Facebook “Like” and Comment

Interpreting the Use of the Facebook “Like” Button and Comment Features Is Not Intuitive

Do you pay attention to “Likes” and Comments to the posts on your profile or Fan Page? If the Viral Nature of Social Networking is important to you; understanding these features is critical.

My interest in how things happen causes me to focus on what I am seeing and as I pay more attention; more things come to light.

What I Have Seen

What I have noticed is when I see a post that originated with someone that is not a Friend or Fan; it does not always show up the same. Sometimes the comments have a familiar name attached, other times one or more Friend’s name are said to “Like” the post, and other times I will see names I recognize with both the “Like” and the comment. Does that sound familiar or ring a bell with you?

You May Say So What; If So, Read On

Before I go further I will remind you that “Like”, Comment, and Share are critical to going viral. If you are going to be successful with your Social Networking you must be going viral; which means your Friends and Fans must be “Liking” and Commenting!

Why the Differences in What We See

Facebook is all about the Viral effect and that is the reason for the differences in what you see. If you have a friend or friends that comment; you will see the post plus those comments. If your friend or friends only click “Like” then you will see the post and only that those Friends “Like” the post. If you see both, then you have Friends that are both “Liking” and Commenting. If you do not see the post, then that means your Friends did not feel it was worth “Liking” or making a comment.

Facebook is not going to bother you with information from people that you do not know. That is called spam and Facebook does not want to be a party to spam or claims of spam. The same goes for your posts; if your Friends and Fans do not feel your post deserves an action; it dies with them!

Is There Anything Else That Needs To Be Understood About Likes and Comments?

For you to see any post; it must originate, be “liked”, commented on, or shared by a connection of yours. This connection can be either a Fan Page or a Friend or be a paid advertisement where you meet the target market criteria. If one or more of these criteria is not met, you will not see the post.

STOP! Before You Take a Step Forward on Your Social Marketing – Read This!

Social Media Marketing Reality

First, do not get me wrong; I am a proponent of Social Media Marketing and I encourage the behavior. The problem is that it is being sold to you incorrectly. Social Networking Consultants, Specialists, Experts, or whatever you want to call them are not telling you the truth!

Social Media Marketing Is Not a Rainmaker Proposition

Social Media Marketing has the potential to drive business, and, yes, even massive business through your doors. The caveat is that it takes work; lots of work. It takes commitment; lots of commitment. It takes time; lots of time.

There is no getting around it; Social Media Marketing is not for the faint of heart.

Case in Point

Earlier this year I was talking to a friend about Social Media Marketing and the opportunities that it offers a business. While I am firmly committed to that statement; I have since come to realize that most business owners do not have the level of commitment necessary to make it successful.

This friend changed the website; it was not necessarily for the better. In fact, the old site, to me, was far more aesthetically pleasing. The content from the old page to the new page is not significantly different, but they can say things have changed.

As part of the new look they created a blog. Blogs are great but again they require commitment and dedication. This is not a stop-start proposition; this is a commitment and your audience is expecting regular postings. This friend created three or four articles over the span of four or five days in February and has done nothing since.

The truth is they should pull down the blog. This minimal effort gives the impression that there is no follow through within the organization and does not help them and, in fact, does more damage. It is like jumping into the deep part of the lake and making a big splash and then not coming back to the surface because you were not prepared and had not made the prior commitment to learn how to swim.

Social Media Marketing Requires Commitment

It is not that these owners are not committed to their business; it is the commitment to Social Media Marketing that is lacking. Not surprisingly business owners have many other day-to-day tasks that occupy their time and it is hard to think about Social Media Marketing when your biggest customer is getting ready to bail on you or your top salesperson is considering a new opportunity.

Obviously those situations loom larger and their immediate impact on the business is far more important and the effect is far more quickly realized and felt. The truth is that most business owners and managers do not have the time available to put into Social Media Marketing.

Before You Jump In; Ask Yourself If You Are Ready to Follow Through

Do not just stick your toe into the water to determine the temperature. This is a situation where you make the commitment, jump in, and stay there for the long-haul.

Next Time I Will Talk About Trying To Do Too Much

Social Media Consultants talk about using Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Mashable, Websites, Blogs, Digg, Del-i-cious, YouTube, and others. The truth is that it takes an entire department or staff to monitor all of those sites and a tremendous commitment. Trying to do too much; too fast will leave you frustrated and unsatisfied. Do not do it!

The Power of Facebook – Part II – Content Is King

Tapping the Power of Facebook

Just as important as those that “Like” your Fan Page are your Friends.

1. Build your fan base.
2. Build your friends list.
3. Create great content.
4. Get your fans to click that they “Like” your content.
5. Get your fans to comment on your posts.
6. Investigate and adopt new Facebook functionality as appropriate for your goals.

In my previous post on this topic I discussed items 1 and 2. In this post I will talk about items 3 through 5.

Facebook Success Requires Great Content

Great content is key to getting your message to spread or get legs of its own. When people see great comment they are more likely to comment and spread the word. If they do not like what you said it will die with them.

Content is not a given, it is something your must work on; if you are to perfect the process. Be persistent and when you get your formula working stick with it. There is nothing worse than getting a following started and then punking out on it.

One thing is that if you write something and it does not get legs of its own; you do not, necessarily, have to give up on the topic; maybe it was the format or the way it was said. The great thing is that because the topic did not grow legs, you can come back to it six months, three months, a month, or even a week later and try it again with a little different spin.

If You Friends and Fans Do Not “Like” Your Content; Your Content Will Die With Them

Anything that you write should be written with the idea that it will elicit responses. Responses are key to the accelerated spread of your identity and brand. Your goal is to expand your sphere of influence and the comments of your connections will cause that to happen.

Ergo, the more connections you have the greater the chance that your message will have a life of its own. If your content is not eliciting a response, then you MUST change your content. This is a trial and error process as you attempt to get it right. You must write and write and write; then you must monitor and monitor and monitor. Find out what works and what does not work. Build on what works and assess what does not work to see if it can be changed.

If Your fans Comment, Their Friends Will Care About What THEY Said

Social Networking is about spreading your sphere of influence. As such there is a lot of talk about getting a following, a bunch of fans, or lots of connections. While these are all important; it is even more important to get people talking.

You need to have the recipients of your initial message make comments to you or to others. Regardless of the direction of the content all of their Fans will receive the entire discussion thread, but if you pay attention to the thread only the most recent four or five comments are displayed. Have you ever wondered about that?

Here is the reason; the most recent comment will be from someone that you know; because that is YOUR primary point of interest. If you like what they said you may look at the original post and even look at other posts. The important thing is to know that the Social Networks want you to see things from your connections in the hope that you will comment on your connection’s comment and keep the thread alive.

I Am Shocked When Business Owners Ignore Social Media

I Am Amazed

I am amazed; I am shocked every time someone tells me that they want their business to be on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, or any other Social Media and then end with the comment saying they do not want to have that presence tied to them. All I can say is: What?

How can you be in Social Media where it is all about conversations, not dialogue, and not expect to be involved? Web 2.0 applications, which is what Social Networking or Social Media applications are, is all about conversations. That is why these applications were developed.

Anyone Making This Statement Does Not Realize That Social Networking Is About Conversations

Social Media is about conversations with your friends, customers, prospects, and others. If it is not you conversing with them; then who do you want doing the talking? Have you designated someone to talk on your behalf? Are you prepared to entrust these communications to someone else?

If this is a large organization, where the operations are no longer tied to an individual, it may make sense. But if you are a small or medium sized business, a professional, a consultant, or an entrepreneur; you probably do not have someone that you have trained and entrusted to talk for you.

Social Networking Is About the Conversations

The purpose of these communications is to build credibility, reliability, and trust; how can you do that and simultaneously remain anonymous? Are you afraid that a customer or prospect will say something you do not like? If that is the case you need to wake up, because they are saying those things regardless. At least with Social Media you have a chance to hear what is being said and respond.

Business Owners and Managers Cannot Ignore Social Media

Today’s world does not allow you to hide! Your business can be and actually is a target and thinking that by not being involved in Social Media will somehow protect or shield you is a mistake. Things are being said with or without your participation. Social Media has become the outlet for favorable and unfavorable discussions.

It used to be that the dissatisfied customer would tell six friends; today that number increases geometrically. The average person on Facebook has 130 friends. If they post something about you, favorable or unfavorable, on average 130 people will see or hear the message.

There is a YouTube video out about United Airlines breaking this guys guitar. Over 3 Million, yes that is an “M” people have seen this video. Last I knew it was even becoming a record.

You are now a member of the viral world so stop being an ostrich and get your head out of the sand. You need to be participating!

Are You Going Viral

Are You Trying to Go Viral?

If you have your business on the Internet you objective should be to go viral. But, what exactly does going viral mean?

There are many that believe going viral is simply the process of getting on the Internet but that could not be further from the truth. An Internet presence is positioning yourself to go viral, but the complete process takes work and sometimes a lot of work.

Your Internet Presence Is Not Enough

In addition to your Internet presence you must have people that care about what you have to say; and they must care enough to want to tell other people. If you cannot get people talking about you, your business, and/or your products you have not gone viral.

Individuals, professionals, and businesses that are successful on the Internet have several things in common, but most important is the fact that they can attract a following. They have people that are interested in what they have to say and are willing to tell others.

If you are familiar with Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Tipping Point” those that attract a following have connectors, salespeople, and mavens to carry them forward. These are people that desire to promote their activities. Gladwell explains all of this and if you have not read this book; it is a must read for anyone that is serious about going viral. I was at my local Borders just last night and convinced two people that it was a book they must have.

How to Go Viral

So how do you go viral? If you want to be successful, you must first realize that for the majority of people it does not happen automatically or instantly. For most of us, it will take commitment and work. You cannot get frustrated or let it beat you. Here are some key steps.

• Content is king.
• Identify your connectors.
• Be consistent.
• Encourage followers.

Content Is King

The next step is to have good, if not great, content. You need to get your readers’ attention, keep their attention, and keep them coming back. Good or even great content does not necessarily mean that it is perfect, it does not meant that you have excellent grammar, it does not mean that you are mistake free; it truly means that you have material that your readers want to read and, ideally, share with their friends, family, and acquaintances.

Identify Your Connectors

The next step is to find the connectors that are interested in your message. Connectors, as explained by Gladwell, are those people that you know that can connect your message to their other connections that would be interested in what you are saying.

Be Consistent

Establish a posting pattern and stick to it. Once per week, twice per week, on Thursdays, every other week, etc. Patterns are important to your readers.

Encourage Followers

Build a following by encouraging your readers to sign up for your Blog, “Like” your fan page, get the RSS feed from your website, subscribe to your YouTube channel, etc. Before you can go viral you must be reaching your immediate connections so they can promote you to their connections.