This isn’t terribly new, but if you’re involved in LinkedIn Groups you’ve probably seen this before. A new conversation will start that reads along the lines of “Post Your Business Facebook Page Here” with the thought that if everyone in the group likes each other’s Facebook pages, numbers will increase and things will go well.

 

Not so fast…..if you’ve tried this before, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the process and what, if anything, it’s done for your Facebook page. There are some things to keep in mind when embarking on this Facebook sharing adventure through LinkedIn Groups:

 

  • I think most have caught onto this one, but in case you haven’t: in order for the number of likes on your business page to increase, people need to like your business page from their personal Facebook profile, not their business page. Likes from other businesses do not show up as an official like.

 

  • Many people will like your page and then let you know by posting a comment to your wall, saying something like, “Hey, I just liked your Facebook page. Here is mine – please like it too!” While there’s nothing really wrong with this, the better way would be to direct message the page admin to let them know you’ve showed them some Facebook love. I know that option wasn’t always available, but it is now. It is a personal choice whether or not you want these conversations public. To many, it won’t matter, but to others, they may not want their “true” fans to know their numbers are higher because they are part of a Facebook sharing project.

 

I recently talked with a colleague who participated in a Facebook sharing conversation on LinkedIn. I was curious to know her thoughts, which she was kind enough to share with me. Basically, she initially thought it would be a good idea – after all, the increased exposure can be a good thing for sure – however, as time went on, she shared that in the future, this is not something she would participate in.

 

When I asked for her reasoning, this is what I learned:

 

  • Going back to my point above, the numbers don’t do a page much good unless they are people who her company would likely do business with. She is more concerned with having the right fans vs a mass of fans who may not even care that the company exists.

 

  • By liking other pages that are not of relevance to her, her wall is cluttered with posts that she has no interest in and are not products or services that she would use. It is simple to block these postings from the wall or newsfeed so they don’t show up anymore, but that’s just another step or two that people don’t easily find time for. As we know, everyone is pressed for time and squeezing the most out of every minute of their day. Liking a page just to block it from your feed just doesn’t make sense.
  • From my experience, most people who participate in the Facebook liking project are respectful and do things the right way. However, there are some who take advantage of this and likely aren’t using Facebook the right way for their business anyway. After liking your page, they will send messages to your wall for advertising purposes of their own products and services. My colleague found this in the group she participated in and didn’t care for it, especially because some of the products were not ones she would necessarily want to be affiliated with. In almost all cases, this tends to come from businesses who are not so much on the up and up, which is the reason for not wanting the association.

 

There are risks with doing this, but for some it has worked out great. Before you consider this, read through the conversations in this group discussion and see who’s around. This will give you some insight as to whether or not you’d like to move forward in participating.

 

As with most things social media, it’s always best to proceed with caution!