"New Facebook Likes every second, the first 25 for free, 50 euros for 1,000 clicks": Do these or similar offers occasionally tempt you to make the not always easy battle for popularity a little easier? Whereas it would be practically obvious to polish up one's own image on Facebook with the help of the bundled purchase of likes and fans... Especially since many providers often offer their thumbs-up packages full-bodied as "high-quality" and even "like-secured". The only question is: Does what you are supposed to pay good money for really correspond to what you really want or need?
Who needs Facebook Likes?
If it makes you happy to look at a meaningless four-, five- or multi-digit number that represents a bunch of imaginary fans, purchased Likes are probably just the thing for you. In a nutshell, this is simply a matter of presenting yourself as "tremendously important" or "insanely popular".
However, if you want to use your Facebook presence to make your Business or to publicize your cause, boost sales or generate donations, there is only one thing to do: keep your hands off Likes that can be purchased! From experience, buying thumbs up does pretty much exactly the opposite of what good marketing is supposed to do:
- Bought fans do not become paying customers.
- Fake likes can make you uninteresting for your relevant Facebook contacts.
- Fake Likes worsen your ranking in the news feeds.
Who do the Likes for sale represent?
Fan sellers, of course, do not disclose how their pool of for-sale Facebook fans is made up. Typically, websites promise that the Facebook Likes they sell are guaranteed to come from "qualified" users. As a "special service", interested parties can additionally buy target group advertising (targeting), which is supposed to increase the number of "real" Likes from the intended target group. But what does "real" or "qualified" mean in this context? At best, it simply means that Facebook accounts exist under the names given. Not even the sellers claim to have tens of thousands of potential prospects for exactly your Shopto offer your service or your organization. Everyone knows that purchased Likes per se do not mean growth for the customer base.
How paid Likes can even harm you: two options
1. insufficiently genuine traffic means bad positioning in the news feeds
There is little point in having a Facebook page 10,000 or more Likes if they are not committed. Bought fans don't write comments, don't recommend you, and don't get involved in any way. This is of course due to the fact that such friends are not interested in you at all, or are just imaginary users anyway. A page with many likes, on which hardly anyone writes anything except you, slides down in the news feeds of your fans according to the current Facebook news feed algorithm. The result: Nobody notices your posts, because not even your real contacts on Facebook are displayed.
2. the worst case: fakes can drive away potential customers
The current Facebook newsfeed algorithm takes into account the fact that authentic engagement in comments, questions, announcements, etc. can be distinguished from meaningless activity. You may also be able to buy additional packages with posts and comments when you buy Likes. In any case, this is pure spamming, which is miles away from readable high quality content. As a result, your standing in relevant news feeds automatically drops.
What counts: real interest instead of applause "from the can"
Facebook has changed its newsfeed algorithm several times over the years (most recently in April) in response to user feedback and suggestions for improvement. Finally, the currently most important factors that can positively influence your standing in the feeds:
- High relevance / topicality of your topics
- Demonstrably interesting contributions, for example videos that users watch until the end,
- Continuous interaction
Users who actively and repeatedly deal with your posts through likes or comments will see your posts further up in their news feed. This also applies to older content, which regains topicality through new interaction(s). Conclusion: Don't buy irrelevant likes and invest in real content. This also brings more real fans on Facebook.
