Looks like Facebook is getting in on the reviews game. While checking in on the DealerOn Facebook page today, I noticed a new tool that I think auto dealers may want to keep an eye on. Expanding on the simple “like” button that seems to be everywhere, Facebook now lets users leave recommendations for business pages.
Located in the sidebar, Facebook has introduced a “Recommend This Place” option on Place pages (if you’ve merged your Place page with your Business page, it will appear there). Users are asked to write a recommendation, and after clicking in the text box, you’re presented with the option of who to share your recommendation with (Everyone, Just Friends, or Customize).
Recommendations will show on the wall of the user and in the news feed of those that the user chooses to share it with. If a recommendation is shared with “Everyone”, the admin of that page will be able to see it.
If you are an admin, you will have control over which public (those shared with Everyone) recommendations appear on your page and can remove them by simply clicking an “x”.
The only concern I have with this new tool is that these recommendations are not always visible to the admin of a page. The default is to share with Everyone, so hopefully most users won’t change that. Also, I would imagine that Facebook will start to use these recommendations as another ranking factor in their search tool, so the more reviews your dealership has, the more likely you’ll show up in the search results (just a hunch—Facebook hasn’t disclosed their search algorithm).
What do you think? Have you used this new feature on your dealership’s Facebook Place page? Do you think this is a positive or negative for your dealership and your online marketing efforts?
