How to get your #brand “liked” on #facebook

For anyone who has ever felt as if there is no room for brands on Facebook, an executive from the company disputed this point, backing his claim with numbers.

On the contrary, Facebook was built on the premise that all will be included in the social graph. People are twice as likely to remember an ad that a friend is associated with and are four times as likely to buy something when it recommended by someone they know.

“Brands are not intruders on Facebook,” said David Fischer, vice president of advertising and global operations at Facebook, Palo Alto, CA. “Our vision for Facebook is that everything is included.”

Currently, Facebook has 800 million people worldwide and 160 million in the United States using its service.

In September, the social media destination experienced half a billion people accessing the site in just one day.

What’s more is the type of engagement and the amount of engagement on Facebook. The average Facebook user spends about 7.5 hours on the site per month. That is more than the time spent on any other site.

The amount of sharing and engagement is only going to grow. In fact, Facebook sharing has doubled year over year.

“People are 68 percent more likely to remember an ad with social context,” Mr. Fischer said. “Take whatever you are working on and sprinkle some social on top.

But WHY do consumers click the “like’ button?

A new study by global interactive marketing provider ExactTarget finds 93 percent of Facebook users click the “Like” button at least monthly, but the meaning behind “Like” varies considerably by age and context.

Featured in The Meaning of Like, the latest in ExactTarget’s Subscribers, Fans and Followers research series, the study found the most common uses of “Like” related to posts made by friends, followed by clicking the “Like” button on sites outside of Facebook as a form of ‘social bookmarking.’

“With Facebook such a vital part of the online social fabric, marketers need to be smart and strategic when developing campaigns on Facebook,” said Jeff Rohrs, vice president, ExactTarget’s Marketing Research and Education Group.

“A click of the ‘Like’ button means different things to different people. It creates an opportunity for further engagement, but it is merely one step toward the types of meaningful, cross-channel relationships marketers need to succeed.”

According to the research, a universal meaning of “Like” has yet to emerge largely because a click depends on the individual consumer and the context in which the “Like” button is used, Rohrs said

Sources:

http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/social-networks/11453.html

http://www.techjournalsouth.com/2011/09/why-do-users-click-on-a-brands-facebook-like-button/