"like us on facebook": the value of fans (and likers)

Almost all of the print and outdoor ads that I notice these days have got this icon, exhorting - imploring - anybody and anyone to

"Like us"

I know what it means - but how it is crafted sounds, mmm, pathetic.

"Why should I like you?  Just because I saw your ad on an outdoor poster?  Or because I want some more information about you?  What if I just search about you - if I were interested, then I'll do that.  Or ask my friends about you - that is if I were interested."

Maybe it's just me.

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Plastering "like us" on every and any ad may be generating some "likes" on social networks - and some following.  I am not sure of the success of such ads, really since I have not conducted any study about it.

(I've conducted a study however, that shows that traditional advertising - i.e., on TV, radio, press, magazines, and outdoor - has a significant impact on category-related keywords and conversion-rates from visits to actual, revenue-generating action.)

But what does "liking" a brand really do?

I'll quote Jeremy Owyang on one of his entries on this:

Don’t focus solely on fans and followers as a primary key performance indicator, instead focus on the business goals the fans and followers yield for you.

- Jeremy Owyang

 

Yields - revenue and profit yields - are what you ought to be looking for.  Not fans, not likes, not followers, not impressions, not loves/likes and hugs.

At the end of the day, your brands ought to build business for your company.

And likes, fans, loves, and hugs won't matter to the CFO unless there is a dollar value attached to them.

 

 

 

 

Comments

[How to Start a Business]

Clearly, however, some brands manage to attract more fans than their size alone would predict, and the Value of a Fan study finds that size is not everything. The number of fans is important for a fan page, but it is not a surrogate for how well the page itself is performing.

[Philip Tiongson]

Thank you for your comment!

Is it possible that we are still not very sure of how to measure social media that we are merely looking for anything measurable and use that as a surrogate regardless of whether it is right or not?

Thanks again for the comment.

phil