Facebook failure to deliver a ‘dislike’ button would earn a massive thumbs down

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But the PR lesson from the social network is that all publicity is good publicity

DislikeWHETHER it will ever actually be introduced or not, the mention of a Facebook dislike button never fails to get people talking.

As soon as there is even the slightest hint that a dislike button will be appearing on Facebook, the internet explodes. Which got me thinking about the best ways to use Facebook’s own tactics to get people talking about your business.

Read on for a guide to the ‘Five Ts’ of getting talked about for all the right reasons. But first a bit of background.

Unless you have been hiding in a cave, you’ll know that in a recent Q&A session, Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook was “very close” to having a dislike button ready for user testing. Of course within minutes of this announcement there was a huge online discussion as everyone rushed to Facebook to check if/when they would have access to such a button.

All of which made me wonder, just how many times has it actually been suggested that Facebook would introduce a dislike button?  In all honesty your guess is as good as mine. After much online research, the only thing I could establish for sure is that it has been mentioned many times. Yet nothing has ever happened.

So could it be that the suggestion of a dislike button will never actually be more than a very clever PR stunt in order to get everyone talking about Facebook?

Currently the social network has 1.49 billion monthly active users and is by far the most used social network in the world. However, other platforms are constantly emerging and growing. Twitter, LinkedIn may not be challenging Facebook’s dominance.

However, Facebook can’t ever afford to be complacent – it knows only too well that MySpace seemed untouchable until a small newcomer along … a newcomer by the name of Facebook.

We may never know if a dislike button is actually being worked on or not. However, the mere suggestion has proved a great way to get the entire world chatting about Facebook, keeping it ahead of other contenders.

Which shows how simple it can be to get people talking about your business or product. So I thought I would share with you the Five Ts of word of mouth to help you get people talking about your business.

Thumbs Up Tip #1Talkers

Firstly you need to find out who the people are, you want to talk about you. Are they customer, bloggers, influencers? Once you identify your target audience you can plan how to reach them. Be it using social media or traditional media once you have planted the seed your message will continue to spread.

 


Thumbs up Tip #2Topic

Give them something to talk about. This could be a special offer, a great service, or following in the footsteps of Facebook, a cool new feature such as a dislike button. When you introduce something like this to your target audience of course they are going to share the message with their family and friends to ensure that they don’t miss out on this new service either.


 

Thumbs Up Tip #3Tools

Use whatever tools are available to you to help the message spread. The best way to do this is through online discussion. If you can get people talking about your message online it is almost guaranteed that it will spread faster.

 


Thumb-4Taking part

Join the conversation. Reply to feedback and participate in social media discussions. This will ensure that people are only circulating the correct information about your company and not spreading anything which is untrue. The last thing you want if for everyone to be talking about your business, but not having the right information.

 


Thumb-5

Tracking

Measure and understand what people are saying about your business. This is crucial as it will help you understand what gets people talking and what doesn’t. You can do this by reading online discussions, listening to feedback, and using measurement tools including Google Analytics and social media insights.

 

Isn’t it time you got more people talking about your business for all the right reasons?

Word of mouth is one of the simplest ways to boost your business or brand profiles and if you follow the five T’s rule you will have people talking about your business before you know it.

If you think your business could do with a bit of a profile boost, we can help you out. Getting in touch with us couldn’t be easier. Call us on 0131 561 2244 or fill in the contact form below and we will get right back to you.

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