Cinco De Mayo

For today’s edition of the Top Ten, we’re going to try something a little different. I’ve said on several occasions that one of the best ways to learn how to deal with social media is to look at the industry leaders, and examine what they did to get to the top. Today, we’re going to put that concept into practice: we’re going to examine some of the most popular, most oft-liked Facebook pages, in order to determine how (and why) they got to where they are. Through this, we’ll learn a little bit more about how Facebook works, and about how Likes can be used to your advantage (and utilized as a very suitable metric). Let’s get started, shall we?  This list was compiled from . Facebook for Every Phone One of the two top spots on the list is currently held by Facebook’s “Facebook for Every Phone” app. This one’s essentially what’s written on the box – it’s an application that allows access of Facebook’s mobile site from any of a wide array of smartphones and tablets.  A pretty vital app,all told. What we can learn: Given that the app doesn’t require a user to subscribe to use it, that means all the “Likes” are voluntary. This tells us two things. First and foremost, that Likes are definitely a valid means of determining user loyalty. Secondly, that the power of a truly useful, valuable application should not be underestimated, and can drive a great degree of traffic. Facebook Ironically enough, Facebook itself holds the number two spot on the list, with more than 83 million likes. There’s not a great deal to say here, to be honest.  Apparently, plenty of people enjoy the social networking site – who knew? What’s rather curious is that the page doesn’t have more likes, truth be told. It could be rather telling that Facebook has over 800 million users, in light of this. What we can learn:  Perhaps that Likes could be used to determine dissatisfaction as easily as they could be utilized in working out customer loyalty. The fact that somewhere around 10% of Facebook’susers have publicly Liked the company could mean either that not everyone is aware of the page, or that customer support isn’t exactly through the roof. Either way, it’s a minor takeaway. YouTube YouTube comes in at third place, with 67.6 million likes, and a daily growth rate of somewhere around 40k. Given how popular YouTube is as a video sharing site, it’s not surprising that it’d make the list. Again, though: one would expect that with all of YouTube’s traffic, it might have more likes. What we can learn: I’d like to think that this underscores one of the primary weaknesses of using Likes as a metric: they’re not always suitable means of gauging success, interest, or traffic for a brand on its own. In YouTube’s case, it probably receives enough traffic to rival Facebook itself. This immense popularity is only marginally reflected in the Likes its Facebook page has received – most users probably don’t see much need to visit it, and just opt to visit the site instead. Texas HoldEmPoker Coming up in fourth is Texas HoldEm Poker at 67, 613, 845 Likes. Online poker is all the rage of late, and Texas HoldEm Poker cashes in on that craze.  Though I don’t see the draw of it myself, I understand that quite a few people play it – hence why it’s so high on the list. What we can learn: The amount of traffic which can be driven by a well-designed Facebook game. That’s the main lesson here. Rihanna In fifth, we’ve the ever-popular Rihanna. This twentysomething singer knows exactly how to use social media to her advantage, and her posts and tweets are both compelling and genuine. With her, one gets the very real sense that they’re following a real human being, with a completely unfiltered line of communication. What we can learn: As we’ve discussed before, celebs like Rihanna underscore the importance of remaining genuine and interesting on social media. It’s not enough to simply be there – if you’re a boring, faceless entity which filters everything they say, people aren’tgoing to find you interesting. Eminem As rappers go, Eminem is something of a Renaissance Man. He’s received awards for his music, acted in several movie and television productions, manages a record label, participated fairly heavily in advertising, and founded his own charity. He’s also a pretty big deal on Facebook , actually managing to top Lady Gaga in Likes. He and his staff have a unique understanding of social media, and know just how to turn it to their advantage through a number of unique campaigns and initiatives (such as ). What we can learn: If you can command a powerful presence on a social network, and know how to run a unique, riveting social campaign, followers and Likes will eventually come along on their own. It’s a given. The Simpsons I’m not even going to talk much about The Simpsons – I doubt there’s anyone who hasn’t heard of them. The show is pretty much a legend – most people nowadays either grew up on it, or remember watching it back when it first startedairing in the 90s. It’s entirely unsurprising, then, that the Simpsons fan page is on the top ten list. The only question is, what can we learn from this? What we can learn: Even if your brand is already immensely popular, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give social media a try. Matt Groenig rather masterfully leveraged the already considerable fame of his series into the fan page on Facebook, which has since become one of the most trafficked pages on the network. Shakira Yet another celebrity who’s managed to use their status to make themselves a social networking titan, Shakira uses her page to promote her music and videos as well as posting photos of her personal life for her fans. Again, just like Rihanna, she affords her followers a look behind the glitz and glamour, allowing them to see that there’s a real, breathing person there. She posts on Twitter and Facebook in both Spanish and English. What we can learn: Again, Shakira’s popularity drives home the point of being honest andreal online- and the importance of understanding what ones’ demographic is interested in. Coca Cola I’m going to assume you’ve all heard about Coca-Cola. They’re only one of the largest soft drink brands in the world. Coupled with this claim to fame, their Facebook page is the ninth most Liked on the site. Their brand is positively massive, with a colossal advertising budget, and . What we can learn: Coca Cola knows how to link their marketing campaigns together, all while keeping it aligned with their business goals. They split up their content into 70% low risk, 20% developed from stuff that worked in the past, and 10% unique, high-risk, endeavors. They’re willing to be creative, and willing to experiment – and that’s the reason they’re so known, and the reason so many people have liked a soft drink brand on Facebook. Lady Gaga We’ve already been over how Lady Gaga is a social media wizard before. She boasts an intimate understanding of her fans, she’s extremely skilled at managingher social feeds, and she understands exactly how to communicate with her demographics. Though she’s at the bottom of the top ten on Facebook (still an impressive feat, to be certain), she’s one of the most popular figures on Twitter – and that’s saying something. What we can learn: Lady Gaga is a case study in how to build a personality for social networks. Watch her, and you’ll learn.