Techcrunch reported on a study by EdgeRank Checker today suggesting that brands with more than 100,000 followers on their Facebook page achieved click through rates of 0.14%. They helpfully worked out that you'll need roughly 1,000 fans to achieve 1 click given that kind of ratio. In other words it's pretty darn rubbish.

Now lets think about that for a second, because something has motivated those people to like your page in the first place, they were sufficiently engaged to do that. And it's not like your wall posts aren't being seen. After all it was reported not long ago that the new Facebook news feed favours those Pages with a large number of followers.

So basically what these fans are saying is that they think your content stinks.  A TNS study last week found that many big brands are still using their Facebook page to advertise to their followers.  That's despite research showing that commercial motivations are bottom of the list of reasons for most of us choosing to follow a brand in the first place.

Now this is a big deal.  Bain & Co suggested earlier this month that customers that engage with a brand via social media spend around 40% more than those that don't AND are more loyal into the bargain.  It's a no brainer.  The odds are already stacked in your favour:

1. People want to interact with your brand
2. Facebook makes it easy for them to do so

All you need to do is focus more on them and less on you.  Provide content that helps or amuses them and stop being so darn desperate to make a quick buck.  Focus instead on making your fans happy and the rest will fall into place.