How Facebook Recommendations Grow Your Business
In August 2018, Facebook revamped its review system for business pages. What are these changes, and how will they support businesses? We have covered this extensively, so without any further ado, let’s dive into it.
According to Alex Himel, VP of Facebook, over 1.6 billion people worldwide are connected to a small business on Facebook. Early in August 2018, Facebook introduced a new change to the Facebook business page, and Facebook recommendations took center stage.
Facebook recommendations are an evolved version of the Facebook review system. Instead of posting reviews on a scale of 1 to 5, users can simply choose whether or not to recommend a business.
What are Facebook recommendations?
Earlier, Facebook used to provide users to rate the business on a scale of 1 to 5 and provide their feedback. However, with Facebook recommendations, the 5-star review system has transformed into binary options of “recommended” or “not recommended.”
One of the main reasons for this upgrade is to encourage a more detailed review of the business. Often, people just used to drop the rating without providing any context. Users can also make their recommendations engaging by adding photos, tags, text, etc., which will briefly describe the business and its products. With the binary option, users with neutral opinions about your business must take a side, which helps you enhance your traffic and attract more customers.
You can even embed Facebook reviews on your website with the Facebook review widget, as it provides a broader opinion about your business to your potential customers and helps them make a decision. With recommendations, visitors will learn more about your brand compared to the traditional rating system.
Why did it happen?
The vast user base of Facebook attracts many brands and businesses to use the platform to promote their brand and gather a solid customer base. Due to this shift, many small or medium-scale businesses witnessed a steady decline in their organic reach.
This has forced many business owners to pay more to get more reach or use Facebook Ads, but unfortunately, many business owners cannot afford this opportunity. To level the playing field, Facebook introduced this great feature of Facebook recommendation.
The reviews and recommendations provide businesses with valid traffic as they attract more customers who spend vast amounts of money.
This upgrade is a godsend for many businesses, as it boosts their business pages and eventually increases their brand awareness.
How is the Facebook recommendation score calculated?
If you think with the Facebook recommendation, all your past reviews and scores will go in vain, then the answer to that thought is “No”. According to Facebook help about the recommendation score, “The score is based on how many people recommend or don’t recommend your page on Facebook, as well as any past ratings and reviews it may have”
To keep it simple, with no more ratings, Facebook decides the score based on your past ratings and reviews and the number of customers who recommend or don’t recommend your business.
Benefits of Facebook recommendations
Facebook has always been a helping force for businesses and brands. It always supports firms, brings new features to boost companies on the platform, and helps them attain more reach. It is impactful; hence, marketers cannot afford to ignore it in their marketing strategies, and therefore, this social media giant always gets included in the strategies. It takes care of its users and business pages, and keeping that in mind, it introduced Facebook recommendations.
Here are reasons why this upgrade is beneficial for your business:
Makes your page more Informative
Along with providing in-depth information about the business and product, the user will also have an option to add tags like “superb product”, “great experience”, “excellent service” etc. These tags make it easier for the audience to understand your business and help them make buying decisions. It also highlights the speciality or positive things about your business and your potential customer and makes up their mind.
Engaging and Interactive
Images, videos, and tags always attract audiences’ attention. The Facebook recommendation provides the option to post pictures and videos; your page will display all these contents. So make sure your Facebook image sizes are perfect. We already know how people depend highly on social media proofs and reviews for buying decisions. Hence, this update helps your business by providing social proof about your products and convincing potential customers.
Enhances organic reach
Facebook is home to many online businesses and stores. Due to its support and constant help to boost reach, many businesses use a Facebook business page to capture a larger audience. But with such a huge user base and such competition on the platform, sometimes it becomes difficult to get organic reach.
Hence, Facebook’s recommendations have emerged as game-changers as they are discoverable across Facebook. If a user has asked for recommendations and someone in their social circle has recommended your business, your recommendation score will be visible in their posts. It will enhance your reach and eventually help you generate sales.
Brand awareness
The main objective for brands and businesses using social media platforms is to enhance their brand awareness. The Facebook recommendation feature helps you attain this feat as it provides great organic reach. If a user has recommended your business, then someone from their social media circles searches for recommendations, and your posts will be visible to him, thus enhancing your brand awareness.
Brand reputation
Businesses often rely on a brand reputation for their survival. Reputation can either make a brand or break a brand. Hence, it is essential to maintain a good brand reputation. In this world of the internet, every piece of information is available with just a click; therefore, any update about any business spreads like a forest fire. The Facebook recommendation now allows users to provide a detailed review about your business; hence, people will get to know your business’s strong and positive aspects, and eventually, it will increase your brand’s reputation.
Summing it up
Facebook always provides great support to its users and makes their experience worthy. It regularly makes upgrades that aid both users and businesses. With the introduction of Facebook recommendations, Facebook has provided another medium for business pages to gather more crowds and eventually increase their revenue.
