Facebook has been quietly testing a brand new feature for the last two months – and it’s already impacting your business.
At the easy-to-access URL facebook.com/services, the network has pulled together a searchable directory of service providers and brick and mortar locations, like restaurants, retail, contractors, painters, offices and more. This move is similar to Google listings, Yelp reviews and Angie’s List – the industry giants already playing the game.
How does facebook.com/services impact your business?
Reviews are listed according to the best services or locations on Facebook, as rated by users. If you own a Facebook Page that has a physical location, users can rate your page through a 5 star system. When visiting facebook.com/services, users are able to search for the best of the best in a variety of industries; so, if your business is ranked highly, you have a greater chance of being viewed by potential customers and clients. If you are not ranked highly, or if you’re not monitoring ratings and comments left on your Facebook Page, you’re less likely to be found – and more likely to receive negative reviews.
So, what should you do?
If you haven’t been keeping an eye on this new Facebook service, you’re not alone. It’s still very much in beta. In fact, Facebook hasn’t even started to promote this service.
But it’s coming. And when Facebook starts to push their listings service, you’ll want to be ready.
So what should you do?
- Monitor all reviews and comments. For physical business locations, you need to know what your customer and clients are saying about you. Not only can users on your Facebook page see how quickly you respond to direct messages, they can also see if you have or haven’t responded to a customer review on your Page. Remember – customer reviews will impact your ranking on Facebook’s service listing.
- Have a response strategy in place. If you come across a negative review (it happens), you need a response strategy in place. Work with your internal marketing and communications teams to develop a response strategy, one that can be reviewed and executed quickly. The worst thing you can do is hide from comments and feedback online.
- Know what users are saying about you online – not just on Facebook. Users are talking about your brand online, and you need to know what they’re saying. Unfortunately, traditional tools miss up to 85% of local comments on review sites. That’s why we’ve developed a solution, ICUC Local. ICUC Local helps you attract and retain more customers, and increase revenue for your physical location businesses on social media. Our technology scaled by human resources combines review sites, social media, blogs, listings, and web rankings.
Facebook’s brand new Services feature is still working quietly behind-the-scenes, but you’ll want to be prepared when the network launches their listing.
