Reasons people ‘Unlike’ Brands on Facebook

Why do people ‘unlike’ brands on Facebook? A research jointly conducted by Cotweet and ExactTarget revealed the reasons. They were all content related.

44 percent of the respondents dislike a brand because the companies posted too frequently and the same proportion of people said that their walls are congested with marketing post. Besides marketing related content, respondents also revealed that they dislike a brand on Facebook when content became repetitive and boring.

As many Facebook users would have experienced, a certain promotion is only offered to people who like a brand on Facebook. 26 percent of the respondents only liked the brand to take advantage of the promotion. Majority would dislike once the promotion ends. Surprisingly, 17 percent said that they dislike brands because the posts were too chit-chatty and lacked of real value. The chart below summarizes the findings:

The first key takeaway: As the results have shown, brands on Facebook are required to provide real value to keep consumers engaged. Real value here means more offers and discount, not the chit-chatty stuff. It is surprising because most social media marketers believe that being social on social media is a key to success. While that is still true, a Facebook page has to strike a balance between casual conversations and deal offers.

The second key takeaway: Marketers shouldn’t be too obsessed over the number of likes the brand can achieve. The report said it best: A consumer’s decision to “unlike” a company has surprisingly little impact on the perceived likelihood that they will buy from that company in the future. In total, 63% of consumers said they were as likely or more likely to purchase something from a company after ending their Facebook relationship.

Another 18% said they only “unlike” a company if they never bought anything in the first place. It seems the correlation between “unliking” a company and continuing to do business with that company is tenuous at best. So while Facebook remains a viable channel for interactive marketing, companies probably shouldn’t place undue emphasis on how many times they are “liked.” Rather, the emphasis should be on fostering an engaged community of fans who like you enough to amplify your brand within their circle of Facebook friends.

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