Online reputation is everything for a brand. And statistics reveal that Facebook holds 19% of all customer reviews and can significantly impact your company's online reputation and image, for better or worse.
While positive reviews have the potential to attract new customers to your business, there may come a time when social media managers have to deal with negative reviews depending on the frequency of their occurrence. In such cases, panicking and being hasty is not the right way to go about it.
We are here for that. We have not only presented steps to remove negative Facebook reviews but also how to manage them. So, explore the blog to know how to manage the noise with poise, along with the pros and cons that come with it.
Understanding The Importance Of Facebook Reviews
Well, people rely on reviews! 93% of customers look at online reviews before making a purchase. Hence, negative or positive reviews can significantly influence their buying decision. And if we talk about Facebook reviews, particularly, then the platform with 2.96 billion monthly active users holds significant importance for businesses and individuals alike and their online reputation.
To build a better online reputation for your brand, here are some key reasons why understanding and managing Facebook reviews are essential:
Influence On Consumer Decision-Making
Facebook being the third-most-visited website in the world, is often consulted by users either to shop online or to check reviews before purchasing something. In fact, 54.9% of Facebook users follow or research brands and products on the platform. In such a scenario, positive reviews on the platform can act as powerful social proof, influencing potential customers' decisions to engage with a business, make a purchase, or visit a physical location.
For instance, check out this positive customer review on Wendy’s Facebook Page.
Optimized Search Engine Visibility
Facebook Reviews can be crucial in optimizing local SEO (Search Engine Optimization). When a company's Facebook page receives positive reviews, it enhances the overall online reputation, credibility, and trustworthiness. Search engines, like Google, take into account signals from social media platforms, including Facebook, while determining search rankings. Businesses with positive reviews are more likely to generate increased user engagement and appear in local search results, making it easier for potential customers to find and consider them.
Garnering Valuable Customer Feedback and Insights
Facebook Reviews offer valuable feedback directly from customers. Whether positive or negative, if you look at it from an optimistic angle, then it has a lot of benefits for your business. For instance, positive reviews can highlight what aspects of your business are working well and your strong areas, while negative reviews can reveal areas that are lacking and require more improvement. With both insights, you can take a step forward and refine your products, services, and overall customer experience management.
For instance, check out this negative review that a customer has shared on the Starbucks Facebook Page.
Addressing Customer Concerns
Negative reviews, while challenging, provide an opportunity to address customer concerns publicly. Responding to reviews, whether positive or negative, on Facebook demonstrates that your business values customer feedback and is actively engaged with its audience. In fact, 53% of people are likelier to buy from a business they can message. Facebook allows businesses to add Facebook Messenger live chat to their websites to improve customer service. By responding professionally and resolving issues, businesses can showcase their commitment to excellent customer service and problem-solving, leading to increased loyalty.
For instance, check out this concern that a customer has shared on McDonald’s Facebook Page.
Increased Competitive Advantage
Did you know that 58% of shoppers say they are willing to pay more for products that have good reviews? Well, a collection of positive Facebook reviews can actually signal that your existing customers are having a good brand experience, which further removes the hesitation of new customers when considering to buy or avail your product/ service respectively. This gives you a competitive advantage over others in the same industry, as customers are more likely to choose a business with a better overall rating and a significant number of positive reviews.
Steps To Remove Facebook Reviews
Dealing with reviews can get tricky sometimes. Yes, especially if they are negative or fake, be it Facebook or any other social platform for that matter. But since our matter of concern is Facebook in this blog, we’ll stick to that.
There are basically two ways to deal with negative or fake reviews on Facebook.
- Removing a particular review that you deem harmful to your business.
- Hiding the entire Review Section until you get some solid positive reviews.
We’ll tell you both. While you can find the easy steps below, before hopping to do that, know that removing a review requires having a comment on them to be reported. If the review doesn’t have a comment, it isn’t possible to flag and report it. In fact, this is applicable to any reviews, even the fake ones or from someone who has never done business with your company.
In cases such as these, we recommend you comment on them as though they were real negative reviews. This way, it will have a comment and can be flagged and reported. Besides this, you can also make a positive impression, as the customers will notice that you have made an active effort to attempt to resolve the problem, which can further enhance your brand reputation.
To know furthermore about removing or hiding bad social media reviews, check out the sections below.
Removing Facebook Reviews
Removing Facebook reviews is not directly possible for page admins. However, Facebook provides options to manage reviews and report inappropriate ones. If you believe a review violates Facebook's policies or is fake, follow these steps to report it and potentially have it removed:
Step 1: Log in to your Facebook account and go to your business page.
Step 2: Click on the "Reviews" tab on the left-hand side of your page to view all the reviews.
Step 3: Identify the review you want to report for removal.
Step 4: Click on the three horizontal dots (ellipsis) located on the right-hand side of the review.
Step 5: Select the "Find support or report recommendation" option from the drop-down menu.
Step 6: Choose the appropriate reason for reporting the review. Facebook provides options like spam, hate speech, harassment, and other policy violations.
Step 7: Follow the on-screen instructions to provide additional information if required.
Step 8: Click "Submit" to send the report to Facebook for review.
Keep in mind that Facebook will assess the reported review and determine whether it violates their Community Standards or review guidelines. If Facebook deems the review to be in violation, they may remove it. However, if they find the review to be within their guidelines, it will likely remain visible.
It's important to note that attempting to manipulate or misuse the review reporting system can lead to consequences for your page, so only report reviews that genuinely violate Facebook's policies.
Remember, managing reviews professionally and responding to them courteously can be a more constructive approach to maintaining a positive online reputation. And more so, engaging with customers and addressing their concerns can demonstrate your commitment to excellent customer service.
Hiding Facebook Reviews Section
While removing and reporting individual Facebook Reviews can be laborious, you can always hide the entire Review Section for some time if you feel that you do not have enough good reviews.
We recommend this step for new businesses who want to get a fresh slate of positive reviews. Otherwise, businesses batting for a considerable period of time should avoid this, as removing the Reviews Section entirely will mean that customers can no longer leave feedback, good or bad, which can be an obstacle in gathering constructive feedback.
Depending on your choice and business requirements, follow the steps below to hide the Review Section until restoring them.
Step 1: Log in to your Facebook account as the page admin and navigate to your business page.
Step 2: Go to the "Settings" tab located at the top-right corner of your Facebook page.
Step 3: In the left-hand column of the Settings page, click on "Templates and Tabs."
Step 4: Scroll down to find the "Reviews" tab in the list of tabs available for your page.
Step 5: Click on the "Settings" button next to the "Reviews" tab.
Step 6: Toggle off the option that says "Show Reviews" to hide the Reviews section from your page.
Step 7: Save the changes.
Keep in mind that hiding the Reviews section means that visitors to your page won't be able to see or leave reviews. Suppose you want to maintain transparency and receive feedback from customers. In that case, it's generally better to manage reviews rather than hide them completely, and that's what takes us to the next section of the blog, which is managing your Facebook Reviews.
Steps To Manage Facebook Reviews
Yes, Facebook Reviews need to be managed if you really want to capitalize on them. Besides, for each negative comment, deleting or removing is not the ideal solution unless it's derogatory. Hence, managing it is the middle path you need to take to build a successful brand.
In fact, with 60% of consumers feeling that the number of reviews a business has is critical when reviewing and deciding whether to use its services, business owners or marketing managers need to embrace 4 essential steps to manage their online reputation management strategy, once their number of reviews and business grows.
Step 1: Leverage A Reputation Management Tool
Time is one of the crucial factors when it comes to managing reviews on Facebook, as it controls about 3% of all online reviews. Besides, if you receive a lot of reviews, it can be hard to keep a timely track of all of them and address the negative ones as a priority. To give an easy and hassle-free solution to your concern, we’d recommend you resort to online reputation management tools in such situations.
And Statusbrew can be one suitable option for you. Ranging from Google My Business, Google Play Store, App Store, Trip Advisor, and TrustRadius to Yelp, this multiple platform-friendly tool can help you easily manage all from a single dashboard. This even includes managing communications on social and messaging channels like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Whatsapp, Line, etc.
Besides this, some of the features you can exploit include:
- Leveraging AI-powered sentiment analysis to understand audience emotions.
- Manage reviews and customer queries at a large scale.
- Get notified of all negative and fake reviews and manage them along with your team.
- Automatically route reviews to a specific inbox/team member based on your requirement.
- Keep track of customers often posting fake reviews using inbuilt CRM.
- Control team member access.
- Get in-depth brand reputation insights.
- Auto-hide spam and trolls across your social profiles.
- Identify new customers with listening solutions.
If you want to access these features while managing your Facebook reviews besides your social conversation, book a FREE demo today and see for yourself ?
Step 2: Ask For Positive Facebook Reviews Smartly
According to USA Today, 5% to 10% of customers actually write reviews proactively when asked by a brand. This is one of the most effective ways to keep and manage a steady stream of positive reviews rolling in as they attract customers to a business and increase their spending by over 30%.
Besides this, another way to manage can be to influence other potential customers with positive feedback because 73% of them are looking for recent reviews. For them to notice the same, you can embed Facebook Reviews into your website and other social platforms and showcase your existing positive reviews to build trust and encourage others to leave one.
To know more about asking for reviews, check out our bonus content: 12 smart ways to ask for a review.
Step 3: Give Equal Importance To Both Positive And Negative Reviews
When it comes to managing reviews, remember that both positive and negative ones require equal weightage in terms of importance. Just because negative reviews lead to a churn of almost 40% of potential customers, it does not mean that you ignore the positive ones. In fact, 67% of consumers want a mix of both positive and negative reviews.
So, whether it's a glowing testimonial or a critical comment, it's crucial to respond to all reviews, as acknowledging it makes a difference. Hence, the next time you spot a negative Facebook review, ask the user to contact you privately to see if you can resolve their issue. And for a positive one, adequately thank them and, as mentioned in the previous step, attempt to leverage them for your own benefit.
4 Mistakes To Avoid While Managing Facebook Reviews
While these online critiques can do wonders for your business, they can also pose potential pitfalls if not managed properly. Hence, with managing Facebook reviews, there are some common mistakes that businesses should avoid to ensure a successful review management strategy. As a savvy social media manager, if you want to want to steer clear of common mistakes that could tarnish your brand's reputation, here are four of them.
Ignoring Or Deleting Essential Negative Reviews
Think like a customer. Would you like it if you report an issue with your product/ service and nobody even acknowledges it? It's true for all of us. The online reputation of a brand is deeply rooted in how they treat their customers. Furthermore, 96% of customers look for negative reviews specifically.
If your brand is already going through a rough patch, ignoring constructive negative reviews can worsen the situation and do more harm than good. It will alienate your customers, making them lose their faith in your brand.
We don't want this, right? Instead, embrace them as opportunities for growth. Respond promptly and professionally, offering sincere apologies and solutions to rectify the situation. Show your customers that their feedback matters and you're committed to making things right.
Responding Emotionally Or Defensively
Since 49% of consumers trust online reviews as much as they’d trust a personal recommendation, it is very important to diplomatically handle them.
Unfortunately, some businesses get caught up in the heat of the moment, responding to negative reviews with fiery retorts. Remember, the comment section is not the Colosseum, and a heated Facebook comment section can be a death knell for your online reputation.
Stay cool under pressure! Respond with empathy, understanding, and a calm demeanor. Address the customer's concerns without getting defensive. By taking the high road, you'll not only diffuse the situation but also demonstrate your commitment to excellent customer service.
Violating Facebook's Review Guidelines
We get it; the lure of a perfect five-star rating can be tempting, but the path of fake reviews could lead to a reputation disaster. And if your brand is up to perform for the long run, avoid the pitfalls of fake review cover-ups.
Attempting to manipulate or incentivize customers to leave positive reviews or report fake reviews can violate Facebook's review guidelines which can lead to penalties, including the removal of reviews or even suspension of your page. Besides, customers are savvy, and they can find out how to spot a fake review easily.
Hence, focus on providing an outstanding experience and encourage genuine feedback from satisfied customers. Authenticity is the key to building trust and long-lasting customer relationships.
Not Monitoring Reviews Regularly
Failing to monitor reviews regularly can result in a drop in ratings if you have received new reviews in several months or received several negative reviews in a row. This can lead to missing out on opportunities to engage with customers and address their concerns and key areas of improvement. In fact, 53% of consumers expect brands to respond to negative reviews within a week.
Hence, it's important to set up notifications for new reviews or take the help of Statusbrew to streamline your review management process. We understand your hassle and will help you automate certain actions to keep track of every customer review and comment across social.
By avoiding these mistakes, businesses can create a more effective and customer-centric approach to managing Facebook reviews.
Remove Or Manage? What’s Your Take?
If you are reading this, we know that’s a lot of information to process, especially if you are new in business. But if you have understood the “whys” and the “hows” that we have tried to validate throughout the blog, you will know the importance of gauging it.
Following the given steps is easy, but understanding which approach to take in what situation is the real deal. And if you feel confused while doing that, feel free to revisit our blog and come up with the right decision.
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