Guest post: The loser’s guide to being ‘Liked’

Photo by ccmackay (via morgueFile)

The following is a guest post by Susie Brown. Her bio is at the end of the article.

Okay, we know, everyone can see the ‘like’ button prominently placed at the forefront of your website.

And at the end of every blog post.

Since when did it become okay for us to ask people to like us?

When I was in elementary school, only the biggest loser in the school that would ask people to like her, I know, I was that kid.  And by the time I got to middle school I realized that there are better, and more genuine ways of inspiring people to like me.

Here is what I learned, please feel free to apply it to your social media marketing campaign…

Be Cool

I realized, after a bit of soul-searching, that my Mom was right: “be yourself and people will like you.”  Being cool entails defining who you are and then being that all the way.  Sure there will be those that won’t like you, but there will be those that do like you too.  That’s part of being yourself and being unique.  Those that are supposed to be attracted to your special qualities will be.

Give without expecting to receive

Friendship and being likeable is a two way street.  Giving good content and great service to customers and your social community causes a natural reaction called the ‘reciprocity factor.’  After people feel that you have given them so much good stuff they feel that they owe you something.  Do it right and don’t bother begging for likes.

Stop measuring like a loser

I used to count how many friends I had in order to feel good about myself.  The final number included all of my stuffed animals, my imaginary friend, and my Mom.  That was great for my confidence as a little tyke, but it’s not the way businesses should be measuring their social media effectiveness.

I will explain.

Businesses hire social media experts in order to help them take advantage of the great opportunities available through social marketing.  The social media experts then make it their business to measure the value of each “like” or tweet or whatever.  That’s cool, but here is where the confusion comes in.

After measuring the value of a “like” they go begging, like wild dogs, for everyone to like them.  Which brings me to my next point.

Stop begging like a loser

The problem is that the quality, and value of their likes will inevitably decrease just because you asked for it.  Even those people who would have liked you anyways will see you in a different light.  Because only losers ask you to like them.

The truth is I might have exaggerated my points a little bit too much.  There are more respectable ways to ask for likes without being loserly about it, and measuring is obviously crucial to any marketing effort.

So, what is the real point to this article?  It’s the way that we relate to the customer.  Instead of thinking about social media with the loser brain, let’s turn on our awesomeness and engage audiences in as natural a manner as possible.

Susie Brown is a FastUpFront Blog contributor and business author. Fastupfront offers quick business loans for merchants based on business cash flow.