My daughter linked her FB account to my email when she lived at home, so I still get 'notifications'. The contents (if I bother to open them without just hitting delete) don't exactly convince me that FB is something I need in my life. The fact is that 99.9% of people lead uninteresting lives, 99.9% of the time, and no amount of 'Aww!' 'Kewl!' or 'LOL' is going to change that.

paulo

sharke
 
 
Like I say, it's all about potential customers clicking on your Facebook page, seeing how many followers you have and either consciously or subconsciously thinking that you're popular, respected and hence "safe." 

Yeah, I get what you're saying and if it works for you, then power to your elbow and all that. I just don't get why people make the leap that it must be "safe" when the reason for this is based on the opinions of people who have never used the product or service in question. 
 
It's like....
 
Dear Facebook,
 
Can someone recommend a good electrician to me ?
 
FB: Well, lots of people who are often prone to public displays of their poor judgement think that this guy is good. Admittedly, none of them have ever met him or employed him and as such they have no idea at all if he is reliable, competent or trustworthy, but even people who have no idea who he is like him and he has lots of friends that he's never met, so he must be ok, right ?

It's not that people are making watertight scientific conclusions based on a thorough analysis of the data. Like it or not, in the absence of data, people take any clues they can get. When they see 3000 likes on a page they're not necessarily thinking "wow, 3000 happy customers," they're just getting a vague impression as to the general vibe the company gives off. I've paid for a lot of my likes, but it's not just a matter of paying money and getting likes in return - you're just paying for an ad which brings people to your page, and from there it's up to them whether they decide to follow you or not.

And the more followers you have, the more visibility you have on Facebook. They like a photo, their friends see it too. This is advertising 101, it's all about getting your name out there. Why do you think companies pay millions for billboards in Times Square which basically just advertise the brand name? They know that brand familiarity is everything. So when someone is looking for the service I provide, if they've seen me on Facebook then they're familiar with the name. And subconsciously, that elevates you a little above companies whose names they're not familiar with.

Even if it only gives you a 1% advantage over your less familiar competitors, that's enough to translate into revenue.