We see it every day. A business wants to hurry and catch up with their competition on social media by “buying” more likes.

Maybe the boss or CEO wakes up and sees that company XYZ has just gained more followers than their company so they have their marketing team throw dollars at Facebook until they climb back and take the lead.

We have even seen it with our own local competitors. (Wink, wink… we see you.)

But should you pay for followers on social media?

NO. Don’t “buy” into the temptation.

Buying Likes Actually Hurts You

The Facebook game isn’t really about likes at all. It’s about engagement. And moreso, it’s about influence.

Maybe your business is a niche market.

Let’s say you sell bedazzled spurs.

Wouldn’t you rather find those 30 hardcore fans who can’t get enough of your spurs and like every post and picture you put out? You are influencing them and in return they are influencers of your brand to their own friends.

Or do you pay a few hundred bucks to have 2000 followers, but then you lose those 30 fans in the mix because they don’t end up seeing your posts (in recent stats, only 16% of your audience sees an organic post.)

[Don’t know what an organic post is? Call us!]

Buying Likes is Like Paying People to Be Your Friend

If your business page is only getting comments from friends and family and you think that buying likes is going to increase your audience and increase your social media presence, think again.

In today’s world, there is so much data and information being put out that it’s hard to be noticed online. For a small business owner, it takes a lot of time to balance multiple positions and then also run your social media 24/7.

Don’t break down and buy likes on Facebook. Fewer high-quality posts that are pertinent to your business and market will always out-engage a ton of “filler” posts.

Get Targeted

Try using Facebook’s other tools such as targeting your content to the right readers based behavior or intent. Make sure to keep an eye on your “cost per click” or engagement to fine-tune content that works. You can simulate your own A/B testing in the Facebook ad manager.

SweetwaterNOW has grown organically to over 18,000 followers and counting by putting out content related to our business, local news. You won’t see cat videos and national stories that don’t relate to our readers. We have also maintained the highest levels of engagement in the entire region. We always have room for improvement, but don’t let the “likes” fool you.

We treated our first 10 followers with the same attention as our most recent 20.

And #THANKYOU for being one of those readers.

SweetwaterNOW has a local team of digital advertising and social media pros that can help. Contact us to look at your social media footprint and we can provide a free consultation.

We also offer the largest advertising audience in Southwest Wyoming. Join other smart advertisers in your area.