Facebook Business Pages are the main sales channel for businesses on Facebook. They are free and provide a number of marketing tools that can be used to communicate with customers and prospects.

You can edit your Business Page to include information about your business, pictures, videos, links to your website, and more.

The primary difference between a personal profile and a Page is that Pages are designed to represent businesses, organizations and brands. Anyone can create one, but it takes time and effort to build up your audience once you do.

In this article, we’ll go over how your local or small business can use Facebook advertising to grow your brand reach.

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What is Facebook advertising?

Facebook advertising is the best way for businesses to build a connection with their target audience. It allows them to tailor their message and display it directly to users who are likely to be in the market for that product or service. 

Facebook advertising has come a long way since it was first introduced, and these days there’s a lot more control over how the ads are displayed and how much money you’ll spend. 

There are also many different ways to track those results of Facebooks ads—from basic metrics including likes, shares, clicks, or comments, to more sophisticated measurements of direct sales, but also as a way to target future customers who are likely to make a purchase.

You can set up ads in Facebook’s Ad Manager—this is where you’ll create your ads and choose who they’re shown to. You can also set limits for how much you want to spend on each ad.

You can also set a budget for the lifetime of the ad, and it will continue to run for the duration of the time you set. For instance, if you put $1,000 towards Facebook ads for a month, the ads manager will divvy up your budget over the course of the month automatically (and you don’t have to check it every day).

The cost for a Facebook ad is relative to the overall amount of people who will see your advertisement. The more people there are who fit into your target demographic, the more expensive it will be. 

Facebook shows you a suggested bid, which is already set by them according to what they believe will be most effective for your campaign, but if you feel like this amount isn’t suitable, you can adjust your price.

Free Facebook Advertising by Optimizing Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

You can run Facebook ads for free if you maximize your return on ad spend (ROAS) on the platform. If you produce a greater return on your ads, then it covers the cost of the ad as a whole.

For example, let’s say your attributed cost on Facebook ads for a sale of a $200 service is $50. Then your ROAS is $200/$50 = 4. 

You can set a maximum CPA (cost per ad) figure. For example, it could be $40, but currently your ad spend of $40 is higher. 

In order to find you profitable ROAS, apply this formula:

Average order value / Maximum CPA

In this case, that would be $200/$40 = 5

This means your target ROAS should be 5 or higher, in order to cover your ad budget. As long as you hit that target, you’re virtually advertising for free on Facebook! 

Should businesses choose boosted posts or Facebook ads?

When a company wants to get more of its business seen by people who have already liked the page, they can choose between boosted posts and Facebook ads. 

A boosted post is a post that is made into an ad to cast a wider net, greater than those who would see the post organically on their newsfeed.

Source: HootSuite

A Facebook ad, on the other hand, is shown to everyone who falls into a particular category—a plumber might choose to advertise to everyone in a city with at least 500 people who are 18–34 years old and whose interests include housing or home renovation. 

Both options are great ways to get your message out there, but one might work better than the other depending on the goals of your business.

A boosted post would be right for a company that wants one of their high-performing posts to reach an even larger audience. A Facebook ad could be useful if a company wants to promote a particular product or service when there isn’t an existing post surrounding it already.

Tips for Small Businesses Using Facebook

Are you a local business wanting to drive the best value out of your Facebook page? Here are the tips to keep in mind.

1. Optimize your Facebook page.

Make sure your profile picture is professional and high-quality. You want to give customers an idea of what you do right when they first click on your page, so make sure the image stands out and leaves them wanting more!

Write a personalized bio that gives readers a good idea of who you are and what you care about as a business. In this section, you can also include any important information like your hours of operation or other locations where people can visit your business in person.

2. Respond to messages on Messenger.

For small business owners on social media, Facebook Messenger is a great way to chat with new customers who are interested in what you’re doing or have questions about how it works.

Responding to messages quickly is a key part of making your business seem trustworthy and reliable, so it’s a good idea to adopt a quick response policy for Facebook Messenger. 

Additionally, having a quick and automated response will help you save time that you can spend on other projects or messaging with customers and other people who are more likely to be interested in what you have to say. 

3. Use analytics to gauge the success of your campaigns.

Small businesses who want to make the most of their advertising dollars often turn to Facebook, but with a user base as large as Facebook has, it’s easy for companies to feel like they’re shouting into an empty room. 

The good news is that many of the same tools that help you monitor your company’s social media activity can also provide data on how effective your Facebook campaign is in generating sales leads and turning those leads into sales. 

In addition, Facebook offers a variety of analytical tools that will help you determine the best times to run your ads and gain a better understanding of how and why your Facebook ad campaign is performing the way it is. 

4. Know your target audience.

Understanding your target audience and potential customers is key to the success of any marketing strategy. Having an in-depth buyer persona built up can help you to understand the needs and wants of your customer base.

Source: AWeber

By using lead generation tactics that specifically cater to that demographic, you could share Facebook posts that are especially relevant to your custom audiences. 

This also helps drive the most value out of your ad campaign. 

5. Set your budget.

Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been at it for years, Facebook advertising is a great way to reach people who are interested in the services of your business. The only problem is that it’s a little bit tricky to figure out how to set up an ad that’ll get people clicking—and the more money you spend on ads, the more important it is to make sure you’re spending it wisely. You don’t want to end up with a bunch of clicks that don’t convert into customers!

As a local business, you might be able to get away with a lower budget than if you have a national brand. If you’re trying to reach a new audience, then you might need more money than if you’re trying to reach existing customers.

A good rule of thumb is to start small. Don’t throw too much money at it in the beginning. Remember that while Facebook ads can be cost-effective when done correctly, they can also be very expensive if done incorrectly. So start small and see how it goes.

6. Be more personable than promotional.

The last thing Facebook users that you’re targeting want to see is an overly sales-y and promotional post on their feed. The art of social media marketing is to have a “pull” effect, not “push” your services onto active users.

Make sure your ads are designed to drive engagement from new customers while effectively retargeting your existing base. 

7. Offer contests and giveaways.

Customers love a good promo, and this also applies to contests and giveaways. Be it giveaways for new products or perhaps an exclusive consultation for a house fixture like roofing, there’s so much potential for the kind of promos you can do on Facebook.

It’s all about nailing the placements and luring in the right kind of customers with the Facebook algorithm on your side. 

Source: Sandri Energy

Pro-tip: You can also link the offer to a landing page on your website with further details and contact information to encourage customers to reach out. 

8. Share relevant content from other sources.

You can go beyond sharing your own posts to bring in more engagement. Another way to get more mileage out of your social media posts is by curating content from other sources.

To take advantage of this fact, here’s a helpful tip: try sharing articles, videos and other content from other sites in your Facebook posts. This will make your followers think you’ve already done the research for them and will help them get to know you better.

This tactic can be especially effective for small businesses who can create a sense of familiarity and trust with their followers through these connections.

Use Signpost for digital marketing without the headache

Social media is a great way for small businesses to connect with new customers, but it can be time-consuming and confusing. It’s not uncommon for small business owners to spend hours a day maintaining their social media accounts, whether it be answering questions, responding to leads or messaging customers.

Signpost can make it easier for small businesses to market themselves on social media by automating parts of the digital marketing process too. Our messaging hub helps to centralize communications with potential leads onto one platform. With our SMS marketing and live chat services are also available to simplify your communication with customers.

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In fact, customers are willing to spend 31% more on businesses with excellent reviews and five-star ratings.

But what do you when your business receives negative feedback on a public forum frequented by your customers, both old customers and potential buyers?

Believe it or not, feedback removal is an option for your business.

This article uncovers how your business can ask its customers to remove or update negative feedback, so your positive reviews become the main focus on review platforms again.

How to Ask a Customer to Remove a Negative Review or Negative Feedback

Did you know that four out of five consumers change their mind about buying a product or using a service after reading a negative review about it? This is a game-changing statistic for both big and small businesses. Negative reviews can drive a lot of change in customer interactions—and not necessarily the good kind. 

Negative online reviews can not only hurt you financially through the form of reduced sales; they can also cause tension or stress in having to deal with a dissatisfied, sometimes even unpleasant, customer. 

How can your business minimize the damage done by negative or even neutral feedback left on online review sites?

The answer is simple: The best thing your business can do is directly (and politely) ask the customer to remove or update their feedback.

Contact your unhappy customer and be personable. Use their first name and apologize as necessary. You might ask them what went wrong and why they were so dissatisfied with the service provided. Collect insight into their poor customer experience, empathize, and make them feel heard.

Your business’s diligence and extra step to right a wrong may change the customer’s opinion and review. Take advantage of the customers that are willing to engage with you. Assure them that it won’t happen again and politely ask them to update their negative feedback after doing so. Or, your business might “re-do” or provide another (perhaps free of charge or discounted) service that will encourage the customer to update their negative review to a positive one.

Pro-tip: Never make your customers feel pressured to change their reviews or remove feedback. Make sure the tone is friendly and not coercive. Customers should not feel incentivized or threatened to change their reviews.

Depending on the review platform, the strategy and approach your business chooses to take may differ. Keep reading to explore examples of bad customer experiences and how your business can request removal of their negative feedback across these popular platforms: 

• On Facebook

• On Google

• On Yelp

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Requesting Negative Feedback Removal on Facebook

Facebook has one of the largest online communities and is one of the most popular social networks for consumers and business owners to leverage. A negative review on Facebook can spread quickly and damage your business’s reputation if not appropriately addressed or contained.

Imagine a scenario in which a customer has a terrible experience with one of your business’s employees. The customer then posts about his or her bad experience on your business’s Facebook Business Page. This customer also happens to have hundreds of friends who might see this activity.

Here’s how your business can go about phrasing the communication with them: 

Dear (Customer Name),

We are sorry to hear about your negative experience with our employee. We have taken the necessary action with (him/her) and will ensure this incident does not repeat itself. 

We would like to do everything we can to make this right for you.

We remain committed to our customers and your satisfaction. Please contact us at your earliest convenience so we can find a solution that makes you happy. You can reach us by phone (business phone number) or contact us via email at (business email address).

Following the conflict’s resolution, you can follow up with: 

Hello, (Customer Name),

Thank you so much for being patient with us. We appreciate your feedback and are grateful for your continued business and the opportunity to fix our mistake. Your time is valuable to us, and we would be grateful if you would please consider updating your feedback on our Facebook Page. 

(Insert link) 

Thank you so much, and please contact us any time if you have any questions.

Requesting Negative Feedback Removal on Google

Google is the go-to platform for many consumers who want to find a business and learn more about it. For many, Google is often the first point of research when learning about a business’s location, hours of operation, product pages, pricing, and even if a business accepts specific credit cards.

Needless to say, businesses must manage their online reviews on Google appropriately to ensure their business is being represented positively and accurately.

Imagine a situation where a customer Googles your business in hopes of finding the address and making a visit. (In fact, 86% of customers look up the location of a business online via Google.)

Now imagine how frustrated the customer would be if they found out the Google Maps location is inaccurate or if your business’s hours of operation were listed incorrectly.

(The first thing your business should do is update the information on its Google My Business page.) Right after that, your business should contact the customer who left a bad review because of this silly yet costly business mistake.

Here’s how you can word the email: 

Hi, (Customer Name),

We would like to offer our sincerest apologies for the inaccurate information displayed about (company name) on the Google listing. We have updated the information now and will ensure this does not repeat itself. Our customers’ happiness is our top priority. 

As a gesture of goodwill, we would like to offer you a small discount on your next service. Please contact us at your earliest convenience. We can be reached by phone (business phone number), or you can email us at (business email address).

We look forward to hearing from you!

And as always, don’t forget to follow up with an email kindly requesting them to update their review afterward! That message may look a little something like this: 

Dear (Customer Name), 

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to resolve this issue! We want to again apologize for any inconvenience our mistake might have caused. Your review is really valuable to our business, and we would be grateful if you can please consider updating the review to reflect your most recent experience with our business.

Thank you.

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Requesting Negative Feedback Removal on Yelp

Yelp is an online review platform for businesses, both big and small, in all industries. Initially started as an online review platform for restaurants, Yelp has expanded to all industries and transformed the way consumers engage with any business. 

A negative Yelp review scares many business owners. When your business receives a one-star Yelp review and some scathing comments, you have two options to remove them.

The first option only works if the negative review is falsified or from a fake account. If your business determines the negative feedback is false or misleading, the next step is to flag/report the review and allow Yelp to step in. Click on the drop-down menu in the top right corner of the review you want to flag, and click “Report Review”. 

Yelp will determine if the review violates its guidelines and terms of service and may remove the review if so.

If the review is honest but still negative, your business’s second option is to address the customer’s issue and politely request removal or an update.

For example, let’s imagine a customer left a negative rating and feedback criticizing the quality of your business’s service. The customer felt that the service was too slow, disorganized, and felt unheard or taken advantage of.

Here’s a sample template your business might use to address the issue and get the negative online review either deleted or updated to a positive one: 

Dear (Customer Name),

We are terribly sorry to know you are unsatisfied with our services. Your experience and satisfaction are a top priority for us, and we’d like to take this opportunity to correct the situation by offering a full refund or replacement. 

At (company name), we will stop at nothing to make our customers happy. Let us know how we can do that for you. Please contact us at your soonest convenience by calling us (business phone number) or sending us an email at (business email address).

Hope to hear from you soon,

(Your full name)

(Your designation)

(Your company name)

After your customer replies and the situation is resolved, consider following up with: 

Dear (Customer Name),

We hope we met your expectations on resolving the issue surrounding your recent experience.

Your feedback is extremely valuable to our business. If you feel your concerns were adequately addressed, we kindly ask you to consider updating the negative review here: 

(Insert link)

Thank you very much for your confidence in us.

Can Negative Feedback Ever be… Positive?

Negative reviews don’t always mean it’s the end of the world. Ecommerce businesses (those often found on Amazon or eBay) feel similar effects of negative reviews that service-oriented businesses do. Even eBay or Amazon sellers can benefit from the advice offered here. Amazon feedback and product reviews affect buyers’ decision to purchase that product the same way a negative review left on Yelp or Facebook might discourage a customer from patronizing a business.

By mastering how to respond to negative reviews and managing your online reputation in such scenarios, any business will start to see the positive takeaways from the experience.

Here are a few: 

• Addresses the glaring issues of the company that might have otherwise gone unnoticed. Customers often have a keen eye for your business’s weaknesses that you are not aware of. Negative reviews expose or identify a blind spot in your business. This may help your business bridge the gap between you and your customers to avoid the same issue in the future.

• Creates a stronger team by working on concerns together. Through negative reviews and your business’s response to them, you can strengthen team spirit and your collaborative culture. 

• Uses the opportunity to salvage relationships with customers instead of just losing them. When a business or company completely ignores a customer’s negative review, the customer might feel discouraged to ever come back. Ensuring your business’s customer support team handles these reviews in a timely and polite manner can not only turn negative reviews around, but it can also salvage or retain that customer. Keep in mind that business and/or seller feedback is just as important.

• Maintains the reputation of your management team. A professional response to a negative review shows your customers that your business cares for them and that senior management listens.

Let Signpost Help Your Business with Online Reputation Management

Online reputation management can be a tricky business. If your business doesn’t have an around-the-clock feedback manager, addressing online reviews can become overwhelming and stressful. 

Signpost is here to help your business throughout the process, transform your negative feedback into positive feedback, and amplify your business’s glowing star reviews. 

Our review management service can help make the best of the worst by identifying negative reviews and helping your business respond to them. Get started with us today!

You’ve handled your negative feedback. Now what?

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Did you know that Facebook hosts over 80 million small businesses globally that have their own Business Page? They’re right to do it! Bridging the gap between a small business and its online audience, Business Pages bring many benefits to owners and managers that leverage it as part of their digital marketing toolkit.

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However, as a local business grows and evolves, it may face the need for a name change due to rebranding or a myriad of other reasons. To reflect this development, small businesses need to update their Facebook Business Page name and provide customers with the latest relevant information. Keep reading to understand the scenarios where this may become possible, and learn how to change your Page’s name.

Reasons You Might Need to Change Business Page Name

A name defines the brand. It’s the first thing that your customers hear of your business, and it’s the tag that will forever be attached to your online and real-world identity. That’s why it’s essential to make sure that you’ve chosen the right one and reflect this accurately on your Page. However, there are specific scenarios when a name change may be in order. Here’s a few reasons why you might need to change your Business Page name.

Brand Consistency

Perhaps you updated your company website and changed the name on there. It would be a big mistake to let this update slip on your social media accounts. Ensure the brand name remains consistent throughout all your platforms and update it on your Business Page, too. 

Eliminate Confusion Among Customers

You risk losing customers who can’t find you on the Internet because of a mismatch in your business name. For example, maybe your Instagram account is more popular, and on there, your business goes by a different name. This could differ from your business name and the one displayed on your Page. 

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Suppose you’re looking to cross-promote your brand on multiple channels, or even attract your Instagram following to your Facebook Business Page. This could confuse your customers, who may misunderstand it as a different business entirely.

Typos and Errors

Perhaps you created the Page, but accidentally made a typo or spelling mistake so now it’s time to remedy that. That’s right; sometimes, it can be that simple a reason. 

A Significant Rebrand 

Is your business taking on a whole new look and heading in a totally different direction? Maybe your business is aiming to target a new customer market and wish to rebrand entirely to reflect this strategy. 

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In cases such as these, a business would have to revamp its social media presence, update logos, and sometimes adopt a new company name. 

How to Change Your Facebook Business Page Name

Now that we’ve covered some of the reasons why you might be looking to change your Business Page name, let’s take a look at the six simple steps to actually do so. 

• Step 1: Log in to Facebook

• Step 2: Make Sure You’re an Admin

• Step 3: Find Your Business Page

• Step 4: Edit Page Info/Edit Name

• Step 5: Review Changes/New Name

• Step 6: Submit Request and Wait for Approval

Step 1: Log in to Facebook

The first thing you have to do is log in to the personal profile associated with your Facebook Business Page account, that is, your personal Facebook account. To do this, head over to www.facebook.com and simply log in!

Step 2: Make Sure You’re an Admin

To edit the information related to the Business Page, you must have the right Page role as an admin. In case you have not logged in with the personal profile associated to the business profile or been added as an admin before, you will face a block. 

To make sure you’re an admin, ask an existing Page admin to change permissions so you can continue. This may be the marketing manager in your small business or the social media strategist. Once they’ve added you as an admin, you can proceed with the next step.

Step 3: Find Your Business Page

Once you log in, check the right-hand side of your screen, and you’ll see a section called “Your Pages.” Find the name of your Page and click it. This will redirect you to your Page URL.

Step 4: Edit Page Info/New Name

It’s now time to assign that new Page name! Once you’re on the Page, click the “About” tab. This is usually the second tab, right after the “Home” tab. Then, click “Edit Page Info”. 

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A pop-up box will appear, providing you the option to update your new Facebook Page name. Erase the current name and update it with the new name as desired.

Step 5: Review Changes/New Name

Double-check that you’ve entered the right name of your business and did not make any typos or errors. You want to take your time with this step, as it’s unwise to constantly update your Facebook Business Page name more than necessary. Make sure there are no typos or unnecessary spaces. Cross-reference it to the name that appears on all your other platforms and websites. 

Step 6: Submit Request and Wait for Approval

Review your request carefully and then submit it. According to Facebook’s guidelines, you must wait for the approval to come through from the Facebook team, so the name change will be not immediate. Some users might think the name change didn’t work, but really, it’s just waiting to be approved.

Reasons Your Name Change Didn’t Work

Although rare, there are some cases in which Facebook may not approve a name change. This can happen for several reasons. 

• If the Page violates Facebook’s terms and conditions: You want to make sure the name change is in line with Facebook’s terms of service and doesn’t violate any policy. Keep the name clean and professional. 

• If the name was recently changed: Name change requests that are too close together can be denied. 

• If you have limits on your Page: Depending on your Page’s size, there may be higher approval required from the Facebook team. For example, a change in the name for a Page with a million likes will face more scrutiny than one with a hundred.

Things to Keep in Mind When Changing Your Business Page Name

Changes to your Facebook Page name should be strategic. You should exercise the same caution you do when creating a new Page with any significant changes you make to it later, and approach this with the best practices.

Keep the following tips in mind when you update the name: 

• Make sure not to include “Facebook” or any variations of it in the name.

• Do not use any offensive, violating, or discriminatory words in the new name.

• Do not use character symbols or strange capitalization.

• Make sure the name fits the brand identity and is consistent throughout all platforms.

Conclusion

Your Facebook Business Page reflects your brand to your customers. If you haven’t got the perfect name to reflect your business’s most authentic presence on the platform, it’s time to update it. But it’s important to keep in mind that an attractive name can only get you so far. Managing your Page effectively goes above and beyond just the pretty layout, consistent posts, and graphics. 

Signpost can help you bring out the best version of your business on Facebook through our review management service. 

Get started on building your business’s Facebook success, with the right name and in the right way.

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Facebook is a wonderful way for local businesses to build relationships with their customers. It can be used as an extension to your location by offering online selling options. You can also use it to establish your digital footprint and brand image through a smart content marketing strategy. Either way, a Facebook Business Page is integral to a business’s marketing strategy and overall growth.

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It is an excellent way for businesses to gain access to more people and get them to learn about your company offerings. You can choose to utilize a Business Page as a way to sell your service or product, as an extension of your customer service, or as a way to just distribute some relevant content. Whatever the use, a Facebook Business Page can play a valuable role in your business’s overall social media marketing strategy!

In this article, we’ll uncover the differences between Business Page and personal profiles, the specific features of each, and how you, as a local business, can get started on setting up your Page. 

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Business Pages vs. Personal Facebook Profiles

Since its inception, Facebook has dominated the social media world. In 2018, it was the leading social platform, reaching 60.6% of Internet users. It continues to be an excellent way for people to connect with their friends and stay updated on what’s happening with their social circles.

Additionally, it’s also become an excellent platform for businesses to showcase their offerings. Herein lies the difference between a Facebook Page and a profile, with the former catering to a particular commercial or promotional purpose, whereas the latter is for social purposes.

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Personal Profiles

A personal account is your gateway to your digital social life via the Facebook platform. It’s where individuals can provide friends with status updates, share photos, and provide more details about who they are as a person. Personal profiles work on the concept of ‘friends’ and have a limit of 5,000 friends. It can only be managed by one person—the individual. 

The pros of a personal profile?

• Share personal updates on the go with your friends and family.

• Follow other persons and entities of interest to stay updated. 

• Share photos, albums, and videos. 

• Stay connected with your social circles online and reconnect with old friends.

Business Pages

Business Pages, on the other hand, are used to grow a brand’s digital presence on the platform. Pages offer tools to business owners that will help them connect with their target audience and interact easily with customers.

Pages don’t have the ‘friends’ concept but operate based on ‘likes.’ Which means they cannot receive friend requests. There is no limit on the number of likes they can receive and, unlike personal profiles, they are made public by default. More than one person can also manage business Pages through the multiple admin function.

The pros of a Business Page?

• Supports online operations for your business. 

• Connect with a broader audience and demographic. 

• Leverage handy tools to grow Facebook ads and reach. 

• Great support for businesses.

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Can I Create a Facebook Business Page Without a Personal Account?

If you already have a personal profile on Facebook, you can easily set up any Page, be it a personal page or a business profile. But what if you don’t? Do you need one to get started?

The answer is: Yes. All Business Pages are connected to a personal profile. 

While this may seem like work, there’s a reason why over 90 million small businesses leverage Facebook as a social media platform for their marketing. 

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Operating a Business Page provides several benefits, including the following:

• Access to data: Personal profiles don’t provide insights into the type of demographic reached or engagement stats. You can gain essential business insights into stats you would otherwise not have access to.

• Direct engagements with customers: Through a Business Page, you can run giveaways and contests, offers, and gain access to advertising. Profile pages have limited professional options and limit your reach. 

• Build your business: Creating a Business Page is a great way to expand your online presence, regardless if you’re a big or a small business. 

Converting Your Personal Account into a Business Page

Step 1: Create a Personal Facebook Account 

First and foremost, you have to create your personal Facebook profile. This is quick and easy. Head over to www.facebook.com and click “Create New Account” to get started.

Fill in all the necessary details and complete the sign-up process.

Step 2: Set Up Your Privacy and Security Settings

After you’ve set up your personal account, the first thing you should do is configure your privacy settings. If you wish to retain full focus only on your Business Page and keep your personal profile under the radar, you can make your profile fully private and unsearchable. 

To do this, head to the Privacy Settings and Tools section of your profile settings.

Click “Edit” next to the following sections and update to “Only Me” as the option:

• Who can see your future posts?

• Who can see your friends list?

• Who can look you up using the email address you provided?

Also, click “Edit” for “Do you want search engines outside of Facebook to link to your profile?” and make the necessary changes if you so wish.

Step 3: Create a Business Page

Log into Facebook, and from the top right-hand corner, click the + button. This will show your “Create” drop-down menu.

Click on “Page” to create your new Business Page. 

Step 4: Choose a Category 

Depending on your organization type, choose the most relevant category for your Page.

Fill in other relevant details like your Page/business name and a short, catchy description of what your business does (think of it as the “About Me” section).

Click “Create Page,” and you will be taken to another page where you can fill out the remaining details, including: 

• Your business address

• Phone number 

• Profile picture

• Cover photo 

• Page @Username 

Step 5: Build Your Online Presence! 

That’s it! You can now start posting, sprucing up your Page with more photos and information, attracting potential customers through Facebook. 

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Things to Keep in Mind When Creating a Business Page

As your business starts engaging more with customers through its Business account, here are a couple of best practices to keep top-of-mind: 

• Make your Page name simple and easy to find. Your business wants to be memorable and easy to access to your customers. A bunch of character symbols or strange capitalization will make it extremely difficult for your customers to find you. And be sure to remain within Facebook’s policies.

• Choose the right category. Make sure every descriptor of your business is accurate to a T. 

• Narrow and nail the perfect Call to Action. Are you looking to sell? Do you want your Page to act as a content promoter for your business blog? Do you want to showcase your reviews? Make sure the CTA is aligned with your business’s goal. Without a clearly defined CTA, your Business Page can lose focus and, in turn, lose potential leads.

Make your Page profile and cover photo appropriate and on-brand. Get your hands on a professional and beautiful photo that perfectly encapsulates your company and brand. You can use photos of your storefront, your team, or perhaps a design that a graphic designer made especially for your business.

Conclusion

Whether you’re looking to chat with your customers, out-compete other local businesses, or build your brand awareness, running a Business Facebook Page is a great way to get started. 

So, what are you waiting for?

Create your Facebook Business Page today, and watch the fruits of your labor start paying off over the long run. And when you’re ready to take the next step and start managing your Facebook reviews, we’ll be here to help you every step of the way!

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Did you know that positive reviews will encourage up to 68% of consumers to use a local business?

It’s not enough to nail your review request and lead generation strategy. It’s also essential that you learn how to respond to positive and negative reviews to maximize the benefit of receiving such glowing customer feedback.

When replying to reviews, time is of the essence! As a business owner, you must promptly respond to the happy customer with a tone that conveys your brand identity and encourages them to do business with you again through a carefully crafted call-to-action.

Ready to seize the opportunity and capitalize on those positive social reviews?

Let’s get started.

Steps to Respond to Positive Reviews

What do you do when a customer pays you a compliment for your product or service in person? Of course, your natural response will be to say, “Thank you!” The same applies to online reviews.

Whether the review is on Yelp, Google My Business, or Facebook, responding personally to a happy customer’s review is a great area where you can control your online reputation.

Here’s how you can create that positive review response and multiply the perks of that good review you received:

1. Respond Quickly

2. Use the Customer’s Name

3. Thank the Customer

4. Encourage Them to Share Their Experience

5. Invite Future Business

Step 1: Respond Quickly

Think about the timing of the review you just received in relation to the customer that submitted it. 

A majority of the time, reviews are left immediately after a purchase or service has been completed. Your brand and business will be fresh on your customer’s mind, and he or she may choose to give you positive feedback during this time. 

You should adopt a similar practice when it comes to providing replies to reviews. Your customers’ opinions and feedback are valuable to you, and it’s time you show them that. Letting a 5-star review sit with zero engagement or replies from your side will make your customer think their review was of minor importance to you. 

Aim to respond to reviews within one to two days of receiving them. The faster, the better. 

You want your customer to feel appreciated and valued. If you want your business to remain top-of-mind for your customers, then you must extend the same courtesy and reply promptly. 

Step 2: Use the Customer’s Name

The last thing you want to do after providing a stellar customer experience is to make your customer feel unimportant. That can sometimes even change their positive experience to a negative experience.

Shooting your customers a generic, impersonal reply is not a good way to turn that reviewer into a lasting brand advocate.

Remember: Your customer is a real person; he or she has taken the time to share a positive experience. Make sure you respond in a way that views them as individuals and not “just another customer.”

One of the simplest and most effective ways to do this is by addressing him or her by name in your response. Yes, that works!

Responding, “Mary, thank you for the positive feedback! We’re delighted to hear you enjoyed our service,” can go a long way. 

Pro-tip: You can take it one step further and drop in a personal comment that tells your customer you remember their business and specific experience. Check out this Yelp review that accomplishes this below.

Don’t sugarcoat them or be too “extra” in your response, but make it a point to show your customers that you’ve read the review and not just skimmed through it.  

LEARN HOW TO WIN THEIR TRUST

Download our free guide to discover the best ways to build credibility for your business so your customers will trust you!

Step 3: Thank the Customer

After constructing a personalized intro to the review response, it’s time to thank the reviewer for the kind words. 

Customers are not obligated to leave a good review, but the ones that do can boost your local SEO and online reputation by way of social proof. 

Thanking the customer is the first thing you should do in your review response. You want to show them that their feedback is invaluable to your business. 

This can sometimes lead to additional reviews from other loyal customers or others who also want to provide positive feedback and help your local business grow. Replying to a positive review and thanking them can create this additional opportunity without your knowledge. 

Sample Template

Here’s a sample template of how you can thank your customer. Feel free to customize it and make it more relevant for your use: 

Hi [CUSTOMER NAME], thank you for taking the time to leave us such a fantastic review! We’re happy to hear that you loved doing business with us. Your satisfaction is our priority, and as affirmed by your review, we pride ourselves on our exceptional service. Thank you again for your feedback, and we look forward to seeing you again!

Step 4: Encourage Them to Share Their Experience

Responding to customer reviews is not just about making the customer happy and feel acknowledged. It’s also an opportunity for you to maximize the social proof you are receiving and build your company name and local brand.

If a customer has gone out of the way to write you a lovely review, he or she might be more likely to share this review on other platforms and review sites, as well as with friends and family. Incorporating this CTA into your response in a seamless fashion can lead to a two-fold impact of that one positive review, leading to future customers searching Google with your business name! 

Depending on your goals, you could ask reviewers to share their feedback on social media platforms or simply by word-of-mouth. But remember to make this request in a way that is not too “sales-y.” Make it a natural request. 

Example of text to add to your review reply

Would you mind spreading the good word about our business and sharing our services with your friends? We would love nothing more than to help other homeowners in our local community. Thank you!

Pro-tip: Don’t make your customers do all the work. If you’re asking them to share, you should be, too! Share the positive online review on your social handles, whether through a retweet on Twitter or a story update on Facebook.

Your existing followers on the platform will see the great review and may even choose to engage with it by sharing it themselves or write their own. Or, they may be reminded of your business and come back! 

You can even add a positive review as a testimonial on your website, attracting more visitors and customers to your business.

There is no harm in sharing good publicity across multiple platforms. After all, isn’t that what social media is for?

Step 5: Invite Future Business

The final step is to view your reply as a lead generation opportunity.

Inviting happy customers to do more business with you in the future has the impact of: 

• Leading them back to your sales funnel and generating repeat sales offline

• Showing potential customers that your business values customer loyalty

• Muting the effect of bad reviews containing negative feedback

Of course, you don’t want to discount the gratitude you have for your customers. That should still be the primary goal. 

To avoid this, make sure you craft the invitation in a casual but smart way. An excellent way to invite more business is by recommending another product or service you think this specific customer might like. By doing so, you are still keeping the focus on your customers and their satisfaction. 

Sample Template

You can do this by including the following review response template in your reply: 

We’re so glad to hear you loved the experience! Since you enjoyed [SERVICE], we recommend you schedule a follow-up with us in [TIME PERIOD]. We’re happy to help you again, whenever you need us!

Managing Reviews Made Easy

Responding to reviews, both positive and negative, is crucial. By responding personally to each positive review you receive, you take your business’s online reputation to a higher level and gain some valuable social backing. 

However, if you have a large influx of reviews, it can be hard to review and manage all of them on time. This is where we can help.

Signpost’s online review management software can help optimize your review process and get the best out of every positive review you receive. 

You know how to respond to positive reviews. Now what?

Learn how to build your customers’ trust with our free guide! Remember, they won’t buy from you if they don’t trust you.

With almost 2.5 billion users on the platform, Facebook is one of the most useful networks for local businesses to grow their customer base and get their brand name out there. In fact, among active Facebook users in the US, 74% visit the site (or use the app) every day.

This presents a goldmine of opportunity for small and growing businesses, especially in the form of customer reviews on your business’s Facebook page. 

Online reviews authenticate and provide more credibility to your business. Today’s consumers  trust online reviews just as much as they trust personal recommendations from friends or family members. By doing their research on other customers’ experiences with your business, prospective customers are more confident when deciding whether they want to purchase from your business. 

Not only is Facebook the most popular social media platform today, but it can also influence our preferences.

How do reviews on Facebook impact consumer decision-making?

According to social media reviews statistics, Facebook influences more than half of buyers’ purchase decisions.

One of the best decisions you can make for your business’s online reputation management strategy is improving your overall ratings and by getting 5-star reviews on these platforms. If you haven’t already, a good place to get started is by generating a Facebook review link and inviting customers to write a review. 

Read on to find out just how to do that (it’s easier than it sounds!).

WANT MORE FACEBOOK REVIEWS?

Download our free guide to discover the best ways to get more reviews for your Facebook profile, fast!

Steps to Create a Facebook Review Link

Unlike Google’s business listing and review platform, Google My Business (GMB), Facebook’s isn’t too straightforward where review links are concerned.

For example, most users will encounter an issue if they aren’t logged in and click on the review link. They will be directed to your Facebook Business Page, yes, but not the Reviews section. Instead, Facebook will ask them to log in first. 

After doing so, one of two things may happen.

• If users log in through the normal method, that is, by using the top-right login as pictured below in #1, this will redirect them to their Facebook feed where they can view status updates by friends and their connections. This will disconnect them from your page entirely, defeating the purpose of the link.

   

• Using the “Log In” option at the bottom of the page, indicated by #2, will successfully redirect them to your page. But there’s a catch! It won’t take them to the reviews tab. 

If you’re getting worried that this process sounds complicated on Facebook, don’t be! There are several third-party tools such as link generators you can find through a simple Google search that will help you create a direct review link.

Otherwise, you can learn how to build that link yourself. Knowing how to construct these links on your own can prove useful, especially if you decide to grow your business and expand into different brands/multiple groups of businesses in the long run. 

Follow these three simple steps to build your own Facebook review link from your business page: 

Step #1

Building a link is easy. All you have to do is put yourself in your customer’s shoes and follow their journey to your review page. 

The first thing you want is for your customer to log in through the homepage. After all, without logging in, your customer won’t be able to submit any reviews for your Business page. 

The URL for the login page is: https://www.facebook.com/login/ 

Step #2

Remember the challenge we discussed before, when your customer is redirected to their feed after logging in? To avoid that, Facebook has a neat little sequential system in place within their URLs. 

You want Facebook to believe that after logging in, something else comes “next.” And what should that be? Redirecting to your page is the answer.

The URL we’re building to generate your direct link grows to include this: https://www.facebook.com/login/?next= 

Step #3

You might be thinking, “Hey, that’s pretty straightforward. I’ll just add in my Facebook Reviews page URL at the end, and we’re good to go!” 

And while your logic is perfect, Facebook won’t accept this. 

So, for example, if we’re linking to the reviews page of the local plumbing business pictured before, it shouldn’t look like this: https://www.facebook.com/login/?next=https://www.facebook.com/Overtime-Plumbing-109021667453537/reviews/ 

That, unfortunately, won’t work. 

The special characters introduced after the “next” component in the URL must be in their corresponding HTML format. Doesn’t make sense? That’s alright. 

They would have to look like this: 

https://www.facebook.com/login/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FOvertime-Plumbing-109021667453537%2Freviews%2F

Do you see a pattern here? The colon and forward slash (i.e., “special characters”) have corresponding codes that you would have to replace them with to make the link work. 

There you go. That’s how you build your own Facebook Review links!

Resources To Get More Facebook Reviews

Now that you’ve generated your Facebook review link for your business account, how can you put it to good use?

As obvious as it sounds, the best thing you can do is ask your customers directly to write a Facebook review. There are several creative ways you can go about making this request. 

Keep reading to find a strategy that works for you best to make the process easier.

Create a Review Request Email Campaign

Email marketing continues to be a successful tactic used by many businesses to maintain and boost customer relationships. One way you can leverage this form of communication with your customers is by following up on the sale of a product/service provided with post-sale emails. 

Creating Facebook review email templates will be an effective way to generate more feedback on the platform. If you keep these templates handy, you can shoot out an email to the concerned customer at your earliest convenience. 

Of course, depending on the kind of business you operate, the language and syntax of the review template may vary. However, it never hurts to keep one ready!

Promote the review link on social media

Keep the link handy because you never know when you may need it. For example, you may be conversing with a customer over text, Facebook Messenger or even on WhatsApp. Gauge their tone and level of enthusiasm throughout the conversation, and if you feel a positive vibe from their end, make sure to drop in that direct review link before you end your conversation.

Remember – business reviews don’t always have to be centered around your product or service itself. Sometimes, happy customers may want to give glowing feedback on the quality of your customer service!

Embed Facebook reviews widgets on your website 

Showcasing positive reviews you’ve gained on Facebook through a widget on your website acts as social proof. Prospects and customers scanning your website will be tempted to read more. They may even redirect to Facebook to see if anyone within their mutual circles has reviewed/rated/used your products or services. 

This will also make it easy for your website’s visitors to find your business on Facebook directly without searching for your business name. 

Promote your business on Facebook

Likes, comments, and shares: make them your goal. The more visibility your business gains on Facebook, the more chances of attracting additional customers and down the line, growing your reviews. 

Check out these additional resource articles to get started:

• Turn on Facebook reviews by enabling them on your Facebook Business  page

• Ask your customers to check-in on Facebook through the Location option when they visit your business 

• Share Google reviews you’ve received to your Facebook audience

Conclusion

Growing your business’s online reputation is no easy feat, but with time, dedication, and the right strategies, you can build more credibility in your brand in your local market. 

Signpost’s review management service can help you along this journey, easing your manual work by automating review management tasks and smoothly integrating this practice into your online business processes. 

After all, when growing those reviews on any social platform, you can use expert help to achieve your goals faster and more sustainably.

You learned how to use a Facebook Review Link. Now what?

Discover the best ways to get more reviews for your Facebook profile, fast!

This is why it is essential for businesses, big and small, to grow their authenticity and credibility online. Sharing positive reviews of excellent customer testimonials is one way to prove your business worth to new customers. 

Google continues to be the strongest search engine globally and a platform for small businesses to boost their local SEO and amass more customers. Did you know that 46% of searches on Google are in relation to local businesses? 80% of these searches convert, providing a very real and monetary opportunity for small businesses to capitalize on.

One such way to do this is by sharing your Google reviews on other social media platforms or networks to boost your visibility. Facebook is a great target for this, with over 3.14 billion people on the infamous networking site. 

Keep reading to find out how you can get started showcasing your star ratings and reviews on Facebook. It’s easier than it sounds!

Steps To Share Your Google Review On Facebook

You’ve just finished business with a customer, and they’ve left you one of the best reviews you’ve received on your Google My Business listing. Congratulations! Pat yourself on the back because you’ve earned it.

Now, what do you do? Do you toss this accomplishment under the rug and move onto your next business pursuit? You could, but you’d be doing yourself a bigger favor if you lingered on that positive review a little longer. 

Every amazing review you receive is free publicity to boost your brand name and generate more leads for your business. One of the greatest tricks in the trade you can pull to capitalize on this excellent customer feedback is by showing it off to your audience, especially on vast networks like Facebook. 

Yes! Sharing your Google review on your Facebook Business page can help boost your online reputation. And the process is a pretty straightforward one too. 

Follow these simple steps to get your Google review on the radar of your Facebook audience in no time: 

• Step #1: Search for your business on Google Maps

• Step #2: Find the star review you want to share

• Step #3: Click on the Share button

• Step #4: Copy the Short URL 

• Step #5: Post it on your Facebook page

GET MORE GOOGLE REVIEWS

Uncover 20 hacks to get more reviews for your listings in a flash!

Step #1: Search for your business on Google Maps

The first thing you want to do is locate that review. Of course, if you’re already logged in to your Google My Business profile, you can head over to the Reviews section and zero in on that 5-star review you’re focused on. 

But one of the easiest ways to go about this step is to head over to Google Maps directly on your browser and search for your own business listing. It doesn’t matter whether you’re signed in to your account or not to out this process, thus saving you time.

Once you’ve searched for your business, find your listing and click on your business name. This will expand upon the details. 

Next, click on the number next to the area highlighting the number of reviews you’ve gained.

This will redirect you to the “All reviews” section of your business listing.

Step #2: Find the star review you want to share

From here, you should navigate through the reviews to find the one you wish to share to your Facebook audience. 

Pro-tip: Use the sort and filter option to find the review and make your search easier. You’ll be able to choose from “Most Relevant,” “Newest,”“Highest Rating,” and “Lowest Rating.” 

Identify that golden review you want to share. 

Step #3: Click on the Share button

Within the box containing the single review, you will see a button allowing you to “Share” the review to the bottom right. Click on it.

Step #4: Copy the Short URL

A window will pop up, showing you different sharing options. As you can see, you have different options to choose from to share. 

The old-school method of doing this was to copy the link, as highlighted below, navigate to your Facebook business page and paste the link manually into a new post.

Anticipating this, Google has made it easier by allowing you to directly share your Google reviews on Facebook through the bottom option. Click it!

Step #5: Post it on your Facebook page

A pop-up window will appear, giving you the option to fill in details and add a little message about the review before posting it. If the customer follows your Facebook business page, you can even directly tag them into the post. This can earn you extra brownie points if they share your post within their private circles and network!

Be extra cautious before posting that you’re logged into your Facebook Business page and not your personal Facebook account. Luckily, there will be an option to directly manage this in the pop-up on the top left corner.

And voila! You have now successfully shared your Google review on Facebook, inviting a whole new audience to view your business success. 

An alternative to this approach is by embedding a Google reviews widget directly onto your Facebook Business page.

How To Get More Google Reviews

Growing your reviews should be a priority for your business. One quality and star review can boost your business, but imagine what a hundred of those would do! 

While sharing your Google reviews can help boost your business visibility and make you look better to your customers, you must remain proactive in your efforts to grow a more significant number of Google business reviews. 

Here are several ways you can do so. 

Set up your Google Business account

If you’ve made it to this point of the article and you think, “Hang on! I haven’t got a single review on Google yet,” that might be because you haven’t yet set up your own Google My Business account. 

There’s no growing your business on Google, let alone attracting reviews, without setting up an account. Your GMB account will be your portal to all things promotion and marketing related on the platform. Make sure you do this first if you haven’t already! 

Create a Google Review Email template

Email continues to be one of the best and most direct ways to reach your customers. Create an email review template that can be shared with your customers directly after purchase, encouraging them to drop in a good word about your business. You’d be surprised just how many happy customers would be willing to do so!

Use Google’s resources

Google itself has several resources for small businesses to leverage when they wish to expand upon their Google listing on local search results and attract more business. 

Here are some links to other handy blog posts that you can read through to maximize your review management efforts on Google: 

• After creating a GMB profile, claim your Google business listing 

• Generate and use a direct Google review link

• Educate your customers on how to write reviews (even if they don’t have a Gmail account)!

• Learn how to respond smartly and professionally to bad reviews

• Remove negative reviews from Google search results

• Get rid of and minimize the damage of fake Google reviews 

How To Get More Facebook Reviews

Simultaneously growing your Facebook reviews can doubly impact for your business’s reputation online. Like with Google, you have a wide range of strategies to grow your Facebook reviews.

But, the simplest thing you can do to grow reviews on any platform, be it Facebook, Google, or even review platforms like Yelp and Tripadvisor, is to ask for them.

After a sale is complete, contact customers with a link directing to your Facebook page and politely ask them to give you feedback. You are likely to get even better results if you specifically target those customers you know had a fantastic experience with you. 

Beyond this, you can also carry out the following activities to elevate your Facebook business page: 

• If you haven’t already, turn on Facebook reviews by enabling them as an administrator on your business page

• Embed Facebook reviews into your website and other major platforms you operate on to make them visible to all your audiences

• Generate a Facebook review link that can be directly sent to customers to invite them to write a review

• Ask your customers to check-in on Facebook whenever they visit your business (mostly applicable for small, store-run businesses)

Conclusion

Review management isn’t the easiest task in the world. Managing multiple digital platforms and monitoring, responding to, and flagging customer reviews can seem like a burden for any small business owner. 

But with our review management service, we aim to make the process manageable, helping you focus your energies on other significant business activities. While you’re out there getting the job done providing that rockstar customer service, we can help manage this important process on your behalf.

Need more Google Reviews?

Download our free guide to see 20 ACTIONABLE HACKS that you can implement to get more Google Reviews for your business.

One of the most popular features that a Facebook Business page offers is the option to enable and showcase customer reviews. This is especially critical as it is a factor consumers keep in mind before choosing to engage with a business. In fact, Facebook has an advantage over other social networks in this regard, with the platform influencing buying decisions 7 times more than its competitors. 

Because of the visibility and exposure that Facebook can provide for small and growing enterprises, if you haven’t already turned on your Facebook Business page’s review functionality, you certainly should now! 

After all, your customers trust online reviews just as much as they would a recommendation from a friend or family member.

How To Enable Reviews On Your Facebook Business Page

Enabling reviews on Facebook can help build your businesses SEO strategy, brand presence, and boost your profitability in the long run. 

Believe it or not, the process is a lot simpler than it sounds too! With five easy steps, you can turn on Facebook reviews. Here’s everything you need to know:

• Step #1: Log in to your Facebook Business page
• Step #2: Click on the “Settings” tab
• Step #3: Navigate to “Templates and Tabs”
• Step #4: Enable Reviews through the slider

Step #1: Log in to your Facebook Business page

Now, this step may seem pretty obvious but is required for you to access your Facebook Business page or utilize any of the functionalities Facebook offers you for businesses. 

You want to make sure you log in through the associated administrator account for your Facebook Business page. If you’re already logged into your personal Facebook account, it’s also easy to switch over to your Facebook page.

Step #2: Click on the “Settings” tab 

Once you’re logged in and have navigated over to your Facebook Business page, locate the “Settings” tab on the page’s top right corner.

This button will take you to the page required to manage all the nitty-gritty components associated with individual page settings and your Facebook business profile overall. 

And, yes! This includes the reviews section as well!

WANT MORE FACEBOOK REVIEWS?

Download our free guide to discover the best ways to get more reviews for your Facebook profile, fast!

Step #3: Navigate to “Templates and Tabs”

A left menu will appear, showcasing various settings options for you to choose from. The option that is in bold indicates which settings page you are currently viewing (for example, in this case, the General page is now on display).

Select the fourth option from the left-hand side menu titled “Templates and Tabs.” This menu has to do with managing your business page’s components that are on display to your customers. 

Step #4: Enable Reviews Through the Slider

Go down to where it says Reviews, and select the slider off to the right and make sure it is set as seen in the photo below, highlighted blue and on!

Resources To Get More Facebook Reviews

You’ve turned on Facebook reviews for your business page, and customers can finally start dropping in those star ratings and positive reviews you deserve! 

But, as with most online marketing tactics, it doesn’t stop there. 

Turning on Facebook reviews is just the first step in a long journey to growing your reviews and reputation on Facebook. 

There are several strategies and resources you can equip yourself with to get more Facebook reviews over time. 

These include the following: 

Embed Facebook reviews widgets on your website

Positive Facebook reviews can also be showcased on your website or other social media platforms through widgets. Showing potential customers the star reviews you’ve gained is a method of social proof. 

Other customers who have shopped with you may also be more encouraged to drop in reviews if they see reviews. This is especially beneficial for small and local businesses, where mutual friends and family may be using the same service. 

Enabling the use of widgets will also make it easy for customers on other platforms to be redirected to your business profile on Facebook directly without having to do a manual Google search for your business name. 

Share Google reviews on Facebook

Suppose you already have an established business profile with several reviews on Google, but you’re just getting started on Facebook. In that case, you can “borrow” your Google My Business success and share it on Facebook’s platform. 

Pro-tip: tagging customers directly on Facebook, who have left positive reviews on your Google business listing, is also an innovative way to engage with them directly. They may even share the post on their profile, allowing your business to gain more visibility through their extended Facebook networks and linking back to your Google page as well, which provides further detail on how to reach you (ex: your phone number.)

Make Review Request Email & Social Media Campaigns

As mentioned in the previous point, email marketing and social media campaigns are a smart way to boost your brand image to both an existing pool of customers as well as new customers simultaneously. It’s crucial to engage with customers throughout their customer journey, and even more so after a sale or service is complete.

You want to ensure your customers are happy and content with the level of service you’ve provided, and if so, give feedback online.

Pro-tip: create Facebook review email/social templates that you can keep handy. This will save time, allowing you to easily shoot out review requests without getting hung up on the structure or the way you frame it. 

Of course, it’s best to customize the requests to write a review depending on your business’s nature and the customers you deal with, but it’s better to be prepared with a bag of tricks than to stress when the opportunity comes!

Conclusion

Facebook provides a multitude of value offerings for businesses that are willing to give it a try. Nothing should hold small business owners and business managers back from wanting to grow their business, especially when there are so many useful tools and platforms to leverage in today’s digital marketing platform. 

So, what are you waiting for? 

Set up that Facebook Business page and get those business reviews flowing!

You’ve enabled reviews on your Facebook page. Now what?

Discover the best ways to get more reviews for your Facebook profile, fast!

Being active on social media platforms offers several benefits to small business owners who are willing to invest time and energy in online reputation management. 

Of course, one of the most popular networks for businesses to leverage is Facebook.

With over 2.7 billion active users worldwide, Facebook offers a massive market of new customers for businesses to tap into. Creating a Facebook Business Page can help establish your business’s footing in this social network, making it easier for you to connect with your customers.

Customers are keen to know more about the businesses they engage with, and the Internet makes it much easier for them to do their research. Reviews are one such way for customers to validate the quality of your service and give personal recommendations to their circle of friends. 

Whether it be on review platforms like Yelp or through Google business listings, reviews can take your brand image and business exposure online to the next level.

Facebook, however, remains one of the most highly integrative platforms by capitalizing on your links with existing customers to connect you to new ones. There are a lot of strategies and functionalities you can leverage to get more Facebook business reviews.

Keep reading to discover the benefits of why you should do this and how you can build your business’s credibility on Facebook.

Get more Facebook reviews

Benefits of Facebook Reviews For Your Business

Increasing your reviews on your Facebook Business Page can greatly benefit your business. Coming second to Google My Business, Facebook is seen as one of the most popular review platforms that customers visit to learn more about your business.

And there has to be a good reason for this, right? Here are three important reasons why you should invest time in building your Facebook business reviews.

• Reviews help establish a trustworthy relationship with all your customers. Customer testimonials are social proof for potential customers to verify the quality of your business and its services before engaging with you. Facebook reviews help connect your existing customer circles with those who are looking for your services. For example, if a loyal customer hired you, a local plumber, and posted a positive review with a 5-star rating, this would appear in their friends’ and family’s feeds. As a result, Facebook reviews can act as a referral and free word-of-mouth publicity.

• Facebook builds your brand visibility and online reputation. Unlike other social networks, Facebook focuses more on the concept of shared communities and groups. The idea of “mutual friends” and shared circles helps businesses discover more customers through their existing contacts. 

• Facebook opens a direct line of communication with customers. They may directly send your Facebook Business Page a message or post on your Page’s timeline. Customers can engage with your business directly.

The occasional bad review can be beneficial. One of the best ways for businesses to shine is by demonstrating how they respond to negative publicity. A bad review may scare a business owner, but depending on how the situation is handled, things can turn around in your business’s favor. Providing a voice to your customers can help you identify areas of improvement for your business operations while also providing excellent service by listening to customer concerns and addressing them professionally. Effective management of a bad or negative review can help drive your lead conversions up by 85%.

Learn how Signpost can help your business

5 Ways To Get More Facebook Business Reviews

Once you’ve set up your Facebook Business Page, it’s time to get those reviews flowing. But how?

There are plenty of ways you can ask your customers to write a review, but we’ve listed five effective strategies to get the ball rolling on your online reviews below:

1. Turn on Your Facebook Reviews Tab

2. Request Reviews from Your Loyal Customers

3. Create an Email Campaign to Request Reviews

4. Promote the 5-star Reviews You’ve Already Received

5. Automate and Streamline the Review process

1. Turn on Your Facebook Reviews Tab

This should be one of the first steps in establishing your business on Facebook, or even if you’ve already set up your Page and are wondering why no reviews are coming in.

The first thing you want to do is check on your Facebook Page Settings to see whether your reviews section is enabled. Customers may be unable to leave reviews for your business because you’re only not allowing them to yet. 

2. Request Reviews from Your Loyal Customers

Local businesses usually have a handful of loyal customers that account for a significant portion of their business. Usually, these customers make repeat purchases or are frequent users of the services you offer. 

These loyal followers are great to keep on your review request list, especially if they’ve already given you positive feedback offline and know your business and your team well.

Tapping into your network of established clientele is a good way to get those 5-star reviews up. Driving a stream of positive feedback first can help encourage other tentative customers and improve your review numbers.

Pro-tip: If you’re a local business, you may even have family and friends that have engaged with your business. Although you may feel awkward asking them for reviews, there’s nothing wrong with requesting help to support your business from people you know in your local community or circles. You’d be surprised just how many of them would be willing to go out of their way to help.

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3. Create an Email Campaign to Request Reviews

Getting more reviews is all about finding new and innovative ways to ask your customers for them. Setting up a targeted email campaign to kindly ask customers to write a review is a great way to do this. Design your emails to have a clear CTA with a direct link to review your business. 

You should also provide easy accessibility to your website and social media profiles if they wish to learn more.

Pro-tip: Design email campaigns that are segmented depending on the type of customer. For example: Campaigns targeted for new customers versus existing, long-term customers, and also based on the point of time in their customer journey (post-sale email follow-ups, after a customer service call, etc.). 

4. Promote the 5-star Reviews You’ve Already Received

Suppose you have an established business profile on another review platform such as Google. In that case, you can easily share your favorite Google reviews on Facebook for social proof and to gain more traction.

You can even take your process a step further and embed the Facebook reviews you’ve received onto your website and other platforms. This is a great way to build confidence with your customers and invite more reviews. 

5. Automate and Streamline the Review Process

If you’re a small and growing business, perhaps there are other aspects you need to focus on, like sales or customer service. Managing your reviews may not be your priority just yet. Nevertheless, it is an integral component of reputation management, the quality of which you should not sacrifice.

Consider automating the review process through review management services. These platforms help manage your online reviews after payment is complete, respond to negative reviews, and streamline the entire process, allowing you to save time and focus on other value-add activities within your business.

Integrating these reviews through an automation system with professional help and consultancy can help you accomplish your conversion goals. 

In fact, Signpost’s review management service can do just that.

Start Getting More Facebook Reviews Today

Managing your reviews on Facebook may seem complicated. Still, you’d be surprised just how easily you can generate customer reviews when you establish a robust process and system based on reliable strategies.

Get more customers, and through them, generate the star ratings and excellent reviews your business deserves on Facebook!

Following these steps won’t guarantee an overnight transformation for your Facebook Page, but the time and steps you take to build your brand online will pay off over time.

So what are you waiting for? Start building your Facebook reviews today!

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With up to 1.62 billion daily active users and tools for local businesses to grow their network and customer reach, as a small business owner, you should not miss out on the advantages of getting Facebook reviews. Asking happy customers to put in a good word through a positive review can help you attract new customers and grow your business’s visibility. 

However, not everyone may be able to view your Facebook Business page easily. A simple and effective way to make your Facebook page accessible on other platforms is by embedding it onto those sites. This will reduce the time you spend asking for reviews by giving your customers immediate access with one click! 

Additionally, by embedding a strong review onto your site, it acts as a customer testimonial. Potential customers will be able to gauge your business’ worth and may even redirect to your Facebook Business page to learn more about your services. 

Read on to find out how you can embed Facebook reviews and create powerful social proof of your business’s service.

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How to Embed Facebook Reviews on Your Website

Follow this step-by-step guide to embed your Facebook Reviews  through a widget on your website: 

• Step 1: Go to your Facebook Business page reviews section
• Step 2: Find a star review you want to embed on your website
• Step 3: Select the “Embed” option
• Step 4: Copy the embed code
• Step 5: Paste the embed code into your website

Step 1: Go to your Facebook Business page Reviews section

The first thing you want to do is log into your Facebook account linked to your Business page. Head over to your Business page and navigate through the tabs available on the top and click on the Reviews tab. 

Pictured below is an example of an electric and plumbing business to give you an idea:

Depending on the priority order you have set up for the tabs on your Business page, the Reviews section may be positioned elsewhere. 

Pro-tip: give it more importance and place it soon after the Home tab. You want it to catch your customer’s eye!

Step 2: Find a star review you want to embed on your website

Now that you’ve reached the Reviews section, you should read through all the reviews left by your customers. They may be a mix of star ratings and average ones, ranging from positive reviews to mixed feedback. However, when you choose, you want to pick one that stands out and praises the best elements of your business service.

A good way to sort through this is by clicking the filter tabs that order the reviews on “Most Helpful” and “Most Recent” parameters.

Find the review(s) you want to showcase on your website and click on the three dots to the top right hand-side corner of the box where the review is displayed.

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Step 3: Select the “Embed” option

After clicking on the three little dots, a dropdown menu will appear. From the options listed, choose “Embed.”

Doing so should lead to the page redirecting to a Facebook for Developers. The page will be titled Embedded Posts.

Step 4: Copy the Facebook embed code

On the page, scroll down to the Code Generator section. You’ll get a preview of how the embedded review will look like on your site. Once you’re happy and sure of your selection, click on “Get Code” to get your embed code.

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Step 5: Paste the embed code into your website

A window will pop up with two embed link options: JavaScript SDK and IFrame. Depending on your website settings, choose the one most convenient for you. We recommend going with IFrame, which is the standard embed link.

Select the entire code, right-click it and click “Copy.” 

Head on over to your website. Depending on the website builder you used (such as WordPress, Weebly, or Wix, for example), the code may differ. Find the area where you add Backend codes to your website and paste it there. 

Alternatively, you can also create a whole new page on your website to show off amazing customer testimonials. For example this review page from ProBuild Creations.

Experiment with the design and see if you like how the Facebook review shows up on your site before settling on the final design. 

All the while, keep your embed code handy and make sure you don’t copy anything in the middle of the process. You’ll lose the embed code and have to start over again as the clipboard would be updated if you did!

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Tips To Get More Facebook Reviews

Embedding your Facebook page reviews into your website is just one way to expand your audience reach and attract potential customers. The reviews plugin will reduce the time taken in your marketing efforts by interacting with customers that are already browsing your site. It’s important to choose reviews that represent the best customer experience you provide. 

All throughout your review management efforts, it’s essential you don’t lose the momentum you build and continue to grow your number of reviews. You can even share your reviews on social media!

Here are some ways you can increase your visibility through Facebook reviews: 

• Create and claim your Facebook Business page 
• Make Reviews accessible to your customers on Facebook
• Generate and send Facebook review links directly to your customers 
• Remove fake Facebook reviews

The benefits of gaining Facebook reviews are undeniable. It boosts your social proof but in addition to that, can help you grow a sustainable and profitable customer relations strategy. 

Did you know that 88% of customers trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation from their friends or family?

Embedding these reviews onto your website is one foolproof way to make the most of your existing customers’ testimonials, simultaneously building your online real estate and growing your business.

Automate Gathering Facebook Reviews with SignPost

Reputation management takes time and experience, especially if you’re increasing your business visibility on multiple review platforms. Automating the digital marketing process can increase your operational efficiency by saving you time and maximizing on the star customer testimonials you’ve gained. 

We can help you stay ahead of the curve through our review management tool, which focuses on responding to positive customer reviews, dealing with negative feedback and growing your customer reach online.

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