There is a dirty little secret to fan numbers and engagement when it comes to people who have “Liked” a Facebook page: not everybody who is doing the liking is actually reading.
“Liking” can be a singular act with the stream that follows never actually making it to the target newsfeed. The personal Facebook settings allow a user several ways of ignoring the “Liked,” from newsfeed customizations to flat-out “hiding” a brand’s chatter. To be successful, engagement has to mean more than idly expressing tepid interest once via a click of a button. Below are observations from Brand Pages I’ve “liked” and why some are reaching the holy grail of brand engagement in Facebook.
Tell Me About Something I Love
I love my hometown and my home state (woot, Little Rock, Arkansas!) I love my go-to charities (animal rescue, the local food bank.) I love running, a great bargain, and the Chicago Cubs. If you are a brand that manages to involve one of my beloved topics, then I will read your posts and comment on them … I will even comment on the posts that have nothing to do with the topics I love. I have residual fondness for Brands that manage capture my interest this way. We are more than just brand friends, we are simpatico. I even forgive them for capitalizing on my interest: that’s the power of love.
Tell Me Something New
One of the Brands that I have “liked” is a company that specializes in equipment for runners. This Brand is a Double Whammy, because not only does it talk about something I love, it regularly tells me something new. Not content to just blathertise its wares, the Admin for this Brand Page regularly posts interesting articles on how to improve as a runner, the science of running, hotel workouts, running with a kid … if there is an angle about running out there that might capture someone’s interest, this Brand is out to hunt it down, type it up and present it to me with a big bow. If a Brand can enrich my Facebook experience by offering me knowledge in a way that is pertinent and easily digestible, I’m going to “like” them even more. I’ll be liking their posts and sharing with my like-minded friends and in this mutually-beneficial relationship, the Brand is not just “liked,” but Trusted. Way to go, Brand!
Give Me the Inside Track
PR and bargain hunting collide when a Brand can offer me something I can’t find on my own elsewhere. A tip on how to get the most out of a product? A coupon? An exclusive preview of a new product or feature? Yes, please! I love being “in the know,” and if a Brand regularly offers me this kind of information for their product and industry, then I will not hide them on my newsfeed or (gasp!) “unlike” them but instead read their updates regularly and share them with my network of friends. This is especially true for me of “Task Helper” Brands. A Brand that wants to help me with the daily chores of life is like having a Fairy Godmother on Facebook. Who doesn’t love her Fairy Godmother?!
Make it Real
When a Brand asks a question and then fails to respond after I’ve engaged, that’s a deal-breaker. Engagement is about back and forth, give and take – with so many Brands eager to go acourtin’ in a Brand-Person relationship, I don’t need to stick with a partner who just won’t dance. If a Brand is asking “what’s for dinner” or “what do you like to do on a Saturday night,” it had better not just be some kind of auto-programmed small talk. I want follow-up of some kind, be it a quick corporate “thanks for the feedback” or “we will consider these responses in our next campaign” to a one-on-one back-and-forth about the merits of turkey chili and a Netflix movie fest. Most people have a built-in horse pocky sniffer and it doesn’t turn off just because the medium is text instead of speech. If someone in my real life asked me a question and then gave me a cold shoulder in response, I’d think we weren’t friends anymore. If a Brand does it, well, I feel no guilt in dropping, “unliking,” or “hiding.” Whatever the method of disengagement, I don’t give a Brand a second chance to make me feel ignored.
Read more here: The 7 Biggest Fan Page Marketing Mistakes
Guest blogged by Bliss H., a moderator and community manager at eModerationPhoto courtesy of Cindy Andrie