Follow Products And Reviewers In Your Facebook Feed With PowerReviews

When it comes to selling products on the Web, the more consumer reviews a product attracts, the more conversions and sales it sees as a result. This is why PowerReviews has built a social commerce network of more than 23 million reviews across 5,500 sites, including Staples.com, Gap.com, and ToysRUs.com. Today, PowerReviews is announcing the launch of two Facebook products that allow brands and retailers to leverage the social network as a platform for driving sales by making the process of online shopping and product discovery more social.

PowerReviews’ first new product, “Facebook Discovery”, enables consumers to engage in conversations around particular products, categories, and reviews and have them pushed directly into their newsfeed, hopefully creating the opportunity for viral marketing — and not wall spam. Users of Facebook Discovery can also follow particular reviewers of interest, so that all of their future reviews are published to their wall, or they can opt in to receive news of trending products in a daily product review, or ask friends friends what products they should choose via a question or poll.

The startup’s second product launching today, “Facebook Community”, gives brands and retailers the opportunity to foster community among their customers — both on the product as well as their Facebook fan pages. In terms of brand marketing, Facebook Community allows brands to reward their ambassadors, while at the same time sharing feedback and advice among the community. The product also gives brands the ability to view the top 100 reviewers in order to identify their most active ambassadors and supporters.

What’s more, consumers can connect their Facebook profiles to their reviews to create a suped up, uber profile designed to give identity — and added credibility — to their reviews for their friends and other shoppers. their Facebook profile to their reviews creating a rich onsite profile. This increases the credibility of their reviews for other shoppers. As Erick wrote in out last coverage of PowerReviews, social sharing is a big assist for businesses, as each share is worth $15.72 in incremental sales.

PowerReviews has raised just over $37 million in outside investment to date, from a variety of VCs and angels, including Menlo Ventures, Lehman Brothers, and Draper Richards.