The rise of emoji marketing is changing the way brands communicate in reaching their target audience and with Facebook’s new update, we are sure to say that the Emoji is no longer just a trend but is becoming an important feature of today’s social media marketing.
Whether its brands adopting the latest social technologies in an attempt to stay relevant, or the realisation that marketing strategies should now support mobile access, there are many things yet to be uncovered. It is believed the introduction of Facebooks new Emoji Reactions will help us tap into the emotion of the consumer in a way which can be analysed, so then marketing content can be optimised to relate to the consumer in a more natural human way. This is great news for advertisers with the prospect of additional data about consumer preferences and trends!
To successfully market a product or service, brands must be aware of what their audience actually care about to be able to provide simple, yet amazing customer experiences. A new, younger target market has emerged, which is referred to as Generation Z. Also known as the millennials, this segment generally covers those born in or after the year 2000.
Unlike their predecessors, Generation Z were born into the technology boom, surrounded by the internet, smartphones and digital media. They probably own several technological devices, such as a tablet, smartphone or laptop, and are highly experienced in the art of communicating online. As brands adopt the use of the emojis to communicate with the target audience, a smile, a wink and some hearts are now becoming the new standard of mobile communication.
For a very long time Facebook users have demanded answers as to why there was no ‘dislike’ button and Mark Zuckerberg has finally responded with Facebook Reactions: a strip of emojis that appear for selection as you hold down the like button (Facebook for mobile).
Speaking at a Q&A at Facebook headquarters last September, Zuckerberg declared he wanted to give users different ways to express emotions other than the singular “like” button, but he doesn’t want to turn Facebook into a “forum where people are voting up or down on people’s posts.” In other words, Zuckerberg didn’t want Facebook to become similar to Reddit, where posts succeed or fail based on how many upvotes or downvotes they get.
Now with this being said, Facebook’s News Feed is algorithmically driven by posts which present the most engagement and SURPRISINGLY one of the key factors it looks at is ‘Likes’.
Enter Facebook Reactions…
