I'm Just Not That Into You

This morning, I participated in a discussion where we discussed brands that utilize Facebook pages. While many companies are trying to get the hang of social media and are taking their time, others are just throwing themselves out there and are pretty much becoming annoying. According to Syncapse, although profit is most brands' ultimate goal, for some, it begins with first clicking that "Like" button on their facebook page.

Well, what if I like your brand but don't want my Facebook feed to become oversaturated with your brand. I like you and everything, but I'm just not THAT into you to actually "LIKE" you. One young lady said she went to a popular cupcakery in Washington, D.C. and on the wall was a QR code. If you scan the QR code, you get a discount on a cupcake or something of that nature. Unfortunately, as soon as you scan the code, you are prompted to "Like" them on Facebook in order to receive the discount. Had it been me, the only discount that would make me want to see you in my Facebook feed for even a moment would be FREE!

It's not that I'm not a fan of your brand, but do you like me? I don't think so, because you don't even know me and I don't know you well enough to just go liking you on Facebook just yet. Don't force me, because then I will be forced to Yelp you...and it won't be pretty.

Social media is like a cheap focus group. Marketers can monitor brand loyalty and brand affinity through what is called a sentiment engine. A sentiment engine sifts through mentions of a brand into clusters by monitoring the tone of a conversation. For example, we'll say company "X" did a Google search on their brand to see what people are saying. Bob from Boise said "I bought 'X'." Okay. *blank stare* What does that do for company X? They already knew their product was being sold in Boise, so unless they reach out to Bob, they don't know why he bought it or what he thought of it, therefore not making his comment relevant to the company's research. Fortunately, Cathy from Cleveland tweeted "Today I bought 'X' b/c I needed to 'Y' and it was amazing. I already have 'Z' from company 'X' so I'm definitely sticking with them #brandX" See where I'm going with this? That was a consumer response that company 'X' could make note of. The tone was positive, whereas Bob's was neutral. Most companies mess up when they focus on too many neutral tones.

If I were a company, would I care if Bob from Boise "liked" me on Facebook? Maybe, but I would probably care more if Cathy from Cleveland did due to her seeming like a more socially active fan with much more brand affinity.

Social media and social networks are providing an engaging platform for brands to have more reach and a little more organization with their consumers. Try not to mess it up by trying to force your brand upon people, or else you will be "unliked."