Why Do People Become Facebook fans?

Facebook is one of the largest social media channels in 2016, with over 1.79 billion monthly active users.

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Written By Daena King

Apr 2023 / Reading Length: 6 minutes

Fans Of Facebook

Facebook is one of the largest social media channels in 2016, with over 1.79 billion monthly active users. The question for every marketer is how to convert these users into fans. Understanding the reasons people become fans can help your brand to develop better strategies to achieve conversion.

 

The psychology and physiology of Facebook use

Since the dawn of social media, researchers have been studying what our brains are doing when we interact with social media sites such as Facebook.

 

A study from 2013 discovered a strong connection between Facebook and the brain’s reward centre (the nucleus accumbens). This area processes rewarding feelings about things like food, money and social acceptance.

 

Whenever we receive positive feedback on Facebook, the reward centre is triggered. So, the more we use Facebook, the greater the reward. It can be an additive cycle, something that has been studied by many experts. It may also explain why 50% of Facebook users log in every day.

 

Another study from 2011 discovered physiological reactions such as pupil dilation in volunteers as they looked at their Facebook accounts.3 The researchers found that simply browsing Facebook can evoke what they call “flow state”. This is the feeling you get when you’re engrossed in a project or new skill.

 

The psychological and physiological effects of Facebook use are something to consider when you look at the reasons why people become fans of your Facebook page.

Facebook Fans

Rewards


As we have already mentioned above, using Facebook alone provides users with a “reward feeling”. 49% of Facebook users like pages to support a brand, so reward them with good content. You can also offer discounts and rewards on your page to increase the “reward feeling”. It has the added benefit of increasing the likelihood of gaining new likes. 40% of Facebook users who became fans do so to receive discounts and promotions.


Reaffirmation

Users may not realise, but they often like a brand or page to affirm something about themselves. A study revealed that the researchers could guess someone’s age, gender, sexual orientation and even political views from their page and post likes alone. Keeping this in mind, make sure your page is posting content that speaks to who your audience is.

 

To keep up to date

When surveyed, 34% of Facebook users say they like brands in order to stay informed about company activities and 33% say they like brands to get updates on future products. 5 Ensure you are sharing the latest news and product updates to gain and retain those fans.

 

Influenced by friends

20% of people surveyed said they liked a page because their friend liked it. 4 Whilst this type of fan may not be as committed to your brand, it does open up the opportunity to build a relationship with a new audience. Post engaging content to encourage conversation with those fans who may not yet be loyal to your brand.

 

Advertising

Unsurprisingly this is the least likely way someone will become a Facebook fan. Only 18% of people surveyed said they liked a page because they saw a TV, online or magazine advert. 4 Don’t rule out advertisement bringing new fans to your page though, 18% is still a sizeable percentage. Just like the fans coming via friend recommendations, post engaging content to build a relationship with these new fans.

 

As many as 71 percent of users on Facebook say they use the platform to chat with their loved ones, and 64.1 percent of them share media, whether that’s on their own profiles or elsewhere. This is followed by keeping informed.

 

Facebook fan page can be used to advertise your business, brand, product or service, unlike a Facebook page, where users become members of a cause or organisation, Facebook pages seeks to cultivate fans.

 

Benefits of having a fan page on Facebook

  • Unlimited friend count
  • You have the option to keep your personal life private (ish)
  • Search engine results
  • Tagging your brand
  • Facebook insights
  • Facebook tabs
  • Facebook contests
  • Profiles look like you don’t know what’s going on
  • Advertising
  • Admin connections
  • Check ins & location services
  • Promoted posts
  • Showcase the other pages you like
  • Newsfeed marketing
  • Comment as your brand

 

Facebook fan page earn money? The easier it is to make money, most of Facebooks new monetisation features, this includes in stream Facebook ads and fan subscriptions services.

 

The more followers you have, the easier is it to make money, most of Facebook new monetisation features.

 

The top users of Facebook, according to the latest data on top uses of Facebook, the two most popular activities on the platform are messaging friends and family and posting.

 

Following or searching brands and products is also why people use Facebook with more to stay up to date with the latest news and events.

 

Facebook is the most popular social media marketing platform for brands, it has as many 23.6% of marketers use Facebook to market their business.

 

Facebook to market their business. In comparison, 18.9% use Instagram and 17.6% uses WhatsApp’s both are owned by the same parent company as Facebook, meta.

 

Source

  1. Addiction to ‘Facebook fame’ explained by researchers
  2. Facebook Statistics
  3. Why Is Facebook So Successful? Psychophysiological Measures Describe a Core Flow State While Using Facebook
  4. Why People Become Facebook Fans
  5. Study Reveals Why Consumers Fan Facebook Pages

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