I Like "Like", Maybe

On February 3rd of this year I joined the Facebook crowd.  My first post on this blog was February 22nd.  On March 8th my friend Mark Helgerman, owner of Trinity Jewelers, had 43 people "Like" his Trinity Jewelers Facebook page.  Mark, Abby (Mark's Director of Store Operations) and I decided to go to work on it. 

Over the first week, we enjoyed 1225% growth to 527 people who "Like" the Trinity Jewelers Facebook page.  (Isn't it terrific how small numbers can make growth percentages look phenomenal?)  Within 18 days, the number of those who "Like" Trinity Jewelers grew to over 1200.  In the somewhat fickle ebb and flow of the Facebook "Like", we have learned a thing or two.

Like "Like" may be important.  Sure, it's intoxicating to see those that "Like" you rise in number.  Makes you feel like the victor in a campaign vote, or like fantasizing about how those popular kids must have felt in high school.  Sometimes a bunch of "Likes" feels like a like popularity contest, or something like that.

(OK, I couldn't resist the redundancy of using like, like athletes sometimes do during an interview)

In one sense, the number of individuals who have agreed to "Like" your business Facebook page is strategically important.  When you post a message:  "Special offer for our Facebook Friends:  receive $20 off any Mothers Day purchase through May 7th" you have directly connected with 1500 individuals with a marketing offer.  Communicating this offer by direct mail would have cost you hundreds of dollars, on Facebook it's ..... free.  To a small business owner such a thing is priceless. 

Once you have a crowd of people who "Like" you, what next?  You nurture these people as precious individuals with whom you now have a relationship. They are special and unique individuals who deserve, and expect, to be treated as such.  Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you.  Not only will they tell their friends about your business in glowing terms, it's the right thing to do.

My friend Mark is a perfect match for social media.  Why?  Because he, Abby and the entire Trinity Jewelers family genuinely care about their customers.  Remember that transparency is an inherent quality of social media, and the transparent truth is that Mark has treated customers for decades as though they would be sitting next to him every week in church, or lived next door to his family's home.  I like "Like" when it comes to Trinity Jewelers because this business is the real deal. 

Any business can attract enough people to their Facebook business page.  When transparency sets in, will they stay to enjoy the relationship or feel manipulated and flee?  I don't like "Like" for businesses who manipulate, as people will flee and warn their friends and loved ones to beware.

This is why I say Social Media is Retro.  In the past, business owners and their people believed the customer is always right and that the Customer is King.  Social media rewards businesses with old fashioned values like these.  

Thanks for sharing 151 seconds of your day,
Smitty