why do we ask you to ‘like’ us?

Why are there so many companies and brands spending large percentages of their advertising budgets to get consumers to ‘like’ their Facebook pages? While the trend somewhat reminds me of the time when advertisers used to tag their ads with “AOL keywords” (remember that?!), it’s now become a given that companies have a corporate Facebook page. Bob Hoffman of Hoffman/Lewis (my former boss from a previous job), has argued that people only follow or ‘like’ corporate social network pages to ultimately get free stuff or insider info (Adweek, ‘Digital Dream World‘). While I understand his point and think it’s definitely one of the top reasons why people do it (if not THE top reason), I think people genuinely ‘like’ pages for a long list of other reasons as well, including the desire to interact with the company, or just to show your support for something you like.

Regardless of your belief of why people ‘like’ corporate pages, why do companies care if you ‘like’ them on Facebook? Are companies really that delusional in thinking you want to have a relationship with them? Yes, many are delusional, and yes it’s another media touchpoint for companies to engage with their most loyal and interested consumers.

But personally, I think it’s super important for just one reason: because no one reads emails anymore.

Think about all those emails you receive on a daily basis from people and companies, other than your immediate friends. What percentage of them do you really read? Do you have a separate email account just for company emails? Some people, like Lee Crawford (my friend and CTO of Making Fun), would say that email marketing is so 1999. While I would argue that it’s more like 2005, we’re now splitting hairs. On the other hand, when you ‘like’ a company’s Facebook page, you’re allowing that company an additional chance to communicate with you quickly and succinctly. And so far, most companies seem to be doing a pretty good job providing short, useful content and not abusing that relationship with you.

So the next time a company asks you to ‘like’ them on Facebook, and if you happen to actually like them, please ‘like’ them. Yes, you should put that company on a short leash and demand they have interesting information to provide to you. But I would bet you’re more likely to read and benefit from those wall posts than the email messages you receive from that same company.

p.s. Remember to ‘like’ Making Fun, Inc. and our Noah’s Ark and CLASH: Rise of Heroes game pages too!