Facebook has lately been making a few changes to its algorithm and today we are going to discuss a new ramification that might just concern the entrepreneurs a bit more. The new feature concerns reviewing a specific business once we have checked in using our Facebook account. While we go in-depth with this new feature, 5 important pointers will be discussed— starting from the inception to the future scopes.
To begin with, we need to publish the info over Facebook about out new check-in or an ongoing quest. Within a timeframe of 24 hours, a notification will pop up— asking us to review the place. This feed from Facebook is an approach to bring businesses closer to each other, by urging users to share experiences and review the same.
Here are the aspects which need to be looked at before addressing the nooks and crannies of this futuristic review platform:
#1. Check-In and the Purpose
Most users love checking into places as they want their friends to know about the whereabouts. Be it a weekend trip to Peru or a casual dine-out, anything and everything is actually updated over Facebook. This is where Facebook’s evolution as a review platform comes in as a refreshing change.
We live in a society where sharing experiences gives us happiness and this is where reviews hold importance.
#2. Yelp and its Problems
When it comes to posting reviews, Yelp is a sought after social platform. While Yelp offers the Elite status to some persistent reviewers, less-frequent users seldom resort to this platform for posting great reviews. Users like us look for Yelp only when we are looking for information or waiting to criticize any service or location. This is where Yelp falls short as most pages have lower ratings as compared to the actual face of a business.
The only way to combat the same is to opt for paid reviews and even selective funnels for redirecting positive feedbacks— right into the website. So if someone is motivated enough to earn the title of Yelp Elite, posting genuine reviews is a must. However, the less frequent visitors hardly have reasons to invest time in writing detailed reviews.
#3. Facebook Fills the Void
Facebook is a pretty well invested social platform with majority of users accessing it on a daily basis. This is the reason people are constantly using it for checking-in with businesses and places alike. Facebook has actually leveraged this idea and started feeding notifications— urging us to review the locations. Moreover, there aren’t any privileges for the persistent reviewers.
Facebook improves upon Yelp by keeping the process simple and the UI minimalistic. Reviews are literally asked for and directly fed into the database. Lastly, even if you aren’t an avid writer you can still post a review by clicking on the stars and skipping the words, altogether.
#4. Future Scopes for Facebook
Reviewing over Facebook means additional traffic for businesses. Apart from that, reviews will be far more genuine as compared to Yelp. Moreover, Facebook is already an industry giant and this feature is yet another feather in its cap. With better accuracy, Facebook is expected to evolve as a far more comprehensive review platform, in days to come.
#5. How Businesses Can Reap Benefits?
Once this feature is rolled out freely, review accuracy is expected to go up. This in turn will make Google index Facebook pages as the primary source of online reviews. Therefore, business specific pages over Facebook will show up higher in searches. For example, if we are handling the travel guide for Italy via a Facebook page, positive reviews for locations selected by us will push us higher in terms of search engine rankings.
Business, therefore, need to be careful and vigilant about their Facebook pages as they hold more importance than ever. Every business owner must check for regular updates over the review page and attend to the concerns, immediately. Look to inculcate a ‘review resolution process’ which will then be handling concerns within a day.
Bottom Line
The trick is to restructure and revisit the location-specific business. Handling reviews can get frustrating at times but the company must be levelheaded with employees trained to treat everybody with respect. Addressing complains with immediate solutions is what makes reviews work and with Facebook venturing into the given sphere— the road ahead looks far more convincing.
