Study Highlights The Connection Between Social Media Friends & Fans

Have you ever wondered what makes Facebook users decide to friend or unfriend one another? A recent study found that not surprisingly, there are a variety of reasons for this.

Even though this study focused on friending and unfriending rather than liking and unliking, it’s safe to assume that people use the same reasoning for all of these types of actions in most cases.  So if you’re wondering why people decide to like (or unlike) your Facebook fan page, here are some facts to consider.

The study, which was conducted by NM Incite, reveals that. . .

• 82% of Facebook users choose to add a friend because they know (or knew) that person in real life. In other words, at some point, they made an important connection with this person.  From a brand perspective, it is easy to see how important it is to foster online relationships and connections with customers.The more connected a FB user feels to another user, the more likely they are to friend them, and the more connected a user feels to a brand, the more likely they are to become a fan of that page.
• 39% of Facebook users surveyed choose to end friendships or unfriend other users because they felt that they were being pitched products or services.Of course, companies on Facebook can’t help but sell their products and services in their status updates, right? Wrong. While selling and informing fans about sales, promotions, and new products is important, it is just as important for brands to focus on providing value to their customers. Share interesting news stories with them, ask for their opinions, and share your company party photos. In other words, as I said above, make a connection with them.
• Women are more likely than men to use social media as a creative outlet, to gain access to exclusive coupons and fan promotions, and to connect with others.Men, according to the study, are more likely to use social media for career networking purposes.  Knowing this, it makes sense to appeal to a broad range of demographics.Vary the types of updates that you post, and you’ll gain a more varied Facebook fan demographic as a result.