Fact: the pages you have liked add YOU to an Interest[ed in] category, previously determined by Facebook. Liking a Page is defined as ‘activity across the Facebook Products’. Facebook use this Interest of YOURS to help you find ‘new things’ … by showing you some unpaid, but mostly paid for, pieces of content (boosted post or Advert) from Page owners [= business owner] who are trying to attract and draw-in Facebook users to read their content.
Page Likes have been the pinnacle of success for many a marketer. The gold and shiny vanity metric. THAT number which shows everyone how cool and popular you are. But does it really?
LIKE =
Origin
Middle English from Old Norse: Old English līcian ‘be pleasing’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch lijken.
Preposition, conjunction, noun, adjective, adverb, verb
Sadly I discovered that having Page Likes is now even identified as a noun
Our natural desire to be liked is not lost on me in general. Of course as human beings we feel a sense of affirmation when someone tells us they like what we do or what we stand for. You feel endorsed and appreciated. It lifts your mood and builds your self-esteem. The sensation that then ripples throughout your brain and body is a good one. In fact it is so good we become addicted to it in the biological sense.
A compliment, or in this case a LIKE (either Page Like or post like) is a social decision making process that is described as a ‘mini orgasm for your brain’. It’s all in the science. [Praise = a social reward, is thought to boost motor skill learning by increasing motivation, which leads to increased practice.]
It is therefore apparent that Facebook have adopted a way of making you feel great, because someone like you, or rather your content or your Page, and it’s a built-in instinct that you have not control over. The process is easy, its become a rinse and repeat formula, and we all feel euphoric … don’t we?
Who are the people who Like your Page? Who is defined as interested in you? Now consider this in reverse. Who or what do YOU like on Facebook, which means you are interested in the topic – in the eyes of Facebook? Are you a vanity metric or do you really really Like those Pages – which also means if you extrapolate the action, that you like their content? Have you seen the content from any of those Pages lately? Did you really like the content in the first place and can you even remember?
Can you see how the word like, as shown in the definition above, has a variety of uses yet we focus on just the one – Page Like.[annotated throughout with a capital P and L]
I believe the physical act of Liking a Page, and emotional sense of metaphorically complimenting someone, lost it’s euphoria a long time ago, but it has become such an ingrained habit of our online culture we do it anyway, so as not to offend anyone. Statistically speaking the currency exchange rate of a Page Like to Page Engagement, hit rock bottom several years ago with the onset of the news feed algorithm, but many many marketers will still have you chase that dream of being liked as the Holy Grail of success on Facebook. The vanity metric has no true value, and you know this to be true, yet cognitive dissonance takes over and you can’t resist.
So, how do we fix this over-liking mentally? A bit like the bad diet advice we have been the 40 year experiment of – slowly.
Let’s hope it’s not so painstaking and doesn’t take 40 years, but it will start with YOU.
- Do some Facebook Housework – check how many and what pages you like and UNLIKE the ones you do not like.
- Do not ask people to Like your Page – invite them to look at a specific piece of content, or check out your videos
- Do not ask people to Like your Page because they liked a post or other piece of content – the feature sucks and gives you false hope.
- Create great organic content that is relevant and meaningful – make it so people will LOVE what you do and LIKE you, based on their own free will, not because you asked them to.
Your potential audience are then more likely to see your content because they are genuinely interested and clearly fit the Facebook defined category. Your currency exchange rate is then higher, and the impact of this will increase your chances further of maintaining your market value. This leads to a steady rate of growth.
Remember: This is not a race, go at your own pace
My next workshop on Facebook Boost is 4th May: details HERE
Or try my Facebook mechanics & Engineering workshop HERE