This week, Facebook rolled out a small but perfectly formed new feature for Business Pages, which could prove to be far more useful and valuable than it may appear on first glance.
The new ‘Reply’ option underneath individual comments on your posts means that you can now reply directly to the person who left the comment, instead of having to post your responses right at the very bottom of a potentially huge thread.
In order to appreciate the significance and worth of this handy new feature, let’s take a quick look at the sort of lunacy and sheer madness that used to take you by surprise when you were simply trying to engage with your treasured Facebook fans.
Here’s a snippet of the type of bewildering conversation that could so easily have popped up on the Martin Print Facebook page in the past…
MARTIN PRINT: Another cracking day of custom-crafted printing ahead! Please just let me know if you have any queries at all that I can help you with!
CLAIRE LANGFORD: Hi Martin Print! I was just wondering if you can create Business Cards in a special die-cut shape, and how I go about getting a quote?
PATRICK POTTER: Hello! Can you tell me if you run tap-dancing classes for dogs? Not sure if I’ve got the right page.
MARTIN PRINT: Yes, of course, we certainly do! If you pop along to the Quotations page on our website and give us a few details, then we’ll get back to you as soon as possible!
PATRICK POTTER: Oh, great! Can I give you a few details now? My dog hasn’t had much tap-dancing experience, but she’s quick to learn. She’s a Miniature Fox Terrier called Poppy. Is that all you need?
MARTIN PRINT: No, no, I think there’s been a misunderstanding, we don’t provide that kind of service.
CLAIRE LANGFORD: Really? I thought you guys were a print and design company? Oh well, never mind, I’ll go and have a look elsewhere for my Business Cards. You should think about changing your business name, though.
MARTIN PRINT: No, wait! Crossed wires here, I think. Yes, of course we provide that kind of service! There’s really no need for us to change the name.
PATRICK POTTER: What? Why would I have even thought about changing the name of my dog, just for the sake of a tap-dancing class? What’s wrong with Poppy? Don’t you like it?
MARTIN PRINT: Oh for goodness sake, you know you’re really making things very complicated here.
CLAIRE LANGFORD: Well, I’m sorry about that, I only wanted some Business Cards, and I find your manner and tone to be most helpful.
MARTIN PRINT: Aaaargh!
PATRICK POTTER: Oh forget it, I’ll take my dog elsewhere for her tap-dancing lessons. You’re just a weirdo…
Well, perhaps all that was a rather extreme example of how a conversation can spin wildly out of control on your own Business Page.
But it’s fair to say that having to post your own responses right at the bottom of a long discussion is perhaps not the most practical way to address everybody’s individual concerns, and can often lead to chaos and confusion.
On an even more dangerous level, it could lead to some of your participants feeling as if you’re ignoring them because you seem to be too busy answering the queries of other users.
It can all get very, very messy indeed….
But thankfully, the new Reply option rolled out by Facebook this week aims to bring a little more order and logic to this chaos.
Now, instead of leaving your response dangling hopelessly at the bottom of a long list of comments, you can actually reply directly to each individual user.
Clicking on ‘reply’ at the bottom of a certain comment will create a new little sub-thread directly underneath that very comment, so your participant can see that you have made a direct response and can even continue the mini-conversation in this manner.
In effect, your long discussion threads can now branch off into several separate mini-discussions which make far more sense to everyone taking part, and ensure that you can engage in far more useful and rewarding conversations with your Facebook fans!
It’s a winning concept, and some critics may say that it was long, long overdue!
You may already have received a notification about this new option as you logged into your Facebook Business Page this week.
If not, don’t panic!
You simply need to switch on the new ‘Reply’ feature from your Admin Panel.
You can do this by clicking on Edit Page, selecting Manage Permissions from the dropdown menu, and then ticking the Replies option near the bottom of the list.
An intriguing extra little twist is that these new mini-discussions may actually be re-ordered within the thread, so that the liveliest and most interesting mini-discussions will always climb up to the very top.
In fact, the order of the mini-conversations will apparently be tailored to the tastes of each individual viewer, taking relevance and connections into account.
So, this seemingly very simple new ‘Reply’ feature could potentially change the whole perception of your Facebook posts and associated comments in much bigger ways than you may have initially imagined…
Vadim Lavrusik, the journalism program manager for Facebook, explains it like this;
“You and your readers will have the ability to reply directly to comments left on your Page content and start conversation threads, which will make it easier for you to interact directly with individual readers and keep relevant conversations connected,” he says.
“Also, the most active and engaging conversations among your readers will be surfaced at the top of your posts ensuring that people who visit your Page will see the best conversations.”
But will your Business Page make use of the new ‘Reply’ feature on Facebook?
Will it change the way that you interact with your audience in the future?
Please leave your own replies below.
Just try to avoid any mention of tap-dancing classes for dogs; otherwise we may all end up getting confused again.
Besides, we’re fully booked until September…
Send to Kindle