Up until Tuesday the only people that could comment on or like content on a Facebook page were fans of that Page. Now Facebook eliminated that requirement, allowing anyone (fans and nonfans) the ability to engage with a Facebook Page.
The result of this change is that the importance of “liking” Pages has essentially been nuked – for both brands (who have over-focused on getting fans) and Facebook users.
Remain calm…
Understandably, you are freaking out. But you’re also excited about this change!
You’re freaking out:
Because you’re worried about how to control conversations about your nonprofit. It’s like moderating Twitter without the ability to search. So you’re freaking out.
You’re also freaking out because maybe you were over focused on accumulating fans in the first place. And were shocked to learn that getting a new fan doesn’t mean you’ve earned a spot in their Newsfeed. So you’re freaking out.
But you’re excited:
Because this means that your Page updates could receive exponential attention. With the hurdle of “liking” a page removed, more people will engage with your Page stories!
You’re excited because for you it was always about engagement. It was never just a numbers game.
So what does this mean for Page admins?
- Be interesting. Because Pages are now more open, it’s even more important that you have a content strategy that keeps people interested.
- Listen. Because conversations about your nonprofit are harder to monitor, it means taking another look at using tools like socialmention test track of what people are saying.
- Evolve. Stop posting updates just to boost your edgerank, and start creating deeper and broader discussions with Facebook users.
The good news
The good news is that 99% of communication and marketing professionals are too lazy and uninterested in having real discussions with their fans. So if you have a sincere commitment to do this, the competition will be few. 
What do you think?
{ 17 comments }
I think that you’re right that this change will make “Liking” a page less important for users, but for brands we will still want to encourage people to Like our page in order to “subscribe” to our posts and keep them up-to-date on what’s happening on our page. Right?
Yes, if they want to stay in touch.
This change was one for the developers, finally. It is an all encompassing shot at Facebook becoming the content management system behind every internet user. This will be the catalyst to huge changes in already well established marketing practices for facebook pages. As a developer, I see the wealth of opportunity in user interaction and engagement, but I imagine it will take about a year before the general public understands/uses it. And for those that want to be lazy, and reuse/reduce/recycle old content, you won’t find yourself sticking out to anyone for long… Good Luck FB, I hope it works. ….now I have to go to back to the development drawing board
Nice post, succinct and to the point!
One of the main problems this causes is that it takes away a measurement possibility, but ultimately the only measurement that matters ipare the sales anyway!
I constantly advise people to add Facebook et al to their lead sources, and yes to add the specific sites rather than just a generic ‘social media’. That way they can measure how much impact it has on their bottom line.
However engaging and specifically listening to your customers can have a far reaching impact on a business, it may generate new products or services, or effect the rest of the marketing, or bring in new business partners. This may be harder to measure but who cares? Facebook removing the gate (and adding the subscribe button) encourages this and that’s what it’s all about!
I’m excited!
I’m still freaking out because now I’m not sure who’s seeing my page, if anyone will, and that’s disconcerting. At least when you were inviting people before you knew what was going on.
Mitch – things haven’t changed in terms of seeing who seeing your Page.
Thanks for the helpful article! Do you know if there is a way to hide like counts now on Fan Pages? I notice some of the big brands do not have it showing, such as Coca-Cola. Would be helpful to hide, in light of change discussed, and for pages with relatively few fans in the first place.
There’s not a way to hide like counts. Coca-Cola is showing 34,390,934 likes.
UnLike some artists on fb, that “forced”a person to be a fan,AND drove me insane, while doing it!!!… It was “never” about the numbers game for me
I think this is great to be so open
Debb
This is good news. I will now concentrate on engaging my friends and followers.
I actually didn’t know about this until, erm, just now. I guess I’ll have to take a look at my Facebook page and see what’s changed.
I can see both the pro’s and con’s of removing the “like” hurdle (will there be much point to liking a page, then?) A chance for extra exposure always sounds like a good thing, though.
That being said, does that mean that the subscribe feature is now available on pages?
Liking a Page is essentially subscribing so no. That’s a feature only found in Profiles.
Am I missing something here? I’m not experiencing that.
Those pages that I’ve unchecked “Users can write or post content on the wall” still prevent people from posting on the wall.
Try it yourself at my demo page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Acme-Homes/124704520963400
Unless you “Like” the page, you can’t post on the wall. Can you?
Awesome post as always, John. It’s true that this new (or lack of) feature will force organizations to stop using “likes” as their bar for success and actually talk to their followers (gasp!). Tweeting it out this morning…
Does anyone know how the look of fan pages is going to change? Are they going to have the the new “cover image” and how will “tabs” be shown?
If you are using a brand (business/organization) page, your look will not change (for now). These changes apply to personal profile pages, but they will affect how brand pages should act. People will still be able to “like you.” The like button is not disappearing–it is evolving into several different options people can use to receive your information.
One thing I don’t agree with here–I don’t recommend you stop doing updates to beat edge rank as it will still be in play. Edge Rank (and your likers preferences) will determine what shows up in people’s “recent stories” columns. “Like” is not going away. You still want people to like you–that is the only way they will see your content on THEIR page. One important piece of data missing here–over 85% of people access your info through their own page, not yours. Facebook changes are designed to make that a bigger deal. They want people to get info and interact with apps from their own pages. Don’t quit writing engaging updates to be seen–or you won’t. Best practices are still in play. Know how to write good content. Engagement is fine, but people have to find you first.
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