Facebook has become a critical component to the marketing plans for companies, particularly in business-to-consumer segments.  The value companies get from the highly-engaging social network is hard to match through other media.  

Facebook recently decided to change a key component of its advertising platform to increase interactions with brands, by eliminating the “Fan” function and moving to the tried and true “Like” function.  The rationale behind this move is simple: Facebook users use the “Like” function everywhere in the platform, therefore the expectation is that users will be more likely to “Like” a brand because it is more intuitive and familiar.  

The “Like” functionality of ads is powerful because it increases interactions between consumers and brands.  The bad news is this behavior sets out to destroy a lot of the value brands can get from social media.

Let me explain. For starters, we all know marketers face enormous pressure to deliver quantifiable results.  The number of “Likes” or “Fans” is an easy number to throw on a spreadsheet with a whole bunch of other stats to show your boss you’ve done more that play Farmville all week long.  

“We’ve increased the number of people that like our brand by 10.357% this week.  Looks like I’m getting that bonus and retiring toTahiti!”  I think that’s the wrong mindset to encourage.  I do agree that “Becoming a Fan” of a brand seems more committal and that it would be much easier to get numbers up by driving “likes” instead…but do I really want that?  Wouldn’t I rather have access to a group of influential people who really believe in my brand, who truly have brand love and want to shout it out from Mount High?  I think the answer to that is “Yes.”I want to know who my biggest brand advocates are, not just the casual, “Yeah, I like you…you are cool”-type of people.  There are plenty of other ways to find them.  

When it comes to my “Fans,” these are people who really love me.  I want to turn these people into brand ambassadors, enable them, engage them, and encourage them to share their love with their friends.  For the people that simply “Like” me, the opportunity is lower to create that kind of interaction, not to mention I now have completely muddled my group of hardcore fans with casual ones.  The result?  We’re right back to measuring based on size instead of substance.  

So instead of making this change, why can’t Facebook bring back the “dislike” button, so I can “dislike” this change?  I want to know who the real fans are, not just the people who like me today.  Like what I do, but be a fan of the brand I am.  If you like this blog post, please click thumbs up.