Four Reasons Why People Become Fans on Facebook (and how you can take advantage)

The Facebook fan page is a public profile for businesses, non-profits, celebrities and causes of all kinds. It’s a killer concept that has helped bring a new layer of communication to the platform.

The goal is to attract “fans” to your page so that you can amass a virtual following of sorts. This enables you to keep a close level of connection with people interested in your cause, and to see what those people are like. It’s great for connecting with clients, prospects, partners, users and other parties who might interact with your brand.

As a regular Facebook user, I’ve noticed four primary reasons why people become fans. I’ve highlighted some ways you might be able to take advantage of those reasons if you’re thinking about building a fan page.

Reason One: They’re obligated

Ok, no one is obligated to do anything when it comes to Facebook, but your “real” friends and family will look pretty bad if they don’t become a fan of your cause. This is the easiest group to attract to your page because they know you personally. In fact, you should start calling out to this group first as it will allow you to build a base of fans. Once you have the base built, you’ll experience a bit of a snowball effect as people you don’t know as well might start jumping on the bandwagon. The cool thing with Facebook is that users can see what other users are doing including what they’re becoming fans of.

How you can use this

Once you setup your fan page, send out a quick invite to all the people you know. I guarantee within a few hours, you’ll have a core following of your closest friends and family. Next, get people you know from local groups such as the Chamber of Commerce to become friends. This will have a rippling effect that’ll help build a strong base of fans.

Reason Two: They connect with everything

There are people who become fans of anything and everything they have encountered or think they want to encounter. They’ll become a fan of the restaurant they’re thinking about going to, their hometown, other towns they think are cool, things that they think reflect their personality and so forth. Some people do this because they are really connected while others just want to show off. Some of these people are also experimenters and connectors, and can help you spread your message.

How you can use this

Be there. Make your presence known on Facebook. But most importantly, provide superb service. The combination of those two factors will guarantee fandom from this group of users. The next step is to identify the connectors within your Facebook network. These are the people with hundreds of friends on their account. By giving them the channel along with good service, they’ll tune in. It’s also a great idea to connect your offline and online presences. For instance, if you deal with many people face to face or via email, let them know that you’re on Facebook. If they’re a connector or experimenter, they might just become a fan of your page.

Reason Three: They believe in the cause

Many people have genuine beliefs in a cause and are interested in staying informed. Facebook pages provide one outlet for staying up-to-date. Users will become a fan to receive new postings, videos, photos and other updates. This is also a great opening for interacting directly with users as they are the most engaged group.

How you can use this

Maintain an active fan page. Post enough updates to keep people coming but not so much that you look like a can of spam. Post interesting things, too. Videos and photos are among the most engaging pieces of content. You can also link over to your blog or podcast. The key is to provide a rich content stream that your most avid followers will want to consume and recommend.

Reason Four: There’s an incentive

Many of the big companies like Papa John’s provide users with an incentive for becoming a fan. Whether it’s a free pizza or some sort of prize, people always flock toward the chance of winning something. This is a great way to build up your Facebook fandom, especially if you can do it in a way that’s viral (e.g. posting a funny video that starts off your contest). The unfortunate downside is that you’ll gain a lot of “cheap” fans. They’re disposable and only come to you for the prize. The upside is that you do have a small amount of time to win that user over via rich content and updates.

How you can use this

Launch a promotion for people to become fans of your page. Everyone should get an incentive and it should be something pretty good (I’d say at least $5 to $10 in value but that’s completely arbitrary). That’s the easy part. The hard part is to then engage these users. Once you get them as a fan, give them more than their carrot; feed them rich and interesting content about your organization and industry. The incentive is just the hook.

This is by no means a conclusive list, but it should provide you with some of the basic reasoning I’ve discovered in why people fan things. Maybe you’ve noticed other reasons. Feel free to share in the comments section!