Google Reviews Vs Facebook Reviews: The Better Platform for B2B Marketing
What is the first thing that you do before buying any product? Research about it, right? The research involves budget, features, services, and more. But the most important factor that determines buying decision is – Review. After all, the person using the product or service can provide a better view of the product. And therefore, we have adequate platforms where people can voice their opinions and provide their insight regarding any brand or product.
And whenever we talk about reviews, the major platforms that often come to mind are – Google Reviews and Facebook Reviews. On one side, Google Reviews has established itself as one of the most prominent platforms as it allows only authenticated users for the reviews. On the other hand, Facebook is the king of social media platforms and has a huge user base, which means it can provide many reviews.
Before understanding both platforms, let us first understand why online reviews are so important for businesses.
Why Does Online Review Matters?
It might surprise you but nearly 9 out of 10 customers read reviews before making a purchase. And while we are talking about reviews.
It is also important that you showcase reviews to the audience; it can be – by publishing them on marketing channels or displaying them on the website, as 62% of consumers say that they don’t buy from brands that censor online reviews. And 59% of users read Google reviews. Therefore, we have seen businesses actively adapting to the strategy to embed Google reviews on their websites.
Moreover, product pages with customer reviews experience 3.5 times more conversion compared to the pages without reviews. And as the internet has brought the world closer and has made communication easier 79% of shoppers say they trust online reviews as much as they trust personal recommendations.
Sticking to the core of out topic, 92% of B2B buyers use online review sites to get information and recommendations for their purchase decision.
So now you know the importance of online reviews, it’s time to know a brief about these two giant platforms. So, let’s discuss them separately.
Google Reviews: In a Brief
Google is the most visited website in the world. Whenever people want to search for anything related to any topic, Google is one of the prime websites they tend to visit to collect information. In simple words, we can say that Google is alien to none.
Google now has its platform to allow people to post their opinions and reviews regarding any product or brand. It not only helps customers to make their buying decisions but also helps businesses to prove their credibility.
Users can post their reviews on the Google My Business platform using their authentic Google IDs as it only allows Gmail account holders to post their reviews. Hence, it is the most trusted platform for businesses and customers.
It also provides a facility to the users to post their comments and provide their ratings with their feedback. Reviews and star ratings directly display below the business profile on Google.
Facebook Reviews: In a Brief
As Google has supremacy as a search engine platform, Facebook enjoys its domination on social media platforms. The platform boasts of the highest user base amongst all other social media platforms and stands as the undisputed leader.
Facebook also provides its users to post their reviews related to any business. Users can post their feedback on business pages. In a recent update, Facebook allows users to select ‘recommended’ or ‘not recommended’ options while providing their reviews. The recent update has been very helpful, as, in the past, there were many cases where people used to post one or two-word reviews that did not help customers make their decisions, and neither has it helped businesses know about the response of their products.
And now it’s time to draw some conclusions as we pit Google reviews against Facebook reviews to know who holds more relevance in B2B marketing.
Google Reviews Vs Facebook Reviews – The Better Platform for B2B Marketing
When we talk about B2B marketing, the reviews bring a new perspective to the discussion. As businesses put an extra effort in research and finding reviews before making their purchase decision. While reviews mostly help businesses win customers, one shouldn’t forget that 92% of B2B buyers decide based on reviews, as mentioned above.
Facebook business pages give the access to users to voice their opinions regarding any business and hence Facebook reviews are often taken into account by the customers. People are more familiar and tend to use social media platforms, and hence we can say that people mostly prefer using Facebook reviews. It is more beneficial for small and medium scale businesses as these reviews not only helps in establishing their brand credibility but also provides a great boost to the audiences.
But when it comes to B2B marketing, things might have different viewpoints. As mentioned above Google reviews is the most trusted review platform and as it allows genuine users with Google accounts to post their reviews, therefore we can say that businesses are more likely to prefer Google reviews for their purchase decision.
So we can say that in a close battle between two great platforms, Google reviews just edges past the victory line due to its credibility and backing by our very beloved – Google. But while we focus on Google reviews, one cannot ignore Facebook reviews; after all Facebook is a social media giant and hence you have a great opportunity to attract more reviews by using the platform.
The Conclusion
Reviews are important, whether it’s through personal recommendation or while through the internet. But as we now have two amazing platforms easily available on your screens, it adds the importance of reviews.
So while you consider collecting reviews, don’t let the fact slip your mind that displaying reviews is as important as collecting them. So whether you decide to embed Google reviews on your website or display Facebook reviews on your marketing channels, keep in mind that you have to be transparent. As it not only helps to win the customers but also enhances your brand reputation.