Just because I work online and spend a lot of time on Facebook, doesn’t mean I like to be asked to ‘like’ your Facebook page or that I want to ‘like’ it. Let me tell you a few little secrets…if you ask me again and again and again, I am going to unfriend you! Yes, I am. The next secret is this: If you have provided great content on your personal profile and I like you as a preson, or if we have some sort of (working) relationship, I will consider ‘liking’ your page, but not because you ask. I will ‘like’ it if I see engagement happening in the ticker between your page and one of my friends. Or between you and a Facebook page. Because let’s be serious: If you don’t engage with pages, why the heck should I engage with yours?
Here’s the deal. I can only engage, interact, converse, develop a relationship with (what ever you’d like to call it) with a limited number of pages and businesses. Like you, I only have 24 hour/day and I prioritize where and with whom I spend time. Wouldn’t it be great if I could support everyone? Right! But I can’t. So I am going to be selective and I am going to spell out right here, right now, how that selection process goes.
I will ignore your request to ‘like’ your page if
You and I became Facebook friends within the last week – and you were the one sending the request.
You are a social media manager, we connected as colleagues and now you request I ‘like’ the pages of all your clients.
You’ve never bothered to ever interact with me online and this is the first interaction we have.
We are friends and you want me to ‘like’ page, after page, after page. (I will, in fact, unlike the first one I ‘liked’ out of loyalty, because now I feel used.)
You manage pages of local, brick and mortar businesses in different countries I will never, ever visit.
You and I have met in person several times and yet you still can’t remember who I am. I will conveniently do the same online.
You tell me on my page that you’ve ‘liked’ it and now you need me to return the favor.
You post inappropriate and/or annoying personal posts.
You post all day long on your personal profile, I mean all day long. TMI will probably transfer to the page as well.
You became Facebook admin to a new page and you are so excited, yet when I go to the page(s) you want me to like there’s no posts and/or engagement there.
You sell products I will never, ever buy.
You have spammed my wall or tagged me in unrelated pictures.
You closed the Facebook wall to comments.
I will however, consider liking your page if
You are a respected colleague (social media professional)
You ‘personal message’ me on Facebook and give me a reason to ‘like’ the page.
We belong to the same networking group.
I outsource to you.
You outsource to me.
You know that I use the product or service of the page you want me to ‘like’.
We had an in-depth conversation in a Twitter Chat, via Skype call or in a Google Hangout.
I asked you to send me a link to your page.
You are my mom
As a social media manager, strategist and trainer I do spend a lot of time online and on Facebook. But I do not live there and I do not have an unlimited number of ‘likes’ to give away. Never mind that I see the posts of (nearly) all the pages I like in my news feed! Most people conveniently forget that fact. I NEED to be selective, just for that reason. This is what many people do not get: ‘Liking’ a page is more than just hitting the ‘like’ button. You are endorsing a business and you are connected with them through your personal profile which means when you interact, your friends will see that interaction in their ticker, too!
I’ve been ‘unliking’ more pages than I’ve ‘liked’ lately. I must have had a lapse of judgement on some pages I previously ‘liked’, but no more! Time to clean up and be (even more) selective in the ‘liking’ process. You know… I only have 5000 likes to give away and so do you!
YOUR TURN:
Do you get requests for page ‘likes’ all day long, too? How many pages do you ‘like’ each week and what are your criteria for ‘liking’ a page? How many pages have you ‘liked’ in total? Do you ever ‘unlike’ a page?
I would love to hear your thoughts on this post! Please leave me a comment below.
Dorien
***This post was inspired by the third request (in one week) from a local acquaintance (now unfriended) to ‘like’ yet another one of her pages.
The post Want Me To Like Your Facebook Page? Do this, not that! appeared first on More In Media.