Reviews and Recommendations and Why They Are Important

Much has been written about the value of reviews on social media and at a recent Networking Hour Event, I asked the Networking Daisies their thoughts on reviews and recommendations and which tools are the best.

The general consensus was that positive reviews are extremely valuable as it increases the credibility of the product or service before a client makes a decision to use a particular business. Hello Peter and Linked-In offer very powerful tools for positive and negative reviews, although probably better suited to the more corporate industries. 

The networkers agreed that Facebook’s Review capability is definitely more suited to the small businesses that make use of the Daisy Network.  Officially known as Facebook Recommendations, these reviews help expand the businesses’ search visibility.  It also provides new clients the opportunity to get a sense of the business ethic, quality of the product, levels of service, efficiency etc., thus improving the company’s online reputation.  

Many clients, customers and shoppers share posts on their own personal or business pages as a form of thanks and as a review.  These also get shared to private and public groups that encourage this behaviour.  This is amazing, and don’t stop doing that!  It is tricky, though, to revert back to these posts and they don’t necessarily improve the search algorithm to your businesses’ benefit; so in order to better influence the productivity of your business page, it really is a good idea to turn your Facebook Review tab on. (There were a good number of us who didn’t know that this capability needed to be turned on! 🤭)

The process to follow can be found in this informative article: “Everything You Need to Know About Facebook Reviews”

We didn’t chat about Instagram so would love your feedback with regards to how this medium works for you for referrals and recommendations.

And negative reviews?  They are important too.  Try to take your ego out of the situation (yes, this is difficult to do), be mindful of what is being said (i.e. listen to the facts) and take the opportunity to improve where necessary.  It’s also a good idea to ask clarifying questions (if the situation allows for this).  Know that the negative feedback isn’t a personal attack and take time to process your emotions, before you respond (if and where possible).  Try to view the feedback from the critic’s point of view but also determine whether the feedback is constructive or destructive and if the latter, then it’s more likely to be about the other person, not you – and move on!

If you have found this article interesting and/or enjoy the networking events, then please do leave us a review. 

Post Written By: 
Michelle Longman
Founder of Networking Daisies