Facebook figures show that in the last quarter of 2011, an average of 100 million “Like” buttons were being clicked on Facebook every day. That’s double the amount of liking going on, compared with the same period in 2010.

The big boys like Red Bull, Starbucks, Coca Cola etc are trying amass the great numbers of online followers, buy getting them to click their fan page “Like” buttons.

It’s oh so simple. They are building massive marketing lists, they are aiming to boost their sales, and they are using each fans news feeds to get their message, brand or promotion across.

These are the facts: Coca-Cola has more than 36 million Likes, Disney has more than 29 million and Red Bull has more than 25 million fans and what they amassed is a ready-made audience that can be tapped at any time. Are you getting the bigger picture?

And if you thought that was enough, well you are wrong what they are really interested in is not you; it’s your friends.The reason being is that if you officially Like Starbucks, your friends see that you’ve liked Starbucks, and they become more likely to spend there as well.

“Friends of fans represent a much larger set of consumers than the brand’s own fans,” says Elisabeth Diana, Facebook’s manager of corporate communications. “In fact they’re 81 times the size of the actual fan base, so Likes are a way to reach those people as well.”

So potentially Coca Cola has 36 million Likes, and has the potential to expand that 81 fold, just by promoting and marketing its own Fan base.