Why Dealers Should Be Using Facebook Page Verification

Recently, Facebook have introduced Page Verification for local businesses, which adds a grey tick to a Page name to show it has been verified as a genuine company. More importantly, the tick shows next to the Page name in Facebook search results, and the good news is that it is really easy for dealers to set up.

Designed to complement the pre-existing blue ticks that are used to identify celebrities and large-scale organisations, the new grey tick is seen as a way by Facebook to help their users find current up-to-date Business Pages, helping to avoid them landing on old, inactive or non-authentic accounts.

In Facebook searches, those Pages with the verification tick will rank higher than those that don’t – meaning prospective customers are more likely to visit Verified Pages as there is an element of trust with the tick that the Page is representing a real business.

With internet scams being rife these days, there is real concern amongst consumers, so having an instantly recognisable way of ensuring the Page, and business they are engaging with is genuine can only benefit both consumers and businesses.

We have already verified our Facebook Business Page here at Dragon2000.

Dealers should be taking advantage of social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, to help customer engagement and increase their online presence, and many dealers have set up Facebook Pages for their businesses to do just that.

Dealers who have a Dragon2000 built car dealer website can also take advantage of having an integrated stock tab on their Facebook Page, where stock for sale details are listed with photos, which links to the vehicle on the dealers website – driving people who found them via Facebook to the dealers website to see more info, thus engaging them further and hopefully leading to them making an enquiry on a vehicle.

Many car buyers will turn to social media when researching what a dealer is like to do business with because of the interaction with other consumers via reviews and posted comments. With Facebook in particular, having a business verified can only add to the trust of the consumer that they are dealing with a “proper” business.

It also helps if a dealer has had several attempts at Facebook Pages in the past, and old Pages are still in existence, that the verified one is the current, up-to-date Page that users should be visiting.

We have already carried out the Facebook Page Verification process ourselves at Dragon2000 on our own Business Page, and we have found it was really simple to do. Only Admin users of a Facebook Page can instigate the verification, and the page must meet this criteria to be eligible for a grey verification badge:

• The Page category must be “Companies & Organisations” or “Local Businesses” (If it is something different it can be changed via About > Edit on the page)
• The Page must have a profile picture and a cover photo.
• The Page must have the business location and phone number.

If any of the criteria above are not met, the verification option will not be available.

1. On your Business Page, go to Settings
2. General > Page Verification > Verify Page > Get Started
3. Enter your publicly listed phone number, country and language
4. Click “Call me Now” – an automated message will play when you answer the phone giving you a 4-digit code.
5. Enter the code that Facebook have just supplied you with over the phone

If dealers have a phone system that requires choosing options (1 for sales, 2 for service etc), the automated call may not reach them. If this is the case, dealers can still verify their Page with a business document.

Simply follow the steps above but click “Verify this Page with documents” instead at the bottom left of the window that appears, then upload a picture/scan of an official document such as the company incorporation certificate or a utility bill.

After Facebook receives the dealers verification code or business document, they’ll review the info to confirm that it matches public records and send the dealer a notification or email about the verification status within a few days.

With this feature having only recently being introduced in to the UK, there couldn’t be a better time for dealers to get ahead of the game and maximise their social media engagement with potential customers.

Dragon2000 have been helping dealers and garages drive their businesses forward since 1995. Talk to our team today on 01327 222 333 or email sales@dragon2000.co.uk to find out how our dealer management system, car dealer websites and mobile apps can help your business increase profits and reduce costs.