I know it’s tempting. You see the ads selling 1000 “likes: for $50, and why not try it? It seems like it would build your page and give you the numbers you want. But what is buying Facebook likes really doing for you? Marketing is the process of getting your business or brand in front of a target audience. The target market piece is key, as your message will be lost on the wrong audience. You want to be in front of an audience that cares.
Social media marketing is the art of using online social networks to connect with your target audience, form relationships and build trust. Ideally, this will eventually lead to sales. While it may seem like a good idea, buying “likes” will not help you create relationships or build trust. It will simply increase a number, which is meaningless without the customer relationship.
Moreover, the “likes” you are buying are from bogus accounts. They are not real people! They are accounts setup by “click farms” that hire low-paid workers to constantly “like” Facebook pages. A percentage of these bogus accounts are even setup with U.S. addresses to appear more genuine. Don’t be fooled! The people who are magically “’liking” your page for that small fee are not real.
Some people may think Hey, they may not be real but it makes me look good to have so many likes, so why not?
Here are a few reasons why buying Facebook likes is a bad idea:
1. Promotions
If you are serious about Facebook marketing, you will likely start budgeting for promotions. This helps your audience see what you post, which drives them to your website and can eventually boosts sales. However, if you promote to your audience and they are mostly bogus accounts, why bother paying at all?
2. Engagement
Buying fake “likes” on Facebook will not boost your brand image. In fact, it will downgrade your social media presence. Bogus “likes” do not translate into genuine engagement on your page through comments, shares, and conversions. This is important! Facebook’s algorithm gauges how fans engage with your content, and that determines how prominently your posts are featured in the newsfeed. If your fans consistently engage with your content, Facebook will show your posts to more of your fans. If your fans are fake accounts, there simply will not be engagement. By buying fake “likes”, you are directly sabotaging your social media marketing efforts.
3. Permanence
Many of those new “likes” will “unlike” you over the next year, resulting in inconsistent numbers. Eventually, you will be back to where you started, with a downgraded ranking based on losing all those fans. Losing fans tells the Facebook algorithm that your page is not doing very well. Ask yourself: is it worth it?
4. Buying Likes is Against Facebook’s Terms of Service
If Facebook catches you, they can shut down your account indefinitely. How will they catch you? Facebook’s algorithm can detect a sudden surge in likes. From there, looking at accounts that follow your page is an easy way to determine if you’ve breached the terms of service. Why risk getting shut down?
The bottom line is, social media marketing is about connecting with people and creating relationships that build customer loyalty. If you’re buying likes, you are lying to yourself. It does not help business growth in the long run. Why set yourself up for disappointment? It will not grow your sales or increase awareness of your brand. Save your money for effective social media marketing!
