Have you been seeing these recently on Facebook?
These are going to be important for you if you run a business with a Facebook page. If you run a business and don't have a Facebook page by now, you should talk to us about that.
You already know the importance of having good reviews and ratings on Facebook. They help potential customers see that your business are trusted and reliable.
So what do these new posts on Facebook mean?
Facebook are introducing a new feature where people can ask for recommendations, and their friends can recommend local businesses, just like yours. Facebook will automatically add details, including your review ratings to their post.
A potential customer might write a post that says, ‘can anyone recommend a good caterer in Suffolk?’, for example. Facebook will pick up that the person is asking for business recommendations and generate a map of their area below their post.
All people need to do is tag your business by name in the comments (to add a tag, you precede the business name with an ‘@’ symbol). If your business page is linked to a physical address it will appear on the map.
Their comment, including their recommendation, will then pull through some information from your own business page, including a link to your page, address and your review rating out of five.
To make the most of features like this, make sure you're encouraging your customers to leave reviews on your Facebook page. Perhaps you can send them a follow-up email after they've purchased, or maybe pop a small card in their bag with their order letting them know how to leave a review.
It’s also important to remember to have a link to your business page on your personal Facebook page. This is because some people may tag you rather than your business page in recommendations, but you want potential customers to be able to find your business as quickly as possible.
If you want to learn how to get more recommendations from Facebook, we can offer training. Establishing yourself with a reputable Facebook page will help you capitalise on fresh new features like this and will give you an edge over your competitors.
Want to make sure that your business is ready for this change and many others on social media? Call Sam on 01473 631344 to hear how we can help your business.
Find out more about this upcoming change by reading Facebook’s own brief overview.