Facebook have launched Reactions and today the platform has been abuzz
with people excited to see these new emotions linked to the “like” button. I was excited as much as anyone, though like most
people I’m still not sure what it will mean for businesses on Facebook.
The hope is these new Reactions will give people a chance to express
more than just a “like” to posts from their friends and family; and businesses
to a lesser extent. Sometimes a big
thumbs up just doesn’t seem appropriate, though we know people have also used
the like function to say “I see you”, or “I stand with you”. Reactions now give users a chance to express
their sadness or anger about a situation that someone has posted about. Or their pure love for that new baby
chimpanzee (Hamilton Zoo shout out!).
At this stage it is likely that these reactions will work with your
business page reach in much the same way as a “like”. So, any reaction is an interaction that will
drive some reach. That said, I seemed to get more reach from posts reacted to with anger and love today!
In the future,
Facebook may look to create more complex algorithms around this. Maybe if a business page seems to have sadder
or angrier reactions to their posts; their posts will stop getting the same
level of reach. However, there are
business pages that will always have those reactions, such as news sites. There are even causes and charities that rely
on their followers being filled with empathy and/or rage as part of their Call
to Action. For this reason, I’m not sure
how quickly they could move towards that kind of goal or if it’s even on the
radar at this stage. Perhaps they will prioritise strong emotional reactions for reach.
With Reactions you will have more options for engaging your customers. So instead of asking people to like, or comment
a number based on their response to an image, you could assign each option an
appropriate Reaction. You can ask people
to vote on a new product idea and get immediate and more rounded feedback on
whether you are on the right track. Below is a great example from NZ's Cookie Time cookies - love it! So innovative and they worked quickly to get this out and working for their brand:
Reactions will give you a chance to quantitatively measure the emotion
of your audience. But it won’t tell you
the why and it won’t tell you to what degree.
After all, we can all feel angry – but why am I angry about your post
and how angry am I? Did you post about
your shop being broken into? Or did you tell all your followers that you are
taking all their pre-paid money for a trip to the Bahamas?
Likewise what if I express surprise? Did I
win something? Did you bring out a new product?
Or did you post something less positively shocking? No, for a more qualitative view of your followers’
reaction you are better off looking in the comments section.
Still, for those of us who have been dreaming of a dislike button
since the day we signed up, Reactions offers the excitement of wishes becoming
reality. Let the reacting commence!
Kmedia Ltd is headed by Kym Moore, a writer and Social Media Enthusiast. Visit www.kmedia.co.nz to see our offerings or contact us directly at info@kmedia.co.nz for pricing and more information. Follow us over at https://www.facebook.com/kmedialtdnz
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