The 'like gate' will officially be dead on November 5. That's when Pages will no longer be able to require users to 'like' them in order to get access to content, enter contests, gain access applications or receive rewards, according to Facebook's announcement in August.
Read MoreIt's a story we've seen many times before, and we'll see it again with different players. Last week, it was revealed that the U.S. State Department spent $630,000 to increase 'likes' for four Facebook Pages in about two years. The investment did just that, taking total likes from about 100,000 to more than 2 million, but in end, one could easily argue the funds were wasted.
Read More“Things I’ve Learned from Lately” is a regular compilation of articles that have made me a smarter social media marketer. Hopefully, they’ll help you, too.
This Week: The Overlooked Skill of Prioritization, Scaling Social, Courage to Go Social and Quality Trumps Quantity.
Read MoreTwitter cofounder Ev Williams spoke out this week saying that Twitter followers really aren’t the most important metric for users. Instead he said, “The thing I think would be more interesting than followers is retweets,” because it will do a better job to get an idea of how your content was distributed.
Ultimately, it’s about how many people saw your content, according to Williams, which is part of the reason Twitter has been restricting its API to third-parties. If Twitter controls the interface, it can deliver better data than we can get elsewhere.
Are Platforms Moving Away from Cosmetics?
Source: stock.xchngFans, followers, subscribers, etc. really don’t mean a heck of a lot. It’s gotten so bad that fake followers and likes have been bought, which Facebook took steps to combat this week when it removed a vast amount of fake accounts.
A follower or a fan is cosmetic if the brand is unable to entice the person on the other end to take action. Plus, there’s the challenge that a brand really doesn’t own its followers or fans. They’re merely rented for as long as the brand uses a particular social network or until the social network decides to change the rules.
It’s clear that both Facebook and Twitter know that the obsession with followers and likes is coming to an end, which points to a need to evolve. However, for Facebook in particular, this obsession has led to a lot of revenue as advertisers use Facebook ads to build their fan bases. Still, platforms are looking at other ways to show value beyond amassing as many people as possible.
Platforms refocusing may force marketers to refocus as well.
Are Marketers Ready?
Fans and followers make life simple for us. The idea of “the more, the better” appeals to marketers’ need to see scale and reach as many people as possible.
The question is do we want what’s easy or what is right? The right approach is getting as many of the right people as possible, not just anyone. Those are the people you can distribute your brand message to in a way that aligns with their passions and their personal interests.
The benefit of going after the right people is a brand’s message doesn’t fall on deaf ears, which means the brand looks more successful because it sees a higher level of engagement.
Are we entering an age of really putting quality over quantity? I hope so.
“Things I’ve Learned from Lately” is a regular compilation of articles that have made me a smarter social media marketer. Hopefully, they’ll help you, too.
Olympics Offer Learnings for All of Us – Big sponsorships like the Olympics tend to be the focus of big brands, but The Miami Herald columnist Tasha Cunningham explains why we can all take something away from the social media issues that have been under scrutiny over the past two weeks.
Key Takeaway: Cunningham’s article lays out what should be common sense but surprisingly has not been over the course of the Olympics. Social media is about people, and when interacting with people we must always think, be responsive, be respectful and maintain self-control.
Marketing in a Gift Economy – Harvard Business Review points out that social media is not cut out for pushing messages to fans and followers. People use social channels to build relationships, so focus not on participating in a market economy but, instead, a gift economy.
Key Takeaway: Social media is about relationships and thinking of someone else. Brands can’t focus on thinking about what social media can do for them. They’ll go nowhere. At the end of the day, the consumer cares about themselves and what you can do for them. Focus on their wants, needs and unfulfilled desires. Then give them the gift of fulfillment. Both the audience and the brand will then benefit.
The Numbers Say It’s Quality, Not Quantity that Matters – AllTwitter shares the results of a New York University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology study that found that who your brand’s fans and followers are is more important than the number of them.
Key Takeaway: Reach is not social media marketing’s strength most of the time. But focusing on connecting with the right people and inspiring them to push your brand message forward is how a brand can successfully leverage the space at scale.
Facebook recently released the findings of a study that analyzed 1,200 posts from 23 brand pages, according to AdAge. The findings of the study provide insight regarding what is and isn’t working in terms of posts to Facebook pages.
Stay On-Brand
Brands have seen a great deal of feedback and what, at the surface level, appears to be impressive results from seemingly completely unrelated content like asking fans what their favorite colors are, getting predictions on Super Bowl winners and so on.
That kind of content may generate likes and comments, but it doesn’t do much for the brand. Facebook’s findings revealed that producing brand-related content is one of the “most important things a brand can do.” That’s why people subscribe. That’s why people like. The brand can provide something they can’t get anywhere else—insight into the brand and what makes it tick.
Give What People Crave
Loyal customers crave valuable content. Producing photos, videos and exclusive posts they can’t get anywhere else is how brands can set themselves apart in the more and more crowded Facebook ecosystem.
It’s a matter of working to create content that works for the brand and helps to build brand affinity or producing content that simply adds noise to an already loud social network. Have something to say, and make it valuable.
What If Your Page Disappeared?
Marketers should always be looking at their content and asking themselves what their fans would say if they went away. Would they care? Would they even notice? These questions can be answered with a ‘yes’ if brands produce content they can’t get anywhere else. Likes and comments are nice. Likes and comments related to your business are great. Focus on the brand and where it intersects with consumer interests versus talking about what others can and already do talk about. Brands are competing for consumer attention on Facebook. Leverage your competitive advantage.