Ever since Facebook debuted Likes in 2009, people have been asking for a Dislike option, and some have even wondered when the Love button will be available. Apparently, a simple “Like” doesn’t cover enough of the emotion that people want to display when they acknowledge posts. Fortunately, Facebook listened to those gripes, agreed with them, and rolled out the brand new Facebook Reactions just last week.
It’s an upgrade that has lots of people talking. Sure, you can still Like things on Facebook, but in addition to Liking, you can also quickly react with one of five other emotions: Love, Haha, Wow, Sad, and Angry.
For most users of Facebook, Reactions has been a fun addition, as their friends can Love photos of their cute kids, get Angry at the picture of morning rush hour traffic, or express sadness when bad news is shared. But for businesses, Reactions are an important addition to Facebook — perhaps more important than you might think. With Reactions, there’s a lot of potential for improving marketing efforts and understanding customers better. How can your company harness the potential of Facebook Reactions? Here are six things you might want to know.
1. You can see your Reactions breakdown.
How are your followers reacting to your posts? If you check your Facebook Insights panel, you can see who Likes your posts, who Loves them, who is Saddened by them, and so on. This is more helpful than simple Likes in terms of understanding how people are engaging with your posts.
2. Angry is better than a negative comment.
Now with Facebook Reactions, negative comments can potentially be minimized, since it’s a lot easier for a disgruntled follower to react with Angry than type out a whole comment. Sure, you don’t want your followers to feel anger or animosity toward you or your company, but an Angry reaction is a whole lot better than having to diffuse an angry comment.
3. Encourage followers to use Reactions instead of just clicking Like.
This not only helps followers feel like they have more of a choice in how they engage with your posts, but it also gives you more specific feedback on customers’ feelings.
4. Be proactive about getting followers comfortable with Reactions.
In the coming weeks, Facebook users will start to use Reactions for post engagement with their friends, family, and finally businesses that they follow. You can expedite this and encourage followers to use Reactions by holding promotions. For example, you might encourage followers to Love a post, and then pick a winner or two at random for a small prize. Once users are comfortable with Reactions, it’s likely that they’ll start to use them more often, and you’ll be able to understand your followers a bit better.
5. You can see how people react to the competition.
Because anyone can see the Reactions to any post or photo, it’s probably a good idea to look at how people are engaging with posts by your competition. This small act can give you even more information about how consumers might feel about similar products or services that you offer.
6. The newsfeed algorithm treats all reactions the same — for now.
When Facebook determines which posts show up in newsfeeds, it’s largely based on user engagement. Currently, all engagement is treated equally, whether it’s Like or Love or Angry. In the future, however, it’s entirely possible that certain engagements will carry more weight more than others. Loves could be worth more than mere Likes, for example. It’s nothing to be concerned about just yet, but do keep it mind, as it could become a factor down the road.
Have you used Facebook Reactions yet? Like it or not, they seem to be here to stay, and while change can initially seem bad, we’d encourage you to look upon Reactions favorably. They help users engage more specifically with posts, they can provide some useful insight when it comes to the whims of your followers, and when you get right down to it, they’re sort of fun. Get a jump on Reactions today by getting your followers using them, and make a commitment to check how your customers react to what you have to say.