I was browsing Facebook yesterday and came across two posts from Chuck Gose that brought a chuckle and eventually led to the writing of this post. This entire thought process centers on the idea of Facebook “likes.” How valuable are they?
It is a common misconception that the number of “likes” on a Facebook page is viewed as positive or negative depending on the actually amount. If you have a ton of “likes” you tend to be exuberant and pat your Internet Marketing guru on the back.
“Oh nice! Another like on both pages! That is excellent! The Facebook Ads are really working. We are kicking butt. Good job social media intern.”
It is completely unfounded and… usually… I would go into a rant about the lacking metrics and information needed to truly measure a Facebook “like.” However, Chuck Gose provided me with a great example of why the Facebook “like” phenomenon is (sometimes) unfounded.
Let me tell you a story.
Chuck has been having some problems with Comcast and his Xfinity package. Chuck is a fairly nice guy and is pretty good at asking for help. However… he had a terrible experience with the Comcast customer support and in a beautiful disgruntled customer fashion, Chuck tweets and posts on Facebook.
The Facebook post is what provided such clarity for this post. In order to tag a company within Facebook, a user is required to “Like” the company or organization’s Facebook page. Chuck proceeds to “Like” the Comcast and Xfinity page.
The problem is simply this… Chuck might HATE your company. He needed to “like” your page in order to tag you in a post about how TERRIBLE the customer service experience was for him. See image.
What is the lesson here?
I think we all understand the lesson.
While we can’t measure the negative impact Chuck has on the sales of Comcast or their product… Xfinity… We can assume that Chuck’s “like” of the Facebook page was not a propostion due to love… but due to hate.
Kenan Farrell
I "like" all types of politicians even though I might rarely agree with their views and would never give them a vote. How would your analysis be different for an "update" like versus a "page" like?
Chuck Gose
"Hate" is a strong word. Let's go with "overtly frustrated." But yes, in this case, the "like" was not a like at all.
Randy Clark
Chuck, may I ask the nature of your complaint?
Kathe Flynn
This is very true. I myself recently liked the Dominos Pizza FB page so that I could publicly post my frustration regarding the terrible service I received. The internet, particularly Social Media, has become a soapbox to the everyman.
Ketelsen
Ironic….I just "liked" a page yesterday so I can tag them in a somewhat nasty post.
However, it's still creating a "customer service" connection between consumer and merchant where the opportunity is to right the wrong. We'll see how long it takes for my post to be recognized.
Great post Kyle!
@JugglingWJ
I understand what you're trying to say. Just because you have a thousand Likes on your page doesn't mean you have a thousand fans
But the example you used is so rare it doesn't really make sense. Do you actually think a reasonable percentage of the Likes on Comcasts FB page are by people who don't like Comcast? Or really any page for that matter.
A Like is still someone "signing up" to get your content. regardless of why they do it.
kylelacy
I can agree that a like is still someone "signing up" to get your content. That is a great point. The overall problem is looking at "likes" in just one light instead of multiple. Good comment!
Darla Tierney
You are right! Here at H&R Block we see this. We do not focus on our number of "likers" but rather view it as another piece to the puzzle. For me focusing on the sentiment of each post really helps along with some of the metrics from FB. We also educate to make sure people understand it isn't all about the number of likes.
Mr. Bill
It's all about metrics and ROI. Another good article.