Should You Let People "Like" Your Wine?

I got some comments on a recent post which doubted the value of Facebook in actually driving sales.

You may find these statistics about the impact of a Like buttom on sales interesting.  One example:

American Eagle added the Like button next to every product on their site and found Facebook referred visitors spent an average of 57% more money than non-Facebook referred visitors

Comments

[Wineywomen]

I think it is a great idea!

[El Jefe]

Well, if I look at the basic numbers, Facebook referred sales are dismal (organic search FTW). However, there is no way (I know of) to know whether e.g. the number of Likes or reviews for a given product helped someone make a purchase decision.

[Mike Duffy]

Jefe: you have a "Like" button on all your products. What's your experience? Does anyone make use of them?

[Kris Chislett]

It always blows my mind how many people want to question the value of social media, and immediately ask for the ROI. Before SM, how did we track the ROI on magazine ads, bill boards, direct mailers etc.? We didn't, yet everyone seems to be so caught up on the value of social media.
Likes in my opinion mean very little. I'll click like if I see an inspirational quote on Facebook, and then quickly move on to read other content.
If I see a product advertised that I end up buying based on that Facebook post, I'm going to follow that link through to the main website. I'm not going to return to Facebook to "like" it. Any report that attempts to put a value on a like is mis-guided.

The real ROI of social media is the fact you get to connect with customers, and that your product is on their mind, hopefully next time they go out to buy wine. I know that's hard to swallow.
A nice way to think of it, I've always thought is; what's the ROI on opening the door for your wife when out in public?
You don't do it for immediate payback, you do it as a long-term investment in your integrity.

Kris Chislett - BlogYourwine.com

[El Jefe]

"You don't do it for immediate payback, you do it as a long-term investment in your integrity."

That's about as well put as I've ever seen!

Mike - some do use them. Number of Likes vary from over 50 to none at all. I think the issue is as Kris says - after you buy the wine what drives you back to that page to click Like? Sure, you might (I hope!) be back around to buy more, but if you're like me you might not remember to click Like even if you were inclined to.

Hopefully the new Send button will generate better referrals. I guess we'll see.