When it comes to social network branding, a large community does not necessarily equate to a powerful one. Rather, a brand community with high engagement is a much better indicator of social power. On Facebook specifically, the sheer number of likes on a page does not equate to how effective the page is in its mission.
Instead of worrying about page likes, focus instead on your Facebook page’s PTAT number and aim to keep it hovering around 10% of your total number of fans.
According to recent research, the social network community operates according to the 90-9-1 rule. The Participation Inequality theory follows that a community of users is generally naturally divided into three groups: the 90% who passively observe online content and interactions, the 9% who engage with the content through likes, comments and shares, and the final 1% who actually create original content. Therefore, only 10% of Facebook users interact and engage with the content they see on the site, and only these 10% of Facebook users are able to drive engagement for your brand.
Having a large number of page likes does not always show that a brand’s Facebook page is successful in engaging its users. Facebook provides a “People Talking About This” score to reflect how many of a brand’s users are actually engaged with the page and its content. Many big brands have a surprisingly low engagement rating when compared to their page likes.
