Have you ever noticed how seriously people take their ‘friendships’ on Facebook? Deleting, “unfriending,” or “unliking” someone (or some business) can be taken as a serious blow. And, as little as we’d like to admit it, being removed from someone’s Facebook world is a kind of big deal. So why do people do it? Simple… You annoy them.

“Unlike”
Baby pictures, overly pushy political or religious posts, and TMI (Too Much Information) status updates from friends are just screaming for a ‘delete,’ but as a business or brand on Facebook, what causes followers to flee? According to Lab42’s latest research, 73% of social media users “unliked” a brand because of the following reasons:

1) Brands posted too frequently
2) The consumer stopped liking the brand
3) A bad customer experience

But don’t let this discourage you, as social media users still find brand Facebook pages highly valuable. According to the study, 87% of people on Facebook “Like” brands, 82% of people think Facebook is a good place to interact with brands, 75% feel more connected to a brand on Facebook, and drum roll please… 50% of consumers think a brand’s Facebook page is more useful than a brand’s website!

It’s apparent that brand Facebook pages are valuable and important, but how do we ensure people don’t do the unthinkable and “unlike” our business? Simple… Don’t annoy them.

1) Reducing potential annoyance can be as simple as monitoring the frequency of your posts, and if need be, posting less often.

2) Consider using page post targeting on Facebook to target your posts to specific audiences. Posts can be sent based on gender, relationship status, education, age, location, language and more. The more targeted your posts, the more relevant (and less annoying) you’ll be.

3) Let users know that if they’d like to receive/not receive your posts, they can check/uncheck, “Get Notifications,” “Show in News Feed,” and/or “Add to Interests.” This can be done under the “Like” button found on each brand page. This will let users control how often they want to hear from you, without losing that beloved “Like.”

Interestingly, 22% percent of users were discouraged from liking a brand/service/product, etc. due to embarrassment – “Did you really just ‘Like’ Beano?” (sorry Beano). The top 3 categories social media users find most embarrassing include:

1) Adult novelty items
2) Diet/weight loss products
3) Health & wellness

If your company falls into this category, it’s OK, people obviously value you, they just may not want to admit it to their friends. And, there’s a simple fix for this. Users can hide their “Like” for your brand on Facebook. I know it may seem harsh, but this way, users still receive your posts, giveaways and more, without having to tell the world. Facebook lets you know how to do this on their site.

“Like”
So what motivates or encourages social media users to “Like” a brand on Facebook? According to the study, a consumer’s number one motivation for liking a brand on Facebook: promotions/discounts (psst… we have a tool for that).

For more in-depth information about how and why customers value, “Like” and “Unlike” brands on Facebook, check out the study depicted in this infographic from Lab42:

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