Why You Should Buy Facebook Likes - And How Not To

The Burning Question

These days, people are always asking if you should buy Facebook likes. The answer, the only possible answer, is a resounding "Yes! You should buy as many as possible!"

What, you ask? How can I say that? Don't worry. My ethics have not just exploded. You'll see why I say that in just a moment.

Now, why are you in Facebook in the first place? If you're not trying to reach as many people as possible through your fanpage, then why have a fanpage in the first place?

If you're in business, you especially want to build a positive buzz about your product or service. The more visitors your page gets, you think, the better you're doing. The more fans or likes you have, the better. You can even get a viral popularity explosion going. So if you're not buying Facebook likes, then all your effort will be for nothing, right? Wrong!

Not So Simple

Here's where the logic gets tricky. A lot of folks make a serious error at this point. They think that having a zillion fans is all that matters. Now they're popular. They've arrived. If they're promoting a business, they think having lots of fans makes them look more successful. Sort of like a realtor driving a Mercedes. It also demos social proof for new visitors, so they'll probably "like" the page, too.

There's just one problem with having these fans. Several problems, in fact. I know — why do there have to be problems? The company that sold you that package for 10,000 fans didn't say anything about problems!

But you're the owner of your Facebook fanpage, not them. You have to be the one responsible for it, right? So here are the problems you have to watch out for when buying Facebook likes.

The Crux Of The Matter

First of all, not all fans are the same. The same goes for likes.

That may sound mysterious. Here's what it means. Those fans you bought and paid for may be seriously hurting your page. In fact, they may not be real fans at all.

Suppose that company that you hired to get all those fans accomplished it by paying them or offering a trade for "liking" your Facebook page. They said something like, "You like me, and I'll like you back." Some companies even generate fictitious profiles with made-up names.

Let's set aside the Facebook Terms of Service for a moment. Are those fans going to be interested in what your page is about? Not very likely. Most companies that advertise these services bring masses of fans that never engage with your page or buy anything. Those types of "likes" are toxic to your Facebook presence. These fans may or may not exist in real life. Either way, they are fake. The more of them you get, the more they'll drag you down. We'll talk about why, in a moment.

Only a few reputable agencies can actually bring real targeted fans. Fans who will actually buy from you and engage with your Facebook page. The other fan-finding firms deliver "fans" who may not be in your targeted demographic. Again, that's if they exist at all. Either way, they will be dead wood in your fan list.

Why It Matters

What does that matter? After all, you have a lot of fans now. That has to count for something. But wait, there's more.

Here's another reason these fake fans are a problem. Your Facebook ratings as well as the opinions of your real-life customers depend on more than just how many likes you have. What's happening on your wall is also important. As Facebook users get more sophisticated, visitors to your page will recognize that your fans are robo-fans and zombie fans. Those visitors will conclude that you're desperate. They'll ask themselves, don't you have anything worthwhile to offer? And they will leave. Buh-bye!

There's More

Now let's explain just why those fake fans drag you down. It turns out, the effect of all those fans on your Facebook ratings is just the opposite of what you were hoping. You see, Facebook has to find a way to decide how high your page will rank in the search results. You can thank an algorithm called EdgeRank for that. Its job is to assess your page and decide whether it deserves to be shown to users.

EdgeRank is complicated. First there's an "affinity" score that measures how related your page is to the searcher. Second is a "weight" score that captures the type of interaction your visitor just had with your page. For example, liking is easy. It gets a low weight. Commenting takes more effort. It earns a higher weight score. Third, the "time", or freshness, score tells how often (how recently) visitors have posted content or comments on your page.

Each item you publish gets a starting EdgeRank score. As fans comment on it, it goes up. If fans ignore what you posted, Facebook assumes your content is worthless, and your score goes down.

Knowing all this, what do you think will happen if you have lots of fake fans? They were bribed to like your page. They could care less about your page. They don't engage with your updates. Yikes! Your page is toast. It won't show up in the news feed or search results. So buying large numbers of that kind of fan is just an expensive way to shoot yourself in the foot. Ouch!

It Doesn't Hurt To Pay

"But," you say, "you said we should buy as many fans as possible!" Good memory you have, there. Yes, I still say that. But the key factor is how you buy them and what you pay with.

What you pay with is quality and value. That means the quality of your fanpage and the value you offer visitors (and customers). To offer value, you of course need to find the people who are actually interested what you offer. Those people will engage with your page. They are true fans. They'll give you a higher rank, which will help you show up better. You'll end up attracting even more like them.

So how do you do that?

How To Buy

You start at the beginning. What kind of presence do you want your business to have in the market and in the world? Figure out your purpose — why you're in business, who it's for, what you do for them, what they're like, and how you should reach out to them, based on that information.

Knowing your business purpose will determine your marketing strategy. Your strategy, in turn, defines how your fanpage should be set up. Everything flows from that basis: the fanpage's look and feel, what it promises, what promotions you put up, the kinds of humor you share, discounts, photos, announcements, and more.

It's simple: you find out what your customers are like. You create ads that offer them something they want. You make sure that when they come to your fanpage, it immediately delivers on your offer. For example, it should offer visitors special discounts and content that only page visitors will see. The content can be photos, video, relevant contests only for fans, ads, discussions, current news, and anything else where their interests and your offers meet.

Sell Yourself

Here is where what you pay with and how you buy your fans makes all the difference.

The way you pay is with your sincere offer and genuine contribution.

The way you buy is by sharing. You find people who want what you have, you let them know how your offer is different from all the others, and you engage with them.

Your fans must get value from your fanpage. That's what makes them return and engage over and over. Once they're doing that, they should end up doing one of three things: they might tell their friends about you. They might become customers. Or (preferably) both. If they don't do any of those three things, then your message and your fanpage are not working.

When the process does work, though, it's very good. You find yourself surrounded by a community of people who appreciate your company and keep coming back. Many of them turn into customers.

So, the currency that you're using to pay for these true fans? It's the work you need to do in your business before you ever set up a fanpage. It's also the work you do on your fanpage itself. This currency is not cheap. It may be too rich for some business owners.

How about you? You want to pay your way, right? You know that's the best way to succeed in Facebook. You don't need to worry about fake fans. You're not afraid of a little work, because you know that's the right way to buy Facebook likes.

Did you ever think of it that way? Whether you did or not, it works, doesn't it? That's the right way to get fans who will build your business up. That's the right way to start buying the right kind of Facebook likes with the right kind of currency.