Editor’s Note: It’s quality not quantity, right? So, I leave you with just a quick note this week as I step into start my adventure at the New Media Expo with our own Manoush here attending, too! The Personal Branding Blog is represented and I hope you follow the tweets and updates. Plus, if you’re here at #NMX, too, then please let me know – I look forward to meeting you in real life!
Here’s what you missed last week:
- A New year Full of Wow and Can Do! by Deborah Shane
- Personal Branding Pledge for 2013 by Nance Rosen
- An Introvert’s Guide to Interview Success by Heather Huhman
- Transform Appreciation into a Returning Clientele by Elinor Stutz
- 5 Ways to Pump Up Your Career Muscle by Glassdoor.com
- 4 Expert Tips for ‘Never Fail’ Negotiation by Skip Freeman
- Use the Holidays to Boost Your Brand by Kristen Fischer
- The Importance of Daring by Jacob Share
- Don’t Bring Excuses. Bring Solutions by Jeff Shuey
- Dialing In Your Personal Brand Across Cultures by Peter Sterlacci
- Transform Yourself? Change Who You Hangout With! by Beth Kuhel
- Why to Respond Slowly to Emails (Part 2 of 2) by Pete Leibman
A special welcome to Peter Sterlacci who joins us from Japan to provide us insights on personal branding across cultures. Welcome Peter!
We look forward to your comments and interaction this week.
How Many Likes Is Enough?
Social networks are able to reflect how popular a brand is. For example, Twitter and Pinterest allow users to see how many followers they have while LinkedIn shows a user’s networking stance. On the other hand, Facebook shows how many “likes” users have; the more “likes” users have on their page the more popular they are.
Quantity vs. Quality on Facebook “Likes”
Getting a million likes is great, but not all brand pages have a million likes. In most cases, shooting that high continues to be a dream. However, a brand that does not have a million “likes” is not necessarily unpopular or unsuccessful and vice versa.
So, how many “likes” are necessary for your brand? Is it a thousand? Or, is it ten thousand? In truth, there isn’t a comfort zone to be reached by achieving a certain number of “likes”. We should never be satisfied with any particular number of “likes”, especially with an online presence that is constantly growing. There will always be more individuals out there who we need to persuade to click “like” to our brand page.
One should consider the simple comparison of quality versus quantity. There are opportunities out there that allow you to purchase a “like” at a cost. Buying random Facebook “likes” is a conventional tool to boost visibility, but won’t benefit your brand in any “sharable” way. These “likes” are often inattentive and won’t provide any shareable content. In some ways, they can actually make your analytical tool calculations unreliable.
So obtaining “like” through genuine interaction is the best and most practical method. [tweet this].
What is the quality of the “likes” that you have? How much interaction do you receive in comparison to your “likes”? Do you respond to conversations? Are your “likes” valuable and profitable to your brand, or are they just statistics? Numbers do say a lot, but don’t always influence the audience as directly as your content can.
While the quality is crucial, the quantity of “likes” may possibly affect your image. Less than a hundred “likes” may create an impression that you aren’t really serious about your online exposure. Less than thirty gains you no online exposure. To achieve audience respectability, a brand should have around a thousand “likes”. It is the quad-digits that seem to have the most influence on a general audience, and are more likely to gain additional likes for simply being the “trend” at the moment.
In conclusion, when it comes down to Facebook “likes,” it is always better to consider the difference between quantity and quality. Gathering these “likes” because your content is shareable is most effective because it reflects your true standing with the audience. It is best to keep in mind that you should never have a minimum amount of target “likes.” Trying to gain Facebook “likes” is an ongoing process that you must constantly work at. The more you do, the more your content will be shared and the more likely it is that you are to get more “likes.”
Author:
Maria Elena Duron, is managing editor of the Personal Branding Blog, CEO (chief engagement officer) of buzz2bucks.com – a word of mouth marketing firm, and a professional speaker and trainer on developing social networks that work. She provides workshops, webinars, seminars and direct services that help create conversation, connection, credibility, community and commerce around your brand. Maria Duron is co-founder and moderator of #brandchat – a weekly Twitter chat focused on every aspect of branding that is recognized by Mashable as one the 15 Essential Twitter Chats for Social Media Marketers.
