I’m not any help to marketers. I don’t tend to “like” anything on Facebook anymore. I started off liking a few things and brands, but then my friends asked me to like their favorite things, and then the feeds started and it all just became too much.

So I decided, “I don’t like anything.”

However, I’m the exception. Nearly 40 percent of consumers “like” companies on Facebook and they do so because they want to publicly display their brand affiliation to friends. That’s the result of a recent study as shared on Social Media Examiner.

Of course, I may change my ways. I’m discovering – as many already have – that by liking a company I will receive coupons. In fact, nearly 40 percent of Facebook users who become fans do so to receive discounts and promotions.

And, of course, there are pages that I keep because of what they provide to me. I’m not alone in that thinking.

“A Facebook page should be tool that provides a forum for open and honest communications. If all you are doing is spamming those who ‘like’ your page, then you are not strategically driving a dialog of ideas that can persuade opinion,” says Brian Chandler, APR, president of Commonwealth Public Relations.  

“I’m looking for pages that provide content and create dialog, but are also going to help me as a professional, or generate ideas that I can offer as tactics for clients,” he adds.

What makes you “like” a page?