You Don’t Have To Like Me On Facebook Anymore

Consumer brands have been very reliant on the like button as part of the sharing experience on Facebook, but soon they might become less so.
A whopping 51 percent of consumers said they are more likely to buy a product after liking the brand on Facebook, according to a new study by marketing firm Constant Contact and research company, Chadwick Martin Bailey.
The study also revealed that 56 percent of consumers said they are more likely to recommend a brand to a friend after becoming a fan of it on Facebook.
Yet, marketers are finding that when customers are given just the one option of  liking a product, activity or brand, they aren’t as eager to share it. Consumers are becoming so inundated with that like button, that marketers are beginning to wonder if people even paying attention to it anymore?
What if consumers don’t necessarily like something? What if they just read something, or want something, instead? Facebook sharing has been limited to that four-letter expression until now.
Changes to the open graph will allow Facebook developers the ability to create a significantly richer experience for users as well as a more engaging experience between companies and consumers.
These updates will also help smart marketers to get even more creative with their customer engagement strategy.
Today, marketers and developers can get as creative as they want with these tools and engage consumers on a more personalized level.
The open graph has been expanded to let the developer create a custom action verb to replace “like.”

 
This customization is starting to populate the Internet, and as more developers catch on, it will become a contest to find who can come up with the best marketing buzzwords and create the most unique and creative hook for customers.
I’m noticing that too few companies have started personalizing their share buttons, but hopefully that’s changing.
We’re now embarking on the holiday season, and as consumers begin to browse their favorite shopping sites in higher volume, I imagine big retail brands will incorporate the new possibilities into their websites.
Shoppers will start seeing a variety of social sharing icons, from “on my Christmas list” to “gotta have it.”
The possibilities for creating personal messages and experiences for your customers have skyrocketed with this update.
It’ll be interesting to see what buttons we start seeing out there, and what action words will draw the most consumer engagement.