Don’t Just “Like” My Page.

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Watch out folks, I’m going to rant a little. Some of you know that I have several pages. When I initially started those pages I didn't start plugging them relentlessly on my personal profile nor did I invite all my friends. I DID invite friends, however, ONLY the ones that I thought would be interested in the subject matter.

Pages aren’t about your friends.

They’re all about the folks who have an interest in what’s being presented to them. The point is to make it so darn interesting to them that they comment on the posts. That’s engagement; it’s key to survival for a page.  And yes, its lots of hard work, so if you’re not ready to put in the time, don’t start a page until you’re ready to commit to it.

I work my butt off coming up with original, interesting articles to please the good fans on one of my pages, MODern Marketing 4 U(ModlandUSA). Don't worry; I enjoy the writing! Very few respond and/or comment. For now; that’s okay. Facebook is not the main source of traffic for my blog readership and may never be. Despite that fact, I continue to work hard to keep my audience on Facebook captivated.

And lately I’ve had a flood of folks from Twitter say “like my page and I’ll like yours.” Truth is I’d rather see you display an actual interest in my page and talk to me than just merely “like” it! Honestly, I felt funny liking a B to B biz recently that offered office management services to landscapers, plumbers, and the like. There’s nothing I need there. Sigh.

But back to the friends. I probably get four or five requests a week to join a page and most of them are concerned with products or services that I’m not interested in. Do you please your friend and like their page or blow them off? There have been a few instances when I’ve felt comfortable enough to write to the page owner to tell them WHY I won’t like it.

Does having me there as a number and not as a participant really add any value?

Personally, I’d rather have fewer fans and a higher engagement “talking about this”. Currently, my Groovy Reflections page is at 36%, ModlandUSA is at 10% and Gizmo and His Groovy Friends is at 12%. These are great numbers since the average is 3 to 4%. Thank you fans!

In closing, I just have one request: Talk to me...on my website, Twitter, Facebook, or Google+! I love to yack. 

The Byrds sang about pages long before Facebook had them:

Fans, Facebook, and You.

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Once upon a time, a fan was simply a way to catch a cool breeze. You held it in one hand and fluttered it up and down by your face. Paper, bamboo, plastic, a fashion accessory. 


Spectator sports brought about a whole different kind of fan; loud at times, loyal, swelling with pride and perhaps swigging a brew.


And then there are those “fans” in Social Media, namely Facebook. Remember “fanning” a page? Despite the changeover of terminology, we’re stilling referring to them as our fans (at least I am). “Likers” just sounds too awkward.


Who ARE these people who have indeed “fanned”, oops, “liked” your page? They include: 
Your friends (admit it; you may have strong armed a few however they generally have an interest for your page else they wouldn’t be there in the first place)

• Your friend’s friends (since they may see activity for your page)
• People who searched on Facebook and happened to find you 
• Tweeps or users of other social networks (if you are promoting your page on Twitter or elsewhere)
• Enthusiasts (who will share and promote you if they really dig you.)
• Friends of enthusiasts who are enthusiasts (who found your page via their friends)
• Spammers (they’ll post spam soon after liking your page so they’re not there for long unless you've been ignoring the upkeep of your page)
• Fans who are “Talking About This”: They consist of new fans “liking” the page, clicking like on a post, commenting on, tagging, mentioning or sharing a page, checking in (if you have a location) and those who are coming to an event (if your page offers events). These are important fans!

Note that a fan can fall into more than one of these categories.


Where do YOUR new fans come from? Are they mostly your friends? If so, concentrate on growing that fan base since your friends may not be typical enthusiasts of your product or service, thus skewing the demographic information that Facebook provides. Not a breeze to do but they may catch wind of you via a Facebook ad or via your blog if you have one.


And why did Facebook make the change in the first place? They state: To improve your experience and promote consistency across the site, we've changed the language for Pages from "Fan" to "Like." We believe this change offers you a more light-weight and standard way to connect with people, things and topics in which you are interested.


Hello Facebook, this rationale is rather broad in scope. Would have been nice to have asked US first. Or are you planning to use a 1 to 10 scale at some point (see my thoughts on that issue here). 


It’s been over a year and half since the change, Are you stilling calling them “fans”?
Donovan “caught the wind” early on his career. Click here to enjoy his folky sounds.


This blog is part of the Blogging A to Z Challenge. Here's E, D and C.