Why Facebook Likes Don't Matter
One of the questions I most frequently hear is, “How do I get more Facebook likes?” or “How do I get more followers on Instagram?” And above all, the follow-up question is, “How can I get more social media fans for free?”
Social media is a whirlwind, and it can be difficult to cut through the noise and actually get your message heard. Business owners everywhere struggle with finding and keeping a following, and even when you’ve accomplished that, it’s frustrating to post on your page and hear virtual crickets from your followers. What’s worse, when you compare your page to a competitor’s, you’ve noticed their audience is way bigger…and seems to actually love the content they’re producing. So what gives?
In a future post, I will share strategies to grow your Facebook page, but for now I have a big and slightly controversial case to make: in the end, Facebook likes don’t matter. Now hear me out: I’m not saying that you shouldn’t work on creating an engaged Facebook following (in fact, that’s exactly what you should do!), but when you look at the number underneath your “About” section, don’t get discouraged by how low it is compared to what you want it to be.
Facebook likes used to be a much bigger deal - so big, in fact, they were one of the most prominent pieces of information on your page. After a few redesigns, they are now a tiny number that’s almost difficult to find, pushed way down and de-emphasized. Here’s the rub: the number of followers you have does not matter if you’re not engaged and, for all intents and purposes, Facebook has become a pay-to-play platform.
For that reason, the most important factor is not how many likes you have on Facebook, but how much your followers love you, your business, and the content you’re producing. Tens of thousands of Facebook likes don’t matter if you aren’t seeing engagement, so rather than worry about the number of followers you don’t have, double down on the ones (or tens, or hundreds) already following your page. Produce content they love. Respond to every comment and interact with your people. If you see a highly successful post, study exactly why it worked and how you can repeat that in the future.
I’ll share some great strategies in the future about exactly how you can keep your followers engaged, but I don’t want to leave you without a little practical advice! Try this to create a more engaged Facebook page: create a poll (scroll down if you need help doing this!) and ask your followers what they want to hear from you. Not only will this give you good feedback, it will also create some engagement (people love polls!) and give your followers a greater investment into future content when they recognized that they voted for the content you are producing.
In the meantime, if you’re stuck, download my free guide all about how to crack open the marketing secrets I’ve discovered after 6 years of helping other businesses grow a more engaged, active Facebook following. And good luck - I believe in you!
How to Create a Facebook Poll - Step 1
Step 1: Go to create a new post, then click the elipses (…) in the bottom right-hand corner to see more options.
Step 2
Step 3
Write your question, answers, and choose how long to keep the poll open. Then click ‘post’ or schedule it for later, and you’re done!
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