In our increasingly competitive world -- one in which we clamor for the right kind of attention for our companies -- the pursuit of "likes" can become an obsession.
While experts work to define the return on investment, or ROI, of social-media attention and quantify the financial value of social media-fans and followers, entrepreneurs have an innate sense that there is power in gathering a following of likes for our brands.
If being liked is an important goal, and if we measure our likeability by what our social-media fans are saying, how can we effectively gather that evidence of our likeability?
Related: How to Build a Strong Social-Media Presence
While the current tools to collect and aggregate social-media feedback for a particular demographic are useful, they will only continue to get better and more detailed over time. Fairly soon, you'll be able to look at the score a service provider gets when servicing people who are just like you.
But in the meantime, here are three simple but powerful ways to encourage your advocates to like you.
1. Facebook fan page likes. If you haven't already, create a fan page on Facebook and ask people to "like" you there. It only takes a consumer two seconds to click on the "like" icon, so take advantage of this easy marketing tool on social media.
And don't be scared of the "ask." On blog sites, business cards and across other social-media channels (i.e. LinkedIn), ask people to like your Facebook page.
2. LinkedIn skills and endorsements. Ask people to add your skills on LinkedIn. Similar to asking customers (advocates) to like you on Facebook, this is a great way to ask people who know and like and respect you to state what you are good at.
Related: The Easy Way to Get a Social Influencer Advocating Your Brand Is to Hire One
The reason this is so useful is often when people meet new collegues or associates in their industry circle, they Google their name and go to their LinkedIn profile, which provides a plethora of information about the person.
When I am on LinkedIn, I read a person's summary, view her past jobs and look at what she is currently doing. I then look at the number of skills/endorsements she has and make sure these affirmations back up who she says she is. If there is inconsistency, I throw up a yellow flag. If there's major inconsistency, I throw up a red flag. I've had major success running a campaign asking for those that knew me to endorse my skills on. (If you want to read more about this tactic, I go more in-depth in my post Successful LinkedIn Endorsement Promotion Case Study.)
3. Website activate page. Create an activate page on your website specifically asking visitors to take action on what's important to you. Every website should have explicit calls to action, as they help provoke an immediate response. So, don't make your visitors guess at how they can help you; tell them what positive action is. Examples of call to actions include subscribe buttons to newsletters or social channels, requests to follow on social-media channels or to join forums. For the Thought Leader Life show that I'm a co-host with Michael Procopio, we created an Activate page that has really helped drive consumer engagement with our brand.
To be successful in business today, and certainly in the future, you need to be liked. The more you're liked, the higher you'll come up in the tools that sort by customer satisfaction and the more successful you'll be. To ensure your long-term viability, put a consistent program in place to increase your "likes."
Related: The 5 Factors of Social-Media Marketing Most People Don't Consider
