The idea of Becoming a Fan implies a deep connection to a brand or cause. One that many Facebook users we're willing to demonstrate. However, not nearly as many as those who were willing to "Like" a status comment or other post. To "Like" something is relatively easy. It's doesn't imply a deep agreement or total buy in. Simply that you at least for a moment you were amused.
However, in an economy where brands strive to tap into social media's power to accelerate word-of-mouth marketing, "Like" is everything. It will soon be everywhere. "Like" matters because it's easy. And brands want something easy as an alternative to the customer sat survey model perpetuated by web sites like Yelp. We all know that most people who "Like" a service or experience are not energized enough to post a comment somewhere. Meanwhile, people who have a negative product experience seem compelled to tell anyone who will listen. Remember the old customer sat rule, "customers with a negative experience will tell 11 others"?
So, here's what I'm driving at: the option to "Like" a brand will soon become a part of EVERY web site. That's part of Facebook's bigger plan to see their community influence the greater web.
Broad acceptance of "Like" will make it one of the most valuable variables in the search engine equation.After all, tenure, referring links, dynamic content, blah, blah, blah are not nearly as important as the opinions of users. The "(insert big number here) Like this Site" sentence at the end of a search engine result is going to drive more clicking than a Sponsored Ad Link or even the rank on the page.
The good news is this, in the Participation Age we're deciding what brands resonate and with whom. And nothing says resonance like "Like".
