Should You Buy Facebook Likes?

Every Business dreams of gaining millions of Facebook Likes, unfortunately some succumb to buying them off of the numerous third party websites out there. But is a high number of Likes really beneficial for your Page and subsequently your business?

Considering spending money to buy Facebook Likes? Ever wondered where these Likes actually come from? Naturally when you go to buy Facebook Likes from a third party website you are promised that real, targeted and engaged people are going to suddenly boost your Page’s numbers. In reality no one really knows who and where these Likes come from and in most cases these Likes are just fake profiles/people.

Statistics

EdgeRank

Business

Figures, stats, reach and engagement are monumental to the success and longevity of your social media Page. Facebook keeps very in-depth analysis of how your Page is tracking with its fans and which posts are more popular than others.  If you were to buy Facebook Likes, no matter how big or small the amount, there is no guarantee that these “users” will actually engage with your Page. Having a high number of Likes and low engagement stats on your Page will also lower your Facebook EdgeRanking.

EdgeRank is the name given to Facebook’s algorithm that determines what any particular user’s Newsfeed is complied of. Pages that have low engagement subsequently have a low EdgeRank, meaning anything your Page posts will not appear on any of your fans’ Newsfeeds. If you were to buy 5000 Likes off of a third party website, most or if not all of these new “fans” will have no interest in your Page and once they have Liked it, they will disappear forever.

If you buy Facebook Likes; your engagement will drop, your EdgeRank will drop and your Page will underperform. A failing Facebook page is no benefit to your business and in some instances could be counterproductive. Allocating efforts to creating content for no one to interact with because of a low EdgeRank is not only a waste of time but also a waste of money.

Forget about the ethics of buying Facebook likes, could it be deemed illegal by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)? While there are no laws specifically set for the correct use of social media, it is still bound by the same consumer laws as any other business platform. Concerns can arise when a fake social media fan base is used to influence consumer decisions. Having any fake Likes could be deemed by the ACCC as claiming false and misleading information – so is it really worth it?

Here is a video discussing “Click Farms” and how they operate:

Effective Social Media is less about how many Likes and followers you have but rather it is about the engagement and interaction you can facilitate with your audience. Battling against the urge to buy Facebook Likes means you have to change the way you think; it is not about the number of fans you have but how many people are talking about you. For anything to become successful you must take the time to build it. Specifically for Facebook you must take the time to locate relevant users that will have an invested interest in your business or service. Target this group to really harness the full possibilities of working on this Social Media platform. Do not hand your money over to dodgy online businesses to buy Facebook Likes, instead invest this money in boosting posts on Facebook and for further information on this read our post on How to Target Your Audience with Facebook Advertising.