Facebook and Your Cause

This morning I wanted to offer a bit of insight from the American Express Open Forum, which the good people at Mashable regularly contribute to. I stumbled upon an interesting breakdown of how and why people "like" brands on Facebook.

While this post on the Open Forum was directed toward companies and larger businesses, causes and organizations can learn a lot from the information that they're presenting here. ExactTarget studied 1,500 Facebook users to find out exactly what people expect once they "like" a company or brand on Facebook.

For those of you who don't have time to read the whole post, here's a quick glance at why people say they've "liked" a brand or company on Facebook:

40 percent to receive discounts and promotions
39 percent to show my support for the company to others
36 percent to get a "freebie"
34 percent to stay informed about the activities of the company
33 percent to get updates on future products
30 percent to get updates on upcoming sales
29 percent for fun or entertainment
25 percent to get access to exclusive content
22 percent someone recommended it to me
21 percent to learn more about the company
13 percent for education about company topics
13 percent to interact

I'd suggest checking out the whole post, because it gives good insight on how to keep your "likers" happy once they've already clicked that magic button. Keep your fans in the know about what your group has going on. They support you and are interested, so use this opportunity to let them know about the events and fundraisers you've got going on. Keep your "likers" liking you.