Since being rolled out in February, Facebook Reactions – an extension of the Facebook Like button, are being extensively used by businesses’ fans and followers! As mobile grows to become the biggest deal out there, While the much anticipated move was made purely to help users better express their emotions,[bctt tweet=”Facebook Reactions present a great opportunity for SMEs to get more meaningful business insights” via=”no”] with respect to how people react with a given post or ad.
So how can you make the most out of this feature? Let me explain using the acronym: R.E.A.C.T.I.O.N.S.
Research Competitors
Before you start your own journey with Facebook Reactions, learn from the rivals. You can go to your competitors’ Facebook page, click on the reactions of any post and see what kind of emotions it has generated.
If you see a lot of “Love” or “Haha” for certain types of posts, and that is the kind of engagement you would like to generate for your own Facebook business page as well, you can [bctt tweet=”craft a content posting strategy that aims to get the kind of Facebook Reactions you are after. “]
Encourage Reactions
There is no questioning the fact that Facebook Reactions are a hit. Small businesses seeking to take their Facebook engagement to another level, can create posts that encourages reactions more than comments, to get better insights into how their audience feels with respect to certain products or offers.
For example a fashion brand can use 4 different images to learn which design got the most “Wows.”
Avoid Negative Comments
We all make mistakes, but their results could be amplified if we have a social media channel where our customers can bombard us with negative comments and bad reviews. Since now users can show their sadness or anger through the reactions, businesses can cleverly duck negative comments by being proactive.
Adding an explanation or apology before negative comments start to pour in can curtail bad word of mouth, since most of the users might just respond with an “Anger” reaction. An Anger reaction will still have less impact than a negative comment. In fact, they may even Like your proactive thinking!
Nonetheless, it’s important not to discount negative emotions about your business or a given post. [bctt tweet=”Negative Facebook Reactions can be an indication that you need a change in your posting strategy.”]
Comprehend Feedback
Not everything in life is likable! Facebook Reactions are designed to cut down the need to comment in order to express various emotions enticed by a given post.
While comments provide a qualitative way to understand the audience feedback, [bctt tweet=”Facebook Reactions provide more of a quantitative way to measure the emotions through data.”]
Test Different Posts
Depending upon the pre-defined success metrics for your Facebook page, i.e. whether you want it to get more clicks or simply reach your target audience, [bctt tweet=”you can use Facebook Reactions to see what kinds of posts are doing better than others in terms of user engagement.”]
You can sort each post from Facebook’s Insight’s panel and click each post to see what reactions it evoked the most.
If posts getting more Love are being shared a lot, it’s time to make more of such posts to improve the customer experience and give them exactly what they Love.
Incorporate With Contests
Taking Facebook contests a step further, [bctt tweet=”Small Businesses can incorporate a given Facebook reaction with contest entries to reward their hardcore fans.”] This is how one online brand just nailed it!
Make sure you follow the Facebook contest guidelines, before initiating a campaign for you small business.
Outperform in Ads
For years, businesses have been trying to understand how their customers react to their ads. Now it’s been made simpler.
Facebook reactions are not only helpful in getting user feedback with respect to regular business posts, but can also help marketers gather a wealth of information into how their target audience responds to paid advertisements.
If you are wondering why you see a certain type of ads in your newsfeed every time you log in, it’s because Facebook personalises the feed with respect to how you react to the posts you see there.
A Like, Love or Wow reaction from your audience to your business ad means that Facebook should be showing more of such content in their news feed, hence making your Ad campaigns much more effective and laser targeted.
Notice Post Lovers
People are more likely to talk about things that they love! Following the same principal explained by Jonah Berger in his book: Contagious: Why Things Catch On, you have a good enough reason to keep a close eye on the people who “Love” your posts most frequently.
Explore the Love icon on the posts to dig out the names of those who Love you. These people can make great brand advocates for your business and deserve special attention.
You can send them special offers to build loyalty and give more great content that you think they will Love and Share.
Share Your Own Reactions
Finally, just the way you had been liking or commenting on other pages that complemented your business in one way or the other, [bctt tweet=”you can use Facebook Reactions along with comments to get more visibility.”]
Conclusion
Reactions provide powerful insights into the way your customers feel about your business and what you post online! [bctt tweet=”If managed correctly, insights gathered through Facebook Reactions can prove to be a game changer for your brand”]. Businesses need to make sure they are pushing out posts and advertisements that are sensitive to their audience likes and dislikes.
Nearly 2 months down the line, Likes still seem to be a popular reaction with Facebook users. However, with your potential customers having so many options to respond to your posts, if the posts on your business page are still getting ONLY Likes, you need to ask if your posts are resonating well with your audience? And if you are doing enough to spark the other emotions you would like to get from your Facebook fans. May be its time for a strategy overhaul.
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