What Are You Doing To Earn Facebook Likes

It seems everyone in social media and SEO is obsessed with Facebook now. Getting Facebook fans and Facebook likes may have even eclipsed link buying as the new black hat way of gaming the system … So what are you doing to get Facebook likes?

Before we talk about getting likes, let’s take a step back and look at what are some of the benefits of getting fans and likes? SEOMoz recently published a study showing a correlation between getting liked on Facebook and improving your rankings. PracticalEcommerce published a post with some monetary values for getting liked on Facebook.

On average, Fans spend an extra $71.84 they would not otherwise spend on products they describe themselves as Fans of.
Fans are 28 percent more likely than non-Fans to continue using a specific brand.
Fans are 41 percent more likely than non-Fans to recommend a product.

SocialMedia Explorer and the DailyBeast published information on Edgerank, and how it’s important if you want the likes and shares of your fans to be seen by their friends, increasing your exposure. I’ve written before about how social signals are part of the algorithm and are likely to become a bigger part in the near future. So, back to the question at hand … What Are You Doing to Get Facebook Likes?

On average, Fans spend an extra $71.84 they would not otherwise spend on products they describe themselves as Fans of…

At the time of this post’s writing, Facebook has some rules about contests and flagrant liking schemes that incentivize the fan/ like process but, to be honest, it’s pretty easy to work around. So take advantage of the lawless wild west atmosphere while it exists, but realize it’s a short term loophole, so fake it till you make it.

As a long term solution, there are better options to getting Facebook fans and likes. It’s similar to twitter. If you want 50,000 followers, you need to do 5,000 interesting things that will each get you 10 new fans. But, enough theory. What are some concrete things you can do:

Coupons, promotions and giveaways – Numerous studies have shown the number one reason people become fans is for a discount.
Solve problems – If you aren’t giving a discount, solve a problem. Saving someone time or money is huge.
Educate or Inform – Teach people something with a how to article. Again, create a benefit to being a fan.
Research – Can you create a white paper or e-book to help people make more informed decisions about purchasing your product or service or about your overall niche?
Entertainment – Sometimes it’s just about making people smile or laugh.

While lots of people will tell you social media is about community and participation, you can use it as a broadcast tool too, as long as you create some sort of value add for the people on the opposite end. Just remember that it has to be something they value, not you.

photo credit: Photospin