by samObviously, numbers are important. In any marketing campaign, it’s best if every move is backed up by cold, hard statistics, and strategy is supported by evidence and guided by accurate projections. Online advertising experts can use hundreds of metrics to evaluate the important numbers – their PPC spend, click-through rates, search rates, conversions… a value can be added to each and every marketing activity, and each activity can be evaluated by its return on investment (ROI). But when it comes to social media, we come face-to-face with an entirely different kind of number: fans, followers, Likes, shares… With Facebook Likes, high numbers can look impressive, but do they actually mean anything? Can you accurately put a value on a Facebook Like? To get the most out of your Facebook marketing campaign, you might need some stats to back up strategy.
Lab24 recently conducted a survey of 1,000 Facebook users to discover the true nature of the elusive Like. 87{06e29518e582b1cc2da09f8f2ea316dadc41c520023bcca83a4deb5e6ad0a3c6} of Facebook users Like brand pages, and 82{06e29518e582b1cc2da09f8f2ea316dadc41c520023bcca83a4deb5e6ad0a3c6} believe that pages are a good place to interact with brands.
But why do users even Like a page in the first place? Respondents commonly cited taking advantage of offers and discounts as their main reason for Liking a brand page. This raises the question – are a large proportion of your Facebook Likes just looking for cheap products, or better yet, a freebie? A substantial 46{06e29518e582b1cc2da09f8f2ea316dadc41c520023bcca83a4deb5e6ad0a3c6} of Likers admitted to Liking brand pages without ever having the intention to buy from them, of which 52{06e29518e582b1cc2da09f8f2ea316dadc41c520023bcca83a4deb5e6ad0a3c6} said they only Liked to get a freebie. So from an ROI perspective, almost half of your Likers will never put any money into your pocket. And a further half only joined up for the freebie. Although your Facebook fans or Likes number might look impressive, and you may have built the appearance of a strong online presence, don’t let it inflate your ego – those Likes aren’t necessarily making you any richer (which, ultimately, is the goal of all this, right?).
Likers are fickle too, and a Like is never forever. As quickly as they Liked you, they can unlike you too. Posting too much was the top reason for unliking. Constantly spamming a user’s Facebook feed with your content is no way to keep them interested. It’s better to post less frequent, but relevant and engaging content, than to update your page every 5 minutes with boring, uninspired content. People do actually want to see posts from their friends on their feed, and not relentless images of cats because that’s “so targeting our online demographic” (save it for Instagram, #instacat is a dead-cert for a ridiculous amount of random likes from crazy cat-lovers in a minute.). In spite of your business goals, never lose sight of what Facebook actually is – it’s a social network.
If your business deals in adult novelty items, diet and weight-loss products, or health and wellness, I’m afraid I have bad news. 22{06e29518e582b1cc2da09f8f2ea316dadc41c520023bcca83a4deb5e6ad0a3c6} of users have admitted to being too embarrassed to Like a page, with these products coming top of the list of embarrassing Likes. You probably already knew this – as Facebook is ultimately all about the sharing, privacy is a massive concern for users. Whilst sharing might be great for you, in reaching new potential customers, users don’t necessarily want to let their Aunt know that they Like ‘SexToysRUs’… In fact, one of the top three ways the non-likers out there would suggest to make them start Liking, is to provide the option to hide that they Like the brand. Not all users want to shout to the world about their choice.