As companies continue to invest in social media to build their brand awareness online, the argument comparing the importance of “Like” quantity and “Like” quality for business Facebook pages keeps on going. On what side of the “Like” argument does your company lie? Are you a proponent of getting as many “Likes” for your page as possible, or are you more tuned into connecting with viable prospects on Facebook and interacting with them thru your page content, lending to a growth of “Likes” over time?
No one is saying that having a good amount of “Likes” for your business Facebook page is a bad idea, but the key to social media is to be social with those you connect with online. Just because someone likes your business Facebook page, doesn’t mean that they will continue to like it or that they’ll ever interact with your posts.
This isn’t a new discussion and the value of Facebook “Likes” is constantly being argued and rebutted. For example, while researching the value of business Facebook page “Likes” last year, Virtue came to the conclusion that each Facebook like was worth $3.60. Another firm, Syncapse, declared that each Facebook “Like” was worth $136.38. So, which is accurate?
Answer: It doesn’t matter. If you want to justify your social media spend by allocating a dollar value for each Twitter follower, LinkedIn connection and business Facebook page “Like”, then you’re missing the point.
Remember: Social Media needs to be social. When a business invests time and money into a business Facebook page, the goal should be to effectively build brand awareness on the site to the target market located therein. That being said, there are not only “Likes” for your page to build that awareness, but groups and events posting that can extend your brand information to your prospective target market on Facebook.
Keeping this mind, the goal for any brand one Facebook would be to share information that is of interest to their target market through event postings, group posts and business Facebook page wall posts to ensure the farthest reach for their content. Interaction is socialization after all, so it’s not the “Likes” that count, but the responses to posts and events that really prove to be of value to any brand on Facebook.
Focus attention on building interaction with your business Facebook page and the “Likes” will take care of themselves.