Last Updated on August 14, 2024 by Allen

Boost Your Business: A Guide to Manage Facebook Reviews

Learning how to manage Facebook reviews has become essential for improving a business’s reputation and customer experience. According to a study by BrightLocal, 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. With billions of active Facebook users, reviews on your Facebook Page can make or break your brand image and relationships with customers.

This comprehensive guide breaks down all the key aspects of how to successfully manage Facebook reviews to improve your online reputation and customer loyalty.

User-generated reviews on social media are rapidly shaping brand perception and customer satisfaction levels. Facebook is the largest social platform, and millions of customers conveniently leave feedback on brands. For companies struggling with review moderation and negative feedback handling, Facebook reviews present a vital touchpoint for improving customer engagement.

This guide covers actionable tips on enabling reviews, navigating Facebook’s interface, writing review replies, handling negatives, analyzing data, and creating review management workflows. Before optimizing your Facebook presence, it helps to start with the basics.

Setting Up and Configuring to Manage Facebook Reviews

First, if you don’t already have a Facebook set up for your business, click here to create a Facebook business account. Next, to display ratings and customer feedback properly on your Facebook Page, you need to first set up and adjust the review functionality:

Accessing your Facebook Business Page 

• Ensure you have admin rights for managing the Page
• Log into the associated Facebook account or Page owner’s profile
• Navigate to your FB business page from the shortcut menu
• Use Meta Business Suite for easier Page access

Enabling or disabling the reviews feature

Reviews appear by default for most business Pages nowadays. But you can toggle them on/off anytime.

1. Step-by-step guide to turn reviews on/off

• Click Settings on your FB Page’s menu bar
• Select Templates and Tabs from the left sidebar
• Locate the Ratings and Reviews section
• Use the switch next to “Allow Users to Write Recommendations” to enable/disable

2. Considerations for enabling or disabling reviews

• Disabling cuts off customer feedback but may be wise during technical issues
• Leaving them on creates social proof and insights into your brand
• If facing negative reviews, responding properly is better than disabling

Customizing your review settings

Facebook allows limited but useful configuration of review display and functionality:

• Choose the number of reviews shown
• Filter reviews by rating, locale, and language
• Select the alignment of your review widget on desktop and mobile

Play around with settings that best showcase valid customer feedback tailored to your needs.

Accessing and Navigating to Manage Facebook Reviews

Now that your business Page can collect user reviews, here is how to access and navigate them:

Locating the Ratings and Reviews tab in Business Manager or Meta Business Suite

• Click Business Manager menu icon
• Select your Page under Managed Accounts
• Choose Settings from the dashboard’s left sidebar
• Select Ratings and Reviews tab

Understanding the review dashboard

The Ratings & Reviews dashboard shows all your ratings and feedback:

• Reviews – Customer comments with star ratings
• Recommendations – Short customer endorsements
• Questions – Questions asked publicly to your Page

For review management, focus on the Reviews.

Sorting and filtering reviews

Use the filters to view reviews:

• About your products, services, or brand
• By number of stars
• Only with images/videos
• Reviews you haven’t responded to
• Within a specific date range
• In various languages

Filters let you analyze reviews more meaningfully.

Responding to Facebook Reviews

Reply time and quality have a massive influence on customers’ brand sentiment. 71% of consumers expect brands to respond to reviews within 24 hours. Craft thoughtful responses to meet these expectations with some best practices.

Importance of responding to reviews

Replying to reviews boosts positive outcomes:

• Shows customers their voice is valued
• Provides support or fixes issues mentioned
• Builds social proof for potential buyers
• Cultivates brand advocates from critics
• Gathers insights to improve weak points

Best practices for responding to positive reviews

• Thank the customer sincerely by name
• Note what you appreciate about their feedback
• Offer a discount or coupon for further business

Strategies for addressing negative reviews

• Apologize for their poor experience
• Own the mistake without excuses
• Offer to fix the issue over a private message
• Suggest a phone call for immediate help
• Remain professional despite criticism

Step-by-step guide to responding to a review

1. Opening the Ratings and Reviews tab

Follow the navigation steps outlined earlier to access reviews requiring a response. Apply filters if needed to narrow them down.

2. Using the Actions column

• Locate the Actions menu alongside each review
• Options here include:
  • View response – See any existing replies
  • Edit button – Modify previous responses
  • Respond button- Reply publicly to the review

3. Viewing and editing responses

The View Response option shows your reply underneath the initial review. Use the Edit button next to your comment to modify or update your response anytime.

With practice, responding to Facebook reviews becomes second nature. Focus on personalized support to satisfy customers.

Managing Problematic Reviews

However great your product or service is, some negative reviews are inevitable on Facebook. However, certain reviews violate policies or seem fake. Take appropriate actions to report or remove false destructive Facebook reviews:

Identifying inappropriate or fake reviews

Watch for reviews that seem:

• Abusive, obscene, or contain threats
• Fraudulent, posted from a fake account
• Competitor accounts posting false claims
• Too salesy, trying to sell unrelated products

Reporting reviews that violate Facebook’s policies

1. Steps to flag a review

• Click the review’s ellipsis (…) icon for options
• Choose ‘Give Feedback or Report This Review’
• Select relevant issues from the report’s reasons

2. Choosing the reason for reporting

Common violations include:

• Hate speech, bullying or harassment
• Nudity or sexual activity
• False information, spam or scams
• Impersonation of someone else

Describe details to justify your report.

Facebook’s review process for reported content

• Facebook thoroughly investigates flagged reviews
• Policy-breaking reviews get removed
• Benign reviews may get dismissed after review
• You can appeal Facebook’s decision later

Understand Facebook’s reporting workflow to properly disavow unwanted reviews.

Leveraging Positive Reviews

Despite dealing with negatives, many delighted customers will praise your Facebook business page. Amplify these 5-star reviews:

Showcasing positive reviews on your Facebook page

• Pin your best 5-star reviews atop your Page using the feature
• Show friends how customers love your product/service
• Influences potential leads checking your Page

Sharing great reviews on other social media platforms

• Repost charming reviews to your:
  • Twitter feed
  • Instagram story
  • LinkedIn company page
  • Youtube video descriptions
• Adds social proof across your online presence

Incorporating reviews into your marketing strategy

• Embed video testimonials on your website
• Create press releases showcasing Facebook ratings
• Print retail signage with review quotes
• Highlight reviews in email newsletters
• Craft ads featuring delighted customer comments

Reuse your hard-earned social proof widely.

Encouraging More Reviews

Without sufficient review volume, you lack helpful customer insights. Tactfully increase sources of feedback:

Creating a direct link to leave a review

• Use the Facebook **[Pages API](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/reference/page

Ethically soliciting reviews from customers

• Politely request feedback via email receipts
• Print feedback QR codes on packaging
• Offer perks for leaving an honest review
• Avoid pressuring unhappy customers

Be transparent so reviews accurately reflect experience.

Integrating review requests into your customer service process

• Add a gentle ask to support ticket autoreplies
• Insert a feedback link to order confirmations
• Enable post-call IVR recordings asking for reviews
• Train agents to invite reviews from happy callers

Capture feedback exactly when it’s top of mind. 

Analyzing Review Data

With sufficient review volume over time, start benchmarking performance and leveraging insights:

Understanding Facebook’s rating system

• 5 stars = Very good
• 4 stars = Good
• 3 stars = Average
• 2 stars = Poor
• 1 star  = Very poor

Tracking review trends and sentiment

• View historical rating patterns by quarter
• Check if overall sentiment is improving
• Set internal goals for raising average rating
• Compare product/location metrics

Using review insights to improve your business

• Identify recurring complaints to fix
• Give employee kudos for great mentions
• Develop better policies from suggestions
• Base new products/services on demand

Connect insights to actions prioritizing customer needs.

Tools and Apps to Manage Facebook Reviews

Maximize efficiency in monitoring and responding to Facebook reviews with software integration:

Overview of Meta Business Suite features for review management

Natively manage reviews across Facebook/Instagram without switching apps. Offers analytics, alerts, response workflow, and more.

Third-party tools for streamlining review management

 

• Review Dingo – Utilizes AI to streamline top review platforms such as Birdeye and Podium, offering a more cost-effective solution compared to accessing these services directly. It aggregates reviews from over 100 sites and includes features for response tracking, analytics, reminders, and reporting.
• Podium – Suite facilitating SMS and email review requests, response automation, analytics plus integration with Facebook Ads.
• Birdeye – visually displays sentiment analysis, response times, keywords, and more from various platforms. Lets you survey customers too.

Integrating Facebook reviews with other review platforms

Centralizing disparate review data reveals bigger trends:

• Use IFTTT to auto-share Facebook reviews on Twitter, GMB, etc
• Connect Review plugins for WordPress/WooCommerce sites
• Embed Facebook reviews alongside Yelp, TripAdvisor, etc feeds

Cross-publishing expands reach and gives broader insights.

Best Practices for Ongoing Review Management

Juggling the above strategies separately as needed causes chaos. Establishing an organized system is vital:

Creating a review management schedule

• Daily – Brief check for new reviews and urgent replies
• Weekly – In-depth response session + internal meeting on insights
• Monthly – Benchmarking metrics across time periods
• Quarterly – Assessing what’s working, what needs change

Training staff on review response protocols

• Guide all departments on ideal reply tone
• Create internal documentation on workflows
• Roleplay scenarios and mock responses
• Enable universal inbox for simplicity

Developing a crisis management plan for severe negative reviews

• Have leadership formulate an action plan
• Designate responding decision makers
• Draft templated replies for widespread issues
• Outline policies regarding refunds or exchanges

With an agenda for managing reviews, running your Facebook presence becomes much smoother.

Compliance and Legal Considerations

 

While replying to feedback, ensure you adhere to Facebook and legal regulations:

Understanding Facebook’s policies on reviews

• Authentic reviews only – no fake posts
• Transparent incentives are OK, but no review demands
• Respect privacy – don’t share private data publicly
• Comply with Facebook’s Terms of Service and Community Standards

Legal aspects of managing online reviews

• Avoid libelous, obscene, deceptive or infringing content
• Seek legal counsel regarding suppression vs. lawsuits
• Formulate NDAs, criteria for non-disparagement clauses
• Enable right to replies, corrections and consent withdrawal

Ethical considerations in review management

• Respond respectfully despite frustrations
• Never demand profile access or friend requests
• Honor privacy and anonymity wishes
• Rectify honest mistakes appropriately

Mind internal policies plus local laws for lawful review operations that customers trust.

Conclusion

Reviews on a Facebook business page can deeply influence customer loyalty and sales conversions. But without careful configuration, response effort, and analysis, useless or damaging feedback accumulates. This guide presented strategies to profit from reviews instead of dreading them.

Recap of key strategies to manage Facebook reviews

We covered critical advice on setup, navigation, replying, reporting, showcasing positives, soliciting more volume, using software tools, and developing workflows. Apply this framework to turn your Facebook presence into a competitive advantage.

The long-term impact of effective review management on business success

Delighted customers who freely advocate your brand to friends are ultimately an unpaid sales team. Plus operational changes from review insights create higher efficiency and revenue. Invest time into Facebook review management and reap rewards for years through greater trust and community goodwill.

Want hands-on guidance for managing Facebook reviews? Contact our experts for a complimentary consultation on maximizing your Facebook and online presence.