To follow up on my popular posts, 8 Reasons I Won’t Follow You on Twitter, I am branching out to the other platforms to talk about why people don’t follow or connect. Today we are going to talk Facebook.
Have you ever wondered why your Facebook page doesn’t get as many “likes” as you think it should? After all, with over 1 billion users, you would think you would have thousands of fans. Unfortunately there are reasons that your page may not be getting the likes you think it deserves.
Here are 8 of the reasons your page isn’t being “liked” on Facebook (not in any particular order)…
1. Your cover photo violates Facebook’s Cover Photo Rules.
Facebook has a list of rules for a page’s cover photo. In early 2013, Facebook updated their cover photo rules. The only rules now is that there is to be no more than 20% text in your photo. I know of many social media professionals who do not follow pages who violate cover photo rules. It’s part of walking the talk. Take a look at yours – is it following the rules?
**As of 2015, Facebook doesn’t seem to care about the amount of text in cover photos. This has seemed to have fallen to the wayside.
2. Your page run contests that do not comply with the Facebook contest rules.
Facebook updated the contest rules in the Fall of 2013. Previously contests that required you to comment or like a post were forbidden. Now that are perfectly legal. However, you still cannot require someone to share a picture of post to be entered to win. Despite these changes, there are pages that still do “Share to Win” contests.
3. You never post.
The purpose of having a Facebook page is to engage and build relationships with your followers. If you never post, you won’t make that connection. If you ask me to “like” your page and I go to it and you haven’t posted in over a week or not at all, I won’t “like” it.
4. Your content is not related to your industry.
If someone “likes” your page, they are liking it for industry-related content. They are not liking it for the cute cat pictures or random memes. If you are in the social media industry, for example, I would want information about social media, not 15 inspirational posts or cartoons that have nothing to do with social media. Keep your page’s content relevant.
5. You “liked” my page but are only interested in swapping “likes” not building a relationship.
Facebook page admins will participate in Facebook Fan Page Parties looking to connect with others – either in their industry or those pages that interest them. When I participate, I am not interested in “like” swapping, meaning liking that page so they will like yours and increase your like count, I am genuinely interested in what you have to say. Unfortunately, not everyone is like that. If you post on my page just to ask me to “like” yours back, I won’t. It’s an indication that all you are interested in is my “like”, not the value I could bring as an active follower.
6. You post your page link all over my Facebook page without my consent.
This one goes with #5. Even if you are not a fan of my page, please do not post your link(s) all over my page. This happened to me today. I posted a quote and someone took the time to post a link to his page under it. Trust me, that comment was quickly marked as spam. Not only it is unprofessional, it’s also not social (to steal a line from a friend of mine).
7. Every post on your page is a sales pitch.
I understand everyone has something to sell – that’s why we have fanpages, right? Social media is about engagement and relationship building. People do not want to be sold to. If I found your page and all of your posts were “Today only get _________ for $29.99!” or “We are proud to offer the best ____________ services. Call us today 555.55.5555!” I won’t follow that page. That shows me that you are all sell-sell-sell and not interested in engaging with me. It’s good to keep a good ratio of self-promoting posts and non self-promoting posts. For every 8 non self-promoting posts, it’s okay to post 2.
8. Your posts are full of spelling and grammatical errors.
If your posts are full of misspellings and grammatical errors, it simply does not look professional. Learn when to use “it’s” as opposed to “its” for example. Facebook does spell check, so look for those squiggly red lines before posting. Would you want a prospective client seeing that on your page? I didn’t think so.
These are just 8 simple reasons people may not be “liking” your Facebook page. Every person is difference and has their own reasons for doing or not doing something.
Share with me – what is one reason you have for not “liking” a Facebook page?
I agree with your points. So, assuming a small business adheres to the advice you’ve laid out, what do believe are appropriate steps fo GETTING likes?
I think staying consistent and continually posting is one way. Another is doing a few Facebook ads or Sponsored Stories. Also, participating in Friday Fan Page parties are good too, provided you do it for the right reasons 🙂
Hmm, I believe the biggest reason is because you don’t have enough friends or you do not promote properly.
Great post, Mandy! Thank you for sharing this!~
I totally agree with all your reasons and I like a well-thought out “what not to do” post, and they would stop ME from liking a page. However, if we’re talking about non-social media Pages and non-social media industry fans, I think it would be a different list. Except numbers 7 and 8, no one likes that! ~ Alisa
Oh I agree Alisa! Non-social media industry professionals would see it very differently.
I think the list is very similar! I manage a page for an overall theme of health on the go, and our fans still wouldn’t like pictures of cats… That is unless it can relate to health on the go…
Over all same list for me. The only thing I would add is posting about the same topic OVER AND OVER AND OVER again… without a different spin or unique viewpoint or any new value.
I agree Stephanie. There are pages I see that pretty much have the same post over and over. Not encouraging to a potential fan.
These are great points that will help building a social media presence. I think that using social media with integrity is important to developing your brand. I also will now rethink fan page parties. Thanks for the great information.
Fan page parties are great ways to network, however I would suggest just connecting with those you interest you.
I’m still new to this. Please explain what a fan page party is.
A fan page party is where a Facebook Page that will, usually, post a graphic asking people to post their link to their Facebook page under it. People will post their links and like some of the other pages that interest them.
I highly support this – connect only with those where there is a common bond – otherwise, it is difficult to interact. It is a lesson I learned early on when I first encountered Page Parties.
As a side note, people who engage in page parties need to make it easy for me to LIKE your page! I used to try and find you, but I no longer do this as it is too time consuming. So please, help me locate your page!
I believe that people lose fans/likes sometimes because of distasteful pictures or language posted.
That is true too. If they use vulgar language, I quickly unfollow.
I found your article very interesting. Especially #7. I always wonder if I’m being too social or not social enough.
Thanks!
Where can I find more articles like this? I love the straightforward prose.
Thanks Stephanie! You can browse through any of my other posts 🙂
Regarding #2: Have you ever had a page or know of a page being “deleted” by Facebook?
Personally, no. I have read articles from businesses who have had their page deleted. I know Facebook will give you 3 warnings before they delete, but those I’ve read about did not get those warnings.
Great points – I agree that many make these mistakes and sometimes don’t even realize they’re doing it. Building a strong fanpage community takes some work but it pays off.
I agree – it does take work. Most see others doing it so they think it’s okay when it’s not. That’s why it’s important to educate everyone.
I’m not sure any of these are reasons why people aren’t liking your page. But could be reasons people are UN-Liking it perhaps.
That is true too. These are things in general I look at when I go to “like” a page, but same could be said for “unliking” also.
Some good points and ironically some spelling errors in those points 😉 not a big deal though, good summary.
I have fixed that! It happens to the best of us!
Nice post. I only follow if I really am interested or like what you are doing. I’ll unfollow someone if I find that all they do is a sales pitch. Oh, I like your point #8. I’m a stickler for my own spelling typos… So, you might want to check out a word in the second sentence after that point. 😉
Ha! Thanks! See, it gets us when we are not looking.
I’d also add #9 – Your posts are blog links and I don’t want to take the time to read all your content.
Agree! I may have to do a follow-up post. LOL.
I agree as well!
Regarding #4, I’m an insurance agent and find it difficult to keep every post about insurance. After all, it’s not most people’s favorite topic! I post a variety of content, not begging for sales, and try to keep it interesting. I feel that I am creating a community of clients and others who share similar interests. Would love to know your suggestions for those of us whose products aren’t tangible, like say, a bakery.
I think sharing tips and tidbits people don’t know about the insurance industry would be fun. Give them something they don’t know and ask questions. Questions that are simple to answer get a great response.
You could ask / talk about homes or cars or whatever you are insuring. If most of your customers are homeowners, then they might like winter maintenance tips, for example.
Yes! Yes! Yes! I don’t know which one I relate to more. This is fantastic and I hope people learn from it.
Thanks Kimberly!
I hate gaudy graphics and teaser coupons on a business/entertainment site. Why would I want anything from a company that thinks dayglo color schemes are going to make me want to go to your put put golf center, bowling alley etc.?
LOL! That is very true – images like that are definitely discouraging.
My friend Daniel Frances suggested I read this article; he said I would find it interesting because of an article I posted Monday January 28th entitled “Please Don’t Follow Me For the Wrong Reasons.” He was right. I enjoyed this–a lot, and I think you’re spot on! A great many people need to pay attention to what you’ve said here.
Thanks Robert! I would love to read your article too – can you reply back with the link?
Very good, valid points Mandy! #8 really irks me!! Makes you look so unprofessional..
RMSorg
WallStreetBranding
Thanks!! I am a spelling nut, so any misspellings just stand out to me.
My biggest pet peeve is getting a friend request from a business that’s set up as a personal page. I never accept. I also see #1 way too often.
I won’t accept requests from those types. Facebook has really been cracking down on those profiles.
Well Done Mandy!
Thanks April!
To the author: you mentioned the word “illegal” a few times in regards to posting contests on Facebook. I think what you mean is that it is against Facebook policy. There are no laws on the books that make it “illegal” to go against Facebook’s contest policies or any other policies. However, it may be illegal if you were advocating violence or some similar issue that is actually illegal. A lot of people throw the word “illegal” around when speaking in regards to a private companies “policies”, but you won’t be breakingn any laws or going to jail for posting things that Facebook doesn’t like, unless of course it actually is illegal. Just wanted to chime in. Great article btw! =)
Thanks for your comments Mike! I’m married to an attorney, so “illegal” probably gets used way to much around here. I know what you are saying though 🙂
How do I know if my timeline cover has 20% text?
I would also add too many posts. I recently liked a recipe page but they post dozens of times a day! I don’t have time to read that many recipe ideas.
Great article! I especially love number 7. People don’t like to be sold too. No one would trust someone with a sells only facebook page.
I kind of disagree with number 4 (I guess I agree with Angela below). I actually think it’s ok to sprinkle posts that are not at all related to your industry. Newscasts do it all the time with their human interests stories that aren’t really newsworthy, so-to-speak. As for my FAVORITE of your tips, number 8 hands down. Great list in general. Thank you!
Phil Anderson
Anderson Social Media Solutions
Mandy stop making fun of my page 😛 LOL I’m with you.. I don’t like a bunch of junk.. but I do want to see fun stuff too! I mix it up..;) I want people to build friendships and you are banned if you post spam! Great post my dear!
I had to go back to my page cover picture and gosh.. I violate the first rule. I think I have more than 20% and in fact 80% is text 🙂 I need to find my designer and get it right.
I am losing so many fans these days due to the fact that the company I hired for promoting my page targeted the wrong people. Can you imagine that they even targeted baseball fans to my page? The truth is they did. Moral of my story -> if you are hiring a marketing company to promote your Facebook page, get someone you can really trust.
You certainly got the discussion going with this post, Mandy. Funny that I hadn’t posted here, as I think I commented on several page discussions!
I thought I had commented but I guess I actually just took part in online (social media) discussion! SUPER POST.
I’ve shared and will be sharing again. 🙂
Great post, Mandy! I thought I had commented earlier… I love how you tell it like it is. # 3, 5 and 6 hit a few cords. Thank you for this and I will definitely be sharing it.
~ Robin
I totally agree with you about #s 5 & 7. I just don’t consider them polite. I believe it is just as profitable to build relationships with people as well as connecting for business purposes. Thanks for sharing this.
I agree that #’s 1&2 are bad, but I think they go unnoticed by the casual users who don’t quite understand the TOS. For me, #7 is the kicker. It is 100% the main reason I unfollow a page.
I unfollow a page if they constantly post updates. One or two posts a day is fine but one every hour is too much!
Hello. Great overview! Worth pinning, and I like the pin button, but see no [applicable] picture. So, share instead to Facebook group for social media users, to help biz friends with pages. Plan to explore more and see you on Twitter 🙂
Great post, Mandy! Thank you for sharing this! You offer very good tools for contests, I’ll try some of them. I suggest you Trisocial http://www.trisocial.com/, are really easy to use and work very well.
Hi,
How is the cover photo affecting likes? Is Facebook preventing people from liking because of it? Or just ot appealing?
What are friday fan pages?
Thanks. Great post!
Most social media professionals will not like pages who have cover photos that are against Facebook’s policies. However, now the only rule is no more than 20% text. Friday Fan Page parties are when a Facebook page posts a graphic where people can share their link to their Facebook page. It’s a great way to connect!
Great list, Mandy. Horrible spelling is an immediate turn off for me. Also, the sales pitch thing. Comes of so spammy! I get so much spam other places, why would I want it by choice on Facebook?
Ha ha! And I just made a spelling mistake myself.
Comes off so spammy is what I meant to say.
Just a friendly reminder to myself to double check before hitting submit on anything. 😀
LOL Megan! It happens to the best of us! When I first published this post I had a grammar error on it!
I think this is one of the few good articles I’ve read on some of the FB engagment challenges…well done!. and duly noted…