What Are Facebook "Likes" Worth to Your Business?

If you're managing your business or nonprofit's Facebook page, how are you gauging the success of your efforts? If it's simply the number of likes your page has, the following argument is worth reading.

We've talked a lot about tracking the progress of SEO (search engine optimization) and social media efforts. The value of measuring what's working (and what isn't) can't be overstated, especially in areas like these where goals can sometimes get muddy. So when it comes to evaluating the success of a Facebook campaign, we want to be sure that we're measuring those efforts correctly.

Why Do Many Businesses Use "Likes" as the Default Metric?

Because it's easy. For many decision makers (the ones who get the final say on whether or not the company should even have a Facebook page), using likes as the key measurement is a no-brainer. And on the surface, it does seem like the right answer. But in the same way that your body's overall health can't be measured in pounds on a scale, your Facebook's success shouldn't be boiled down to simply how many people have "liked" the page.

What Else is There to Measure?

Well, revenue, for one. This isn't as easy to calculate when it comes to social media, and in some cases, social media shouldn't be used as a money-generating means to begin with. However, social media can be used as a way of driving traffic to your website where products can be sold, contact forms submitted, and information more effectively disseminated--all of which can add to your company's bottom line. These actions, by the way, can be accurately measured against your Facebook page as a referral source of traffic.

Conversions that happen on your website as a result of social media traffic, though, are just one good way to measure success. Other metrics include time-on-site, pages viewed, return visits, and participation on your Facebook page.

So Likes on our Facebook Page Aren't Important?

It's not wrong to want to be liked; we get that. We all want more Faecbook likes, the same way we all want more visitors to our site, more shoppers in our stores, and more subscribers to our email list. But getting hung up on a single number is never good for measuring all the different kinds of work you put into your business, social media included.