opinions of their clients.
Managing Negative Reviews
One key feature about these Facebook reviews is that they cannot simply be deleted or edited by the administrator of the page. If you don’t like a review that your business has received, you must appeal to Facebook to remove it, and then only in the case that it is spammy, abusive or violates Facebook’s terms of service. An honest negative review is therefore hard to get rid of.
In January 2104, Facebook gave Page admins the ability to respond to public reviews as the Page itself. This has created a lot of opportunity for consistent engagement among businesses and customers. For example, a business can respond quickly to negative reviews and resolve issues before they become major problems. Additionally, monitoring your ratings and responding to reviews (both negative and positive) will improve your overall reputation as a company that is dedicated to its clients and providing social customer service.
For more information about social media management and Facebook’s rating and review feature, including details on how to manage it, contact BlueHat for expert social media management services.
