Why the heck should I Like you on Facebook?

You have a Facebook page, and you’ve been promoting it in all the right ways.

You have a Like button on your website, you have a link in your email signature and you include the little blue Facebook icon in your email newsletters.

If you are an advanced social media user, you integrate it with your other social networks. You send out tweets asking people to Like the page, you link to it on LinkedIn and you’ve sent out a plea on Google+.

You’ve got the “how” down pat and you are pretty satisfied with yourself.

However, if you are like most Page Administrators, you are forgetting one critical piece of the Facebook Page To Do List – the “why”.

Why the heck should I Like you on Facebook?

For example: I Like Staples on Facebook. And it’s all because of this email that they sent to me:

As a Facebook fan, I get access to exclusive deals, specials and coupons. Also, I love the subject line of the email – instead of writing “Like Us!!!!! Please!!!!” they went with “Join us on Facebook and Twitter. Here’s why.” This is a much better and more effective approach.

So – what is the strategy for your Facebook page?

Think about the following questions as you hone and perfect your strategy:

Are you copy and pasting the same content that I can find on your website? Repurposing information is great, but you need to know the Facebook audience – they are more casual, friendly and frankly, lazy. They don’t read a lot of text, they rarely click on links to get more info and they love anything visual – photos and videos are a must. Attention spans on Facebook are absolutely miniscule. What are you posting that will catch people’s attention?

Are you simply syncing your tweets with Facebook? This is an absolute NO NO and will get people leaving your page in droves as fast as you can say “hashtag”. It is acceptable and encouraged to tweet several times a day on Twitter, Some power-users tweet every hour! The language on Twitter is different (think @mentions, hashtags, RT, etc.) and the culture is completely different. Keep that in mind when syncing social networking sites.

Are you hosting Facebook contests and sweepstakes, giving out coupon codes, posting information in advance of other places, or creating some other Facebook-specific promotion? If I could just find all this information in other places, why would I Like your page and clutter up my news feed?

You always have to be thinking like your audience. And I guarantee that they are thinking: What’s in it for me?

For more information (and for a laugh), check out this great cartoon from The Oatmeal on the art of getting Facebook Likes.

Post the top reason why I should Like your Facebook page in the Comments section, as well as any other thoughts you might have. Thanks for reading!