Our guide to Facebook reviews and recommendations

No Facebook Business Page is complete without a Facebook reviews section. Among the many reasons your business needs online reviews on social media platforms such as Facebook and other review websites, here are a few key statistics that really stand out:

• 90% of consumers say they read 10 reviews or less before they can trust a business
• 84% of consumers say they trust customer reviews as much as personal recommendations
• 54% of consumers end up visiting local businesses’ websites after reading positive reviews

Whether you’re looking to set up Facebook reviews on your Facebook Business Page for the very first time to reach and engage with potential customers or are looking for tips to improve your existing Facebook account, this guide will answer all of your frequently asked questions about Facebook reviews and recommendations.

What are Facebook reviews, recommendations and ratings?

Facebook reviews and Facebook recommendations are two ways customers can support and endorse local businesses. Facebook takes both reviews and recommendations into consideration to determine a Facebook page’s overall star rating. Here’s more on each of these measures of a Facebook Business page’s online reputation.

What are Facebook reviews?

Facebook reviews are similar to Google reviews, Yelp reviews, Amazon reviews and other review websites. Users of the social network can submit their own customer reviews about local businesses using Facebook reviews. Negative reviews, positive reviews or neutral reviews help potential customers understand what it’s like doing business with a given company. 

The default setting for Facebook pages is to have ratings and reviews automatically displayed on your company’s reviews tab. This can be turned off by changing your page settings. You can manage your Facebook reviews in the “Ratings and Reviews” tab in your Meta Business Manager or Meta Business Suite. 

What are Facebook recommendations? 

Facebook recommendations is a feature that allows users of the platform to recommend a business to their friends on Facebook. Users can recommend Facebook pages by visiting a specific local business’s Facebook page, tapping on the reviews tab and tapping “Yes” to recommend a page or “No” to not recommend a page. They can also include additional highlights about the business and share this recommendation with their friends.

What are Facebook ratings?

Facebook ratings are the star ratings a Facebook page can receive on a scale of zero to five stars. These ratings are determined based on a combination of factors including:

• How many people recommend a given Facebook page to their Facebook friends
• How many reviews a page receives

Keep in mind that only Facebook pages that allow recommendations to show up will display a rating and Facebook Business Pages may not display any rating at all if they have not received enough recommendations. 

Should my business use Facebook reviews and recommendations?

Yes, your business should use Facebook reviews and recommendations if you want to get the most out of your social media presence. Facebook reviews and recommendations can help you:

• Attract potential customers
• Get more business reviews on social media platforms
• Strengthen your online reputation management strategy by maintaining a fresh and active online presence
• Demonstrate the social proof of your local business and influence purchasing decisions
• Have your business reviews show up in your Facebook ads

Setting up Facebook reviews for your business

As mentioned above, once you create a Facebook page for your business, Facebook’s default setting has Facebook reviews turned on, so the reviews tab appears on your Facebook page automatically. (Note: Check out our guide on how to remove reviews from Facebook if you’d like to change this default setting.)

From there, you’re ready to start getting reviews on Facebook. To get new reviews:

• Use these email templates to ask for reviews from past customers who are members of your email marketing list
• Use these SMS review request templates to ask your text marketing list for their Facebook reviews
• Ask your Facebook followers to write reviews and you can always ask via other channels, such as Facebook Messenger, LinkedIn, Instagram and more

Responding to Facebook reviews

Once you have page reviews coming in, here are the important next steps you’ll need to take on an ongoing basis.

Monitor your Facebook reviews

What are customers saying about your business? Keeping track of these reviews help business owners gain insights into their online reputation. 

Respond to your Facebook reviews

Addressing your customers and thanking them for their reviews — whether they’ve shared negative reviews or positive reviews — is an effective reputation management tactic that lets existing customers know that you value their time and feedback and lets potential customers see how you treat customers. 

If you need some help getting started, check out these positive review response templates and tips for responding to negative online reviews. If you need to make things right with a customer who has had a bad experience, be sure to include your phone number or email address in your reply so the customer can get in touch with you directly. 

Report Facebook reviews

As you get more Facebook reviews, you may need to hire moderators to flag and report fake reviews or Facebook reviews that violate Facebook’s Community Standards, such as adult content, spam reviews or reviews that contain hate speech or misinformation. 

Promoting your Facebook reviews and recommendations

Ready to get more Facebook reviews or get more people to see your existing Facebook reviews? Here are two ways to bring more visibility to your Facebook page:

1. Create and use a Facebook review link to ask customers to leave a review on your Facebook page through an email marketing campaign or social media posts to your followers. 
2. Embed Facebook reviews on your website to showcase the most helpful reviews or reviews with the highest star ratings that speak to your company’s greatest strengths.

Manage your online reputation with Broadly

Broadly helps small businesses across industries get more reviews on social media platforms such as Facebook reviews and review websites.