Marketers Must Adapt As "Like-Gating" Comes To An End
By Alicia Fiorletta, Senior Editor
Ever since marketers started looking at Facebook as a valuable engagement channel, they have focused on winning "likes."
Over the years, that little thumbs up sign has become the most coveted in the social media marketing universe, and has been seen as a key metric for determining the success of social media strategies.
So marketers did what they thought was reasonable: Bribe potential followers into "liking" them with the promise of a discount or offer. Called "like-gate" or "like-bait," this particular strategy also can include an incentive such as being included in a prize drawing.
But now, Facebook is putting the brakes on some tactics that have become known and love by marketers -- especially those in the retail industry. Why? Because the company wants to improve the quality of likes and brand-to-customer relationships.
What does this mean for marketers?
"They're going to have to adapt their strategies a bit but for the most part we think it’s going to force them to lean on the best practices they should’ve been leaning on anyway," said Tim McMullen, CEO of redpepper. "Now you have to be more dynamic in how you engage consumers."
As McMullen noted, social media best practices typically include engaging one-to-one with consumers, sharing relevant content and offering access to exclusive information on an ongoing basis. And if a retailer wants to craft a social media contest or campaign, the contest needs to be a minor piece of the puzzle, and marketers need to engage with followers to determine who is genuinely interested in the brand.
"Think of your entire social network as a key asset," McMullen said. "Think of Facebook as its own database. There has been a big paradigm shift from getting as many 'likes' and followers as possible, to keeping the database clean. And that means asking: How do we create a strong and engaged database?"
For example, redpepper worked with Kirkland on a series of Facebook promotions. Although the retailer found extensive growth in its fan base using promotions, the company continued to activate that existing data base to build a group of loyal followers.
"It's becoming more about the quality of people on your Facebook and how you can use them to speak on your behalf to friends or family," McMullen noted.
The death of "like-gating" will force retailers to be more relevant. McMullen offered a few tips and best practices to help retailers get started:
Use "action-gating": Embrace other communication touch points to initiate contact, then ask for the "like" down the road. For example, once a shopper shares feedback via email or a micro site, ask them to stay in touch on Facebook.
Embrace content: Having a strong content strategy empowers marketers to stay connected with consumers across all channels. If retailers provide valuable resources on Facebook, consumers will have a reason and strong incentive to "like" them and stay engaged.
Consider paid advertising: Facebook has unveiled a lot of paid advertising opportunities, and is even testing a "Buy Now" button. If Facebook is a strong community for your brand, consider this as a strong investment to put your brand front and center on consumers' timelines.
Embrace your ambassadors: Charge these consumers with sharing information about your brand. Incentivize them to share relevant content with friends and family.
What will your organization do with "like-gate" coming to an end? Will it impact your social strategies? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
Facebook’s Removal of Like-to-see Fan-Gating: How a Facebook Contest App Provider is Dealing with it
Dear Readers of the Wishpond Blog,
Today, November 5th, 2014, marks the end of “Like-to-see Fan-Gating” and “Incentivized Social Actions”. This means that you can no longer require people to like your Facebook Page to access or enter a promotion, or ask people to like or share your Facebook Page to get something in return.
As one of the leading providers of Facebook contest software in the world you might imagine that, this past week, Wishponders have been running around like headless chickens, screaming, tearing our hair out and hiding in corners.
I’m sure you’ll recognize the “Click Like to Enter” image from your favorite businesses on Facebook.
As entertaining as that would be, I’m afraid we may disappoint you.
A little background on Like-Gates and why they’re being removed:
For a long time, the Like-Gate was one of the primary draws to software like Wishpond’s. Without a tool like ours, incentivizing Facebook Likes was next to impossible.
Like-Gates require Facebook users to “Like” your business’ page in order to enter to win a prize. They are also almost impossible to create on your own accord without the help of software like Wishpond’s.
And yet today Facebook will be removing the ability to Like-gate on their platform. They write:
“You must not incentivize people to use social plugins or to like a Page. This includes offering rewards, or gating apps or app content based on whether or not a person has liked a Page. It remains acceptable to incentivize people to login to your app, check in at a place or enter a promotion on your app’s Page. To ensure quality connections and help businesses reach the people who matter to them, we want people to like Pages because they want to connect and hear from the business, not because of artificial incentives. We believe this update will benefit people and advertisers alike.”
- The Facebook Blog
Facebook is removing the Like-Gate to be sure your business is attracting “quality connections” rather than users only interested in accessing your business’ contest.
We at Wishpond were, initially, somewhat concerned. For a couple years Like-Gating has been one of the biggest draws for our clients.
But, a few scant minutes later, we shook it off and went back to doing what we were doing.
Why We’re not Crying in a Closet
Reason We’re Not Crying #1: Because of the language used
You might notice in the quote above the phrase “It remains acceptable to incentivize people to […] enter a promotion on your app’s page”. This means, in short, that it’s fine to run a contest on Facebook and ask for a Like when you do it (so long as you no longer make it an entry requirement). Let me explain:
When someone clicks on a Facebook Ad or post promoting your business’ Facebook contest and is sent to your contest tab, they’ll no longer be stopped and shown the “Like us to Enter” image I included above. Instead they’ll be sent directly to your contest’s page. This doesn’t mean you can’t ask that users to Like your business, simply that they don’t have to do so to access entry.
Another noteworthy part of that section mentions Facebook’s desire for “people to Like Pages because they want to connect and hear from the business, not because of artificial incentives.”
For us, that translates to “people who like Pages because they’re genuinely interested in your business and likely to buy from you down the line.”
With the removal of the Like-Gate, Facebook users who do Like your business’ Page are more valuable. Facebook recognized this, and we’re embracing it.
No longer do you run the risk (when you engage with a business like Wishpond) of garnering a Page Like from users only interested in your prize. Now, each and every Like you incentivize through a contest will be a user genuinely interested in your business.
People are no longer required to Like your business, but (like the “subscribe me!” check-box on your landing pages) those who do so will be substantially more valuable, convert at a higher rate, and are far more likely to engage with Likes, Comments and Shares on the Facebook platform - thus boosting your Facebook Edgerank.
Since I first joined as a writer with Wishpond I’ve written the line “be sure you use a contest prize directly related to your business” probably 100 times. It was a constant battle against naysayers who argue that Facebook contest platforms like Wishpond generated useless Likes and should be avoided as a result.
We argued back that, so long as your prize was directly related to your business (such as a gift card, product or coupon), you’d only generate Likes from users likely to engage with you in the future.
With the removal of the Like-Gate, I never have to write that sentence again. You have no idea how happy that makes me.
Reason We’re Not Crying #2: Because our contests are still an incredibly valuable product
Incentivizing engagement with your brand on Facebook is still best done with a contest. Offering a prize related to your business or products is the best way to drive brand awareness, encourage people to (voluntarily) share your brand with their friends, and attract people who are (clearly) interested in what you sell.
And just because the Like-Gate has been removed, you can still host email-gated contests on Facebook landing pages to generate valuable, interested leads from the platform.
Reason We’re Not Crying #3: We have eggs in other baskets
About nine months ago we recognized that, in order to grow as fast and as large as we want to, we needed to diversify our platform.
As a result, we started developing a whole bunch of awesome software (and none of our developers slept for months).
Create and host mobile-responsive landing pages (41 templates and counting) for every objective from lead generation to sales
Facebook and Google Ads which can be directly connected to our landing pages, lead management tool and email marketing software
Retargeting ads, allowing business to bring back lost website visitors through timed and segmented campaigns
Five different kinds of website popups (love ‘em or hate ‘em, you can’t fight the numbers)
Lead managements software integrated with all your favorites (Salesforce, Mailchimp, AWeber, Constant Contact, VerticalResponse, and more)
Email marketing tools which allow for segmented, personalized email drip campaigns and newsletters
Diversification like this means, when we’re hit in the kidney we can strike back in other areas of our business. With the inevitable fall in Likes resulting from removal of the Like-Gate, Facebook landing pages (that capture emails and contact information) will become more valuable. And Wishpond is fine with that.
In short, we’re not worried about it.
Conclusion
The online marketing sector is one that changes on a daily basis. Facebook’s removal of the Like-Gate was not the first (and won’t be the last) thing to hit our business in the side.
But, through the foresight of our CEO and the tireless efforts of underappreciated coders, we’ll be able to absorb this blow and move on to bigger and better things.
Sincerely,
James Scherer
- Written by James Scherer
James is a content creator at Wishpond and author of The Complete Guide to Landing Pages (among others). When he’s not writing or designing for Wishpond he’s enjoying Vancouver breweries, ultimate frisbee and risking his life biking around the city.
A similar recent article got tremendous buzz tied to the Mark Cuban outcry/dismissal of fb to use twitter or tumblr for his properties: http://readwrite.com/2012/11/13/mark-cuban-facebooks-sponsored-posts-are-driving-away-brands
It completely turns fb upside down in my opinion. The reason why business adoption had been great for so long was because it incurred no additional cost, unlike search, display etc.
IMHO, I think they are approaching the wrong way. Dollars that they can be commanding tied to advertising should have never been to ad units, or lest they were larger units at large buys only. Else, businesses are on fb, the large volume of businesses from a qty perspective are tied to small business and location based places. From the get go their budgets are smaller, and the system isn't easy, nor effective enough to do buys and see an impact for this segment.
Instead, over the course of a year, they've had a botched iPhone app using HTML 5, having to hire and start clean with a native app. They've also destroyed the user experience by introducing a secondary feed, making the main feed show auto-assumptive content. And now more ad placements and larger units. The result?
GM has stopped spending on facebook, as has Mark Cuban and his properties. This is tough for them. Couple it with the slow adoption of fbx because of perceived creative solution issues, this is altogether the reality of how these endeavors evolve. Not saying it’s good or bad, though clearly I believe the strategy would differ in approach. Perhaps the solutions implemented to address revenue growth are from the same greats that created Google’s success years ago, yet are completely out of touch with the modern and social arenas. Hybrid ad units with targeting from the very platform that you’re on, and an infant mix of targeting integration via fbx make this completely evolutionary, not revolutionary. Go back to the business you were successful at, creating a platform that marries psychology and sociology to drive behavior. Provide a solution like that to advertisers, and you’ll be the only game in town again.
