Well, in part, because Facebook reviews are now recommendations

If you’ve noticed that your business’s page reviews haven’t been visible lately, you aren’t alone. This can be an alarming problem for small businesses that rely on reviews to bring customers in. Facebook accounts for 19% of all customer reviews online, putting it right up there with Google as a review amplifier.

In a 2018 update, Facebook decided to begin changing its review system to recommendations. The aim was to allow business pages to appear when users would post asking for recommendations. While their intention of better serving users seemed like a noble one, it hasn’t exactly been a smooth transition for business owners.

So, if you’ve returned to your Facebook business page after a break, you may find things have changed. There are no more stars — customers simply answer the yes or no question “would you recommend this business?”

Is this thing on?

One of the most common Facebook FAQs ‘Why aren’t my reviews showing?’ The most common answer? Because they aren’t switched on!

So, before getting started, you should make sure that you have your recommendations turned on. Just because you didn’t switch them off, doesn’t mean that it hasn’t happened. You will also need to make sure your business has claimed its Facebook page.

All you have to do is to navigate to your Facebook business page. From here you will click on Page Settings> Templates and Tabs> and click to the right of the ‘Reviews’ tab, to toggle it on. Check out Facebook’s Help Centre for full instructions.

Claim it and name it

Claiming your Page for your business is done using the Facebook Business Manager, which allows you to either add an existing page to your business manager account or ask to access a page owned by another person. Your business must claim your Facebook page because this allows you to enable reviews.

Go to the homepage and click on the gear icon to open the business manager’s settings.
Click ‘Accounts’, then ‘Pages’ and then ‘Add’. This is where you will be asked if you wish to choose between adding an existing page or claiming somebody else’s page. Either way, you will have to enter the page name or URL.

With your business page claimed and reviews turned on, you will be able to reap the rewards of one of the biggest review banks on the web.

The benefits of recommendations for small, locally-based businesses

In the world of modern business, the review is now king. Seeing as one in three Facebook users use the platform to ask for recommendations, it is important to make sure that you are on top of your review game.

As a small to mid-sized and locally-based business, you are privy to some preferential treatment when it comes to Facebook’s review system. That’s right people, for once, things are geared up to suit local, brick-and-mortar businesses. Hurrah!

Between the ‘Nearby Places’ feature on the mobile app, the ability to see reviews from Facebook friends, brick and mortar businesses that rely on local customers stand to benefit hugely from getting good Facebook reviews.

The best strategy for getting reviews

With a good review strategy, businesses can gain more clout online, driving growth and brand awareness — but how do you encourage customers to give you reviews? The best way it turns out is to just ask them. How you do that is up to you.

As it turns out, people love to give their opinion about services they have experienced. Asking a customer to leave a review as part of your company’s customer experience is not only valuable to you, it makes the customer feel acknowledged and appreciated. Don’t be afraid of a negative review either – it is an opportunity to learn, provide excellent customer service and show Facebook users (all 2.7 billion of them) what your business is about.

In short

Making sure that your business is asking for and acknowledging feedback is the industry standard for local businesses in the modern world – especially on a platform like Facebook. Listening to what your customers have to say will bring you more customers.