THE DIVERSITY BEHIND FACEBOOK LIKES
Humans naturally like to praise others. We enjoy telling people how great they did; we clap for an entertaining performance, and we admire the people we want to be like. Being social is human, and we praise one another publicly to help fill this natural need.
In Facebook, this praise is not as straightforward. Many of us show our support through the “Like” button, but we follow these Pages for a variety of different reasons:
- Self-Expressionists
We align ourselves with the brands, causes, and ideas that we see in ourselves. We want to support animal welfare, so we add and share content from the ASPCA. To show our upscale taste to the world, we follow Giorgio Armani. Or perhaps we want to tell people we’re impatient, so we “Like” the “I hate waiting” Page. We subscribe to these Pages because they are a tangible piece of our complex personality.
e.g. The music artists we follow - Consumers
Facebook is a great tool to keep in the know. In baseball, good pitching will beat good hitting. In the social world, good content will beat a good brand name. Content drives subscriptions and loyalty. For some brands, such as entertainment and news organizations, their content is their brand. So, as a channel for information, we sign up strictly to consume, comment, and/or share.
e.g. The insightful guru: Seth Godin
- Coupon Cutters
Many people subscribe to your Facebook Page strictly for special offers. Let’s face it – we all want to save money so people trade their “Like” for exclusive deals. And if the deal suddenly ended, we will most likely go elsewhere. With this type of subscription, we also have a certain level of tolerance for dealing with irrelevant content. Not every deal is going to be used. In fact, most people do not take advantage of every deal but we keep subscribed in hopes to find something we want.
e.g. Groupon deals via Facebook: Groupon San Francisco
- Accomplishers
In our life, major accomplishments guide us along to who we are today and we’re proud to show our current goals and past achievements. We show where we graduated from, or we proudly display each “Like” as if they were a trophy we received at the end of the race. Whichever our reason – as a symbol of accomplishment or a goal to be accomplished – this type of subscription is a proud symbol of our lifestyle.
e.g. Marathoners unite: Boston Marathon
- Obligators
Each person has their daily business relationships – their workplace, their dentist, or the family coffee shop. We are not as interested in the content as much as we are for supporting them publicly. We may have been personally asked to “Like” the Page, or perhaps we proactively want to show support for a friend. Either way, these personal relationships motivate us to become a subscriber to their Page, whether through support or obligation.
e.g. Our sister’s business
Many people subscribe to your Page for a variety of reasons, and these categories do not have clear-cut lines. Some of your followers may fall into more than one category, but discovering and understanding why people subscribe to your Page can give you better insight into how to meet their needs and generate lasting engagement.
Global executive, digital marketing and biz dev enthusiast, relationship builder whose golf game leaves a bit to be desired. @Britt_Billings