Research by SocialCode reveals clicking or liking Facebook ads differs by age groups, which really ought to be no surprise.

Younger people (18-29 year old users)  are more inclined to click the Like button than their older counterparts (50+ year olds.)

On the other hand, older web users are more inclined to click thru the ad and at least learn more about the offer before they would Like it.

One thought behind these findings is that the younger users are more comfortable with the web having grown up with it, they have more invested in the social aspect of Facebook whereas older users have fewer online social connections and therefore have less interest in Liking pages.

The research shows 50+ year old users:

• 28.2 percent more likely to click through ads than 18-29 year old users
• 9 percent less likely to ‘Like’ than 18-29 year old users
• 22.6 percent higher CTR and 8.4 percent lower ‘Like’ rate than all other age groups
• women’s CTR is 31 percent higher than the younger group’s
• men’s CTR is 16 percent higher than the younger group’s

2 other interesting stats:

• Overall, women are 11 percent more likely to click on an ad
•  ‘Like’ rates are almost even for men and women

What does this really mean? Being “liked” on Facebook, like anywhere in life, is nice, but it really is more important what happens after that, unless your goal is merely amass lots of followers and fans. This is one point that many marketers miss in their goal to amass large number of Likes.

Most businesses aren’t satisfied with merely a like. They want you to interact with their page, check it out, learn more about their company/product/service and hopefully buy from them.

Clicking the like button does get people involved in your site, and provides you with some visibility on their page which could encourage additional interaction with them later. But if they ignore you from then on, are those Likes still of value to you?

Which is more valuable to your business? That depends on what you are trying to achieve. If you are attempting to build a targeted fan base then Likes are better for you. If you want people to go to a specific page or take any other specific action RIGHT NOW (call a number, sign a petition, visit a website, make a purchase…) then getting clicks is what you want.

This is simply another reminder that there is no one marketing plan that is perfect for every business. Be sure you know what you want to achieve before you design your campaign. Then when you know what your goal is and you start to get data you can decide if that campaign is meeting your goal. If it isn’t, then “test, test, test” until you find something that moves you in the direction of that goal.

Know your market. Know your business. Have a team that will work with you to achieve your goals.