Why do businesses want people to "like us on Facebook"? What does "liking" them on Facebook do for them?

There may be other reasons, but the first one I can think of is that whatever they post will now show up in your feed. Free advertising, basically. Another is to create a sense of community among their customers.

Free advertising is exactly why, or at least the major reason.

For example, if Isla Manila (a small, local Filipino eatery) has an “All the Lumpia you can keep down for $5” special this weekend, those who have not Liked them on FB may not know. However, those that have liked them will know, that special will show up on the news feed, and they just earned themselves an easy $5 because there is NO way I would miss out. So you can see how it would be in their best interest to have me Like them on Facebook. And if there are a couple hundred other fans of Isla Manila seeing that on their news feed, well, that’s an easy grand; 4 words = $1000 revenue.

For larger businesses with tens of thousands, the profit generation is even bigger yet the price is the same; four little words.

Word of mouth is the best form of free advertising and when you like something on Facebook it shows on your timeline of things you’ve done so it tells all your friends you like the place and that you recommend it without you actually having to say it.

They can send you updates, and Facebook is more likely to recommend pages that are liked by many people to people who haven’t liked it yet, because the odds are higher that that person will like it as well. More brand recognition!

It will shows their updates to the user home page & may be user read their updates & like some posts.
And such post shows to the other user who are friend with you. Since, like this business get a popularity in between number of people.

Establishing linkage with customers and potential customers, no matter how tentative or fragile, is essential for any company. Social media is a key element and becoming more important every day.

OK, so it’s a little like registering at a company’s website and giving them your email address, right? (Only “liking” is faster.) They start filling your inbox with all sorts of offers, unless you opt out.
So, do you find that getting all these “updates” is useful, or do they end up being an annoyance because there are so many? Are you choosy about when you press the “Like” button?

Can I “like” Fluther on FB? I like it in real life.

I can tell you why I do it.

An active Facebook page affects where you show up on a Google search. Some types of businesses are still rated by classic SEO (search engine optimization), but more and more, Google is going to directories.

For example, if you search the common keywords for my business (pet emergency, emergency vet, etc), we pop up first in the feed, and our Facebook page pops up even higher than our website.

Facebook is making more and more money on internal advertising (which is what it was designed for, after all – to make money), so I’m sure that there will be more and more of it. I don’t actually use paid advertising (at least, not yet), I use our Facebook page to develop community goodwill, to educate, to inform, and to entertain.

It also allows me some leeway in what nonprofits I can support. We are just like everyone else, we have a budget for financial support for worthy causes, but we always wish we could do more. If I link a “fan drive” to some cause (as I have going on right now ), I get to do even more because I’m technically using part of the marketing budget as a donation.

Oh, very interesting point, @syz!

When I like a public business it will be on the newsfeed of every single friend of mine. All 250 of them.

I’ve become aware of local businesses that I wasn’t aware of because my friends liked the facebook page of that business.

It gives them the cachet of high numbers of likes, which tends other people toward using them.

There is an article on Search Engine Journal that goes very in depth at explaining this topic. Go check it out here: http://www.searchenginejournal.com/how-google-will-destroy-facebook-in-2013/65234/

The constant pursuit of higher visibility for online businesses is always at the root.
As a web marketing professional, I can tell you that a large amount of the spam out there exists only because people believe it will help them. Whether it ever actually does is never even considered.

@gambitking thank you—it’s great!

Benefits of liking a business on facebook you will establish a connection with that business when you like a Facebook business page. When you like a business page, it publishes show up in your News Feed.This can provide you with information about the business that may work to your benefit and If you’re posting quality comments or commentary on those pages, active visitors may eventually check out your page and like it.