And the Facebook Oscar for Best Performance goes to…

"You like me, you really like me!"

Social media marketing, just like our ability to accurately remember things, can sometimes be a bit unreliable. If you’re like me, you may have thought the opening “you like me” phrase was what Sally Field said to the viewers and fans back in 1985. It wasn’t. Instead, she exclaimed, “You like me, right now, you like me!" which, you will note, subtly hints at the fickle nature of fans – a near-universal truth, regardless of the platform from which it is proclaimed.

Using Facebook as an advertising arena, I tend to struggle with my Goldilocks theory – how do you know when it’s enough to catch their attention and interest, and when does enough become too much and, in the process, turn people away? Unfortunately, even Goldilocks never won an Oscar, so I can’t rely on her to have gotten this one right.

The challenge with Facebook is that some of your best followers are there every day and could one day come to think of your posts like disturbing funhouse mirrors that never seem to end, while the rest of your favorite fans seem to rarely check in. With infrequent posts, you’re sure to soon be long forgotten to the most fickle of your fans, while the other end of the spectrum presents another dilemma altogether – walking that fine line between posting often enough to catch the rare check-in and posting so much as to inspire your fans to simply become a fan of that little red “x” and disappear altogether.

I’ve lately taken to selecting a few of the more interesting or eye-catching listings and then posting that photo collage on an almost-weekly basis. Interjecting periodic points of interest, such as blog entries or other informational highlights, helps to maintain a bit of balance. Of course, it’s always nice when one of my friends gives a post a thumbs up, even another seller friend who subscribes to the “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” philosophy of social media marketing.

As to if and to what degree any of this really works, well, I’d be curious to hear what the non-selling viewers have to say about what practice earns the right to hear “And the Facebook Oscar for Best Performance goes to…”