So you’re thinking about buying Facebook likes—no judgement here, btw– I totally get it! Maybe you just started a business or perhaps you have an antsy client or boss eager to boost their likes, credibility and perceived success. To get an instant 1,000 likes for just a few bucks is soooo tempting!
But please finish this article before taking the plunge. As it turns out, buying Facebook likes could do your business a good deal more harm than good.
Here are your top 5 assets that will likely take a hit:
• EdgeRank:
EdgeRank is the name commonly given to the algorithm that Facebook uses to determine what articles should be displayed in a user’s News Feed. When you have thousands of inactive, non-engaged fans, Facebook will take that into account and your posts will reach less people organically. So despite having more likes, you’ll be reaching less and less people.
• Credibility:
As it turns out, the average user is pretty smart and doesn’t get easily fooled by big numbers. Consider your audience’s reaction when they see that your page has 1 million fans, but your last post received a measly 3 likes. It doesn’t add up, does it? Your trust factor may take a hit as a result.
• Valuable Data:
One of the most powerful components of building a solid fan base on Facebook is the valuable insights that you receive from user data. With a genuine following, Facebook can give you an accurate read on the following:
o Audience age
o Geographic location
o Audience interests and potential overlaps with your business
All of this precious information will be rendered useless once a huge chunk of your users have been purchased.
• Advertising:
This is a big one. Once you’re past the initial boost of purchased likes, your page may become a sort of ghost town, haunted by those who aren’t actually listening. If you want to boost a post or run a series of Facebook Ads, you’ll end up wasting tons of money delivering ads to fake users. Running regular Facebook ads can do wonders for your business but if you’re advertising to ghosts, it’s not only a wasted effort but a valuable resource now rendered useless. “Isn’t there a way to filter out the fake likes?” you might be wondering. Nope, nope, nope. You’d have to do it all by hand.
• Time:
After you realize what a huge mistake you’ve made buying likes, you’ll eventually have to spend a crazy amount of time cleaning up your Facebook Page. Be advised, it’s gonna hurt.
As it turns out, buying Facebook fans is a lot like paying people to be your friend. Without earning a fan’s trust and attention, it’s unlikely that anything good will come from a purchased round of happy upturned thumbs. And you could be causing more trouble and heartache for yourself in the end.
Building up an audience and a genuine fan base is really hard work. It’s a long game unfit for the super impatient or faint of heart. You must be honest, creative, engaging and helpful to increase your numbers and gain people’s trust.
A quality audience just isn’t something that money can buy.
