When provided with a myriad of choices about how to engage with individuals, famous personalities, and national brands in an environment of constantly changing rules, things can get confusing.
Recently when faced with the ever-incomprehensible challenge of determining whether it was better to have more followers or more likes, it seemed important to first establish: what is the difference between liking and following a Facebook page? Fortunately, a great many folks ask this question so there is plenty of clarification to share:
When to Follow a Facebook Page
Facebook users automatically “follow” people they “friend.”
Individual Facebook users may also choose to “follow” the Pages of businesses, organizations, and brands in order to receive updates from the Pages in their News Feed.
When to Like a Facebook Page
Alternatively, users may elect to “like” a business, a brand, a cause or a personality. In so doing they are showing support for that Page and associating their name with the Page as a fan. Pages they “like” are shared in the About section of their personal profile.
By liking a page, an individual automatically follows a page and receives updates from the Page they liked in their news feed.
What Businesses Need to Know
When an individual “likes” a post from a business Page, that post may be shared in their News Feed. Similarly, their image may be displayed on the Page they liked or in ads about that Page.
If an individual who “likes” your Page would prefer not to receive updates, they can choose to unfollow a Page but remain “liking” the page. The benefit to the Page is they still register the “like.” The obvious downside for the business is that the individual doesn’t see the content that your business posts in their feed.
The total number of followers and likes for your Page will likely differ because some people have chosen to unfollow your Page. While having more likes seems important for publicity sake, if your goal is to reach the maximum number of users with your news feed, then followers are the game you should be playing.
To like a Page:
- Go to the Page.
- Click Like below the Page’s cover photo.
To follow a Page:
- Click in the top left of any page on Facebook.
- Enter the name of the Page.
- Choose the Page you want to follow from the results.
- Click then click
To see the people or Pages that you follow:
- Go to your profile and click About.
- Scroll down to the Friends section and click Following.
This post is courtesy of MMC Principal Jennifer Koon