Buying Facebook Likes / Fans: Is It Worth It?

[Planet13]

Hey there Everyone:

Our FaceBook fanpage sure DOESN'T have very many fans / likes. We really don't have the resources to do a lot of stuff on social media.

So I saw a couple of different places where you can buy facebook fans / likes. It seems these companies charge you for a number of FaceBook fans / likes (let's say 1,000) in a period of time (let's say a month). If you don't get that 1,000 fans / likes, then they refund you on a prorated basis.

1) Anyone have experience with this?

2) Has it boosted your ecommerce sales?

3) Has it helped with your Search Engine rankings?

4) If you don't have the resources to put into your facebook page, does it really matter how many fans / likes you get?

Thanks in advance.

[dpd1]

I've always been a big advocate of providing the best products and most interesting content that I can, and then spending time communicating with people in the virtual community... For me, the other SEO type stuff just seems to fall into place by itself after that. But I know maybe that won't work for everybody.

[lorax]

>> where you can buy facebook fans

That's a waste of money IMHO. The ONLY value of this would be to impress other folks but it is NOT what Social Media Marketing is all about. The whole point of FB and Twitter is to create genuine interest by earning fans and their trust/interest in you and your products one person at a time.

It doesn't take a huge amount of effort. Success with FB and Twitter can be achieved over time by doing small amounts of work on a regular basis. It doesn't require a full-time employee but it does require regular attention. If you cannot do this, then it's better to secure the accounts and leave them be for now rather than try to buy your way.

[pageoneresults]

Planet13, I'm guessing this topic spawned from the recent Link Development topic?

So I saw a couple of different places where you can buy facebook fans / likes.

Just do a search for the dangers of buying Facebook fans.

Do you buy your friends?

That's a waste of money IMHO. The ONLY value of this would be to impress other folks but it is NOT what Social Media Marketing is all about. The whole point of FB and Twitter is to create genuine interest by earning fans and their trust/interest in you and your products one person at a time.

I couldn't have said it any better. My version wouldn't have been as diplomatic though. ;)

[jinxed]

This would be a red flag for any search engine. The sudden amount of new 'likes' etc would look very unnatural.

Bad idea.

[buckworks]

There's little value in buying likes just to run up your numbers.

It's highly unlikely that purchased likes would include many real prospects from any demographic that would actually do you any good.

A better alternative would be to test some small ad runs within Facebook's own system, and target them to aim at exactly the demographic you want to reach.

[Samizdata]

you can buy facebook fans / likes

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

I will try the former, as I usually enjoy it more.

...

[pageoneresults]

This would be a red flag for any search engine. The sudden amount of new 'likes' etc would look very unnatural.

I'm not too certain the SEs can detect these type of programs, they are designed to look natural, hence the reason for the timeframes involved and why these types of companies have proliferated. They have armies of bots just itchin' to be your Fans/Followers/Etc...

Please, don't take this route with your Social Media campaigns. Focus your efforts on one or two platforms that are going to have the biggest bang for your buck. Right now that would be Twitter, Facebook and Google. There may be others that you would get involved with, it will all be relative to where your audience is most active. Don't spread yourself too thin.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

These days I just wince.

[woop01]

Just 'buy' them with Facebook ads.

[RhinoFish]

woop01, i concur (if you mean as traffic gen, versus running 'like' ads), plus this approach changes the burnout churn formula.

[Planet13]

Thanks for the input everyone.

@ pageoneresults

I'm guessing this topic spawned from the recent Link Development topic?

Partly, yes. Although I had been passively looking into it since about October of 2011.

Do you buy your friends?

No, but then again, I don't HAVE any friends, so maybe I should start? ;)

@ lorax:

It doesn't take a huge amount of effort. Success with FB and Twitter can be achieved over time by doing small amounts of work on a regular basis.

Oddly enough, it is QUITE difficult for me, despite the fact that I used to be a professional journalist. Part of the problem might be that the other aspects of running the business are exhausting me and I am having problems coming up with what I think would be engaging content (just something that anybody would find interesting).

@ buckworks:

A better alternative would be to test some small ad runs within Facebook's own system, and target them to aim at exactly the demographic you want to reach.

Thank You Very Much for this very practical suggestion. I will look into it.

One quick follow up though; the ad should link to our WEBSITE, right? Or should it link to our FB Fan Page?

[buckworks]

Facebook ads could feature either your website or your FB fan page. Test it both ways, I'd say.

The merits of one vs. the other would depend on a variety of things, including whether your site has effective measures in place to cultivate an email list for future contact.

FB's variety of contact methods definitely make it an appealing thought to cultivate lots of likes, but on the other hand there can be hazards in developing a major company asset in a context that is ultimately controlled by someone else.

Like so many things in life, there are legitimate tensions that need to be balanced. The deciding factor will be what you can figure out that's cost-effective.

used to be a professional journalist

That makes it harder, not easier, to write "small stuff".

[HRoth]

You don't need fine content on Facebook. You just need to spend some time on there every day, maybe a 1/2 hour, and post some likes and maybe a comment or two, a real comment instead of some spam about a product. Maybe describe how you made the product or how you found the distributor if it's something you buy. Whatever. Something that makes it personal. The most I write at a time on Facebook is maybe three sentences. Short ones. I also post about personal stuff like the weather or projects I am working on. I thought I would hate Facebook, but I have gotten to like it and even made some friends on there.:)

[Planet13]

Thank you, buckworks and HRoth, for those tips.

Since our FB fan page looks like it was constructed by Spanky and Alfalfa, I think for the time being I will have the FB ads land on our web site.