Can you even remember a time when there wasn’t a Facebook “Like” button everywhere you turned? Well that time was April 20, 2010. The now ubiquitous “Like” button celebrated its first birthday yesterday. According to FB (via Mashable), 10,000 websites install the “Like” button every day, and more than 2.5 million websites have integrated with Facebook so far, including more than 80% of the top 100 websites in the U.S.
Initially, when you “Liked” something on a website, it would show up as a line of text with a link in your activity feed. But earlier this year, this functionality was changed. Now when you “Like” something, the content appears as a news feed story, complete with thumbnails and description, taking the roll of the Facebook Share button (which has already been removed from Facebook’s documentation).
So what does all this “Liking” mean for marketers? According to Ticketmaster alternative Eventbrite, a Facebook “Like” drives on average $1.34 in ticket sales, compared with a tweet, which drives on average $.80. For concerts, this value bounces to $12 in sales. Eventbrite also reports that the value of the Facebook “Like” has steadily increased as adoption has taken off.
And with recent changes in the Google algorithm that give more emphasis to social search, it looks like “Like” is only going to continue to grow in importance. So if you haven’t added a Facebook Like button to your website yet, it may be time — don’t let another birthday pass before you do.
