Think about the Facebook Pages you have “liked.” Why did you decide to click on the “like” button?

Recently I found an interesting article on this topic when I searching on Twitter using the phrase “baby boomers and Facebook.”

In this article “Why Boomers, Millennials Like Facebook Pages,” author David Cohen referenced a recent study conducted by GutCheck.

According the company’s report released on September 10, 2012:

  • 52 percent of boomers will like brands in exchange for offers, compared with 42 percent of millennials.
  • Both groups had trouble remembering all of the brands they had liked — 63 percent of millennials and 60 percent of boomers.
  • Like doesn’t necessarily lead to love, as just 16 percent of millennials and 36 percent of boomers said they truly “liked” brands they have liked on the social network.
  • The opinions of friends remain important, as 68 percent of millennials and 52 percent of boomers said they turn to information about brands from friends.

In the article Matt Warta, CEO of GutCheck, stressed that companies seeking these “likes” need to determine what really motivates people to like a page. Then the companies need to find out what it takes for a consumer who is on Facebook to remember which brand they actually prefer?

See the whole article at http://allfacebook.com/gutcheck-boomers-millennials-likes_b99234?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+allfacebook+%28Facebook+Blog%29

If you like to get this kind of data on a regular basis, you should subscribe to the AllFaceBook – the unofficial Facebook blog at http://allfacebook.com/

This entire discussion got me thinking about the various Facebook pages I have liked in the nearly four years I have been on Facebook.  Sometimes I have liked a page as a favor to someone who is helping a friend or client build an audience on the page. Sometimes I like a page simply on a whim because I notice a Facebook friend likes that page. Sometimes I like the page because the person owning that page has liked my company’s Facebook page.

But beyond liking a page, what leads us to engage with others on a Facebook page? In a class I recently took on Facebook for Business at Colorado Free University, our instructor Nazli Nomanbhoy showed us the kinds of engagement on the Starbucks Facebook page. Just go to https://www.facebook.com/notifications?id=217438168361542#!/Starbucks and see what I mean.

What blew me away was when how many people really track with this page. Just yesterday the company put up a post “Who’s your pick this season?” So far over 17,000 people have liked that post. Over 4,000 people have offered a comment – picking everything from their favorite football team to their favorite Starbucks beverage.

I would love to get feedback from readers of this blog about what motivates them to like a Facebook page and also which pages they regularly or even periodically post on.

As someone with a relatively new Facebook page, I am always interested in what people are looking for in a page and what causes them to engage with that page.

 

Joyce Feustel, Founder

Boomers’ Social Media Tutor

www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com