Want to BUY Facebook LIKEs?
So you just started a new venture and do not have enough Likes. Right?
Many people and brands have been known to buy fake likes in a bid to portray themselves as established companies with a large fan base.
The question is:
WHY do people BUY Facebook Likes?
SHOULD you buy Facebook Likes?
Are fake Likes worth it?
Will they help promote your business interest in any way?
Ok. So, is buying Facebook likes a BAD idea?
If it is not really recommended, what are the alternatives to buying Facebook likes?
Why People Buy Facebook Likes?
Anyone who has a Facebook page for his brand/ service/ blog, etc. knows how difficult it is to create a fan following.
Though it takes just a few seconds to do so, people are extremely reluctant to press the LIKE button on a page.
Especially, on a new page.
THAT precisely is the main reason most new starters buy likes.
There are various reasons for people wanting to buy Facebook likes.
- Having lots of likes can make a world of difference to most brands and internet marketers. Starting with a handful of followers would reflect very poorly on their part.
A person selling weight loss products, for instance, and having testimonials from satisfied clients is not likely to cut much ice with first time visitors to his website if they see only 134 likes on his page. Having 27,165 likes, on the other hand, might help create an impression that he is selling a hugely popular product.
- It can indeed be flustering if you put up a status on your fan page and only 3 people like it. And no one bothers to leave behind a comment.
Not only is it annoying and frustrating for you, but also acts as a turn off for those who might have liked your page.
That is because people are more likely to get involved with active pages where the level of social interaction is high.
Call it the ‘herd mentality’ or whatever.
- It is my personal observation that all of us are more likely to LIKE a page which has already been liked by, say, 7400 people or 2779 people than we would on a page that has only been liked by 86 people before us.
I am no exception to this.
Which again brings us to the question we started with.
If you do not have enough natural likes, is it a good idea to buy Facebook likes to create an impression?
Why Buying Facebook Likes is a Bad Idea?
Most social media experts would not suggest you to buy fake likes. And here are the main reasons why they would dissuade any serious business man from doing so:
· All You Get is Numbers
The LIKEs you get when you pay someone for them are totally, completely fake and only help add to the numeric count on your page. Some smart sellers might try charging higher for “Active”likes. The truth is that it is very difficult to get a good degree of interaction from the fake numbers on your fan page.
The actual social worth of a fan page is judged by the level of interaction it gets after putting up a status, picture or inviting a poll. Paid likes don’t help you get any of these.
· Real Fans Will Doubt Your Integrity
No one likes to deal with a person or a business who misrepresents facts or cheats.
If your real fans get the slightest hint of your resorting to such third class tactics to create a false impression, they will begin to have doubts about your truthfulness. Your brand image will get a severe blow if that happens.
· EdgeRank Algorithm
The recently introduced EdgeRank algorithm now helps decide about the “Top stories” which appear in users’ news feed.
If the posts you put up on your page do not get a good level of interaction (by way of LIKEs, Shares and Comments) from a good percentage of people on your fan page, your posts will stop appearing in the news feed of even your most active and ardent followers. In this way, fake likes might actually become a burden.
· Illegal
The people who provide you fake likes do so by creating fake multiple accounts, which is strictly against Facebook policies. When you buy them from a person doing so, you also become a partner-in-crime.
· May Evoke a Ban
Fake accounts at Orkut were more of a norm than an exception. And they did not seem to object to that either. The rules here are becoming strict with every passing day. They are making it difficult, if not impossible, to create fake accounts.
Inspite of that, it was estimated that almost 83 million account holders were operating with fake accounts.
The day Facebook realizes that your likes are fake (and it is not difficult to do so because most providers give likes from the same ip address or from a particular area), your Facebook page might run the risk of getting banned altogether.
Zuckerberg laid it out in unequivocal terms in September 2012 that all fake and inactive accounts will soon be deleted.
If, God forbid, that happens, you lose all credibility and respect.
In some cases where a sizable proportion of business leads are generated by this networking site, the volume of business might get affected adversely.
· Likes Might Disappear
Even if your page does not get banned per se, the fake likes might disappear as suddenly as they had appeared.
You might log in to your Fan page one fine day and notice that all the 32,000 likes you had purchased have vanished without any trace.
That could happen due to a fraud on the part of the contractor who provided you those.
Likes purchased over Fiverr and other such dubious sites are notorious for disappearing in that fashion.
If that happens, you could end up having wasted all the money you spent buying those.
· Misguides YOU
The fake numbers on your list serve to misguide YOU more than your followers. You will never have a fair idea of the reach of your page and the number of people who actually get to view your posts.
You will not know how many of the total LIKEs actually subscribe to what you are saying or love the products and/ or services being offered by you.
So, if it is not a good idea to buy Facebook likes, how to get more, free Facebook Likes?
After all, we want to make the best use of our presence on this platform.
How to Get More, Free Facebook Likes?
Now that we all know why buying Facebook likes is a bad idea, you might want to know what then is the alternative?
Well, the only alternative is: GET MORE, REAL ONES INSTEAD!!!
Though that is easier said than done, it is not impossible to get REAL people with real profiles to get to click the LIKE button.
The sooner you can master the art of winning them over and persuading them to do so, the better it is for you.
Assuming, of course, that you do not want your Fan page to be flagged or served a penalty. Worse still, banned altogether.
Here are a few things you need to keep in mind when you step up your efforts to get more free Facebook likes:
Have a Facebook Like Page
This seems to be the most common-sensical thing to do, to begin with.
You obviously cannot expect people to connect with you on Facebook unless you have a Like box widget on your website or blog. Try to place it somewhere it is sure to get the visitors’ attention.
You can even try having a slide-in Facebook Like Box.
Experiment by placing it different positions and try out different colors, sizes and height till you bein to get the results you want to.
Invite People
Begin building up on numbers by inviting friends and relatives on your list to do you a favor.
Here again, take care to invite only those who will not just ‘oblige’ you with a like and never bother to interact with you on your page. Resist the temptation to do so and invite instead only those people from your list whom you expect to be active members on the page later.
That can fetch you only a few hundred likes, at the most.
What after you are done with that list?
Well, after that start sending out invites to relevant people i.e. people who, according to you, have some interest in your products and /or services.
You can send them direct invites over Facebook or send them emails asking them to connect to you.
Online Promotion of The Page
First of all, make sure that each of the pages on your website/ blog has a Facebook Like button. Don’t expect your fans to go all the way and log in to Facebook, locate you over there and then Like your page.
Make the process easier for them.
If you reach out to lots of people through emails, put the link to your fan page there too!
If you have a sizeable following on other networking sites like Twitter, Google +, Pinterest, LinkedIn and StumbleUpon, etc, ask them to like your page.
Offline Promotion of The Page
Ask the visitors to your store to follow you on Facebook.
Don’t just ask them.
Entice them into doing so!
Tell them about the wonderful deals, packages and news they would be able to get from time to time if they do so.
Make sure your visiting cards, receipts and handbags for packing all bear the easily recognizable F, so that people know they can stay connected to you through this networking site.
Provide Value
Remember that visitors to your store and your prospective clients are all human. And all of us love to interact with other people around.
Whether you are selling body building supplements or own a brand of luxury watches. Whether you sell security equipment or software- your end customers are PEOPLE.
And people love to get involved in a conversation. Most of us love to be involved in an intelligent conversation, unless your targeted audience is a bunch of thickheads!
Put some health related stuff from time to time- something that would interest everyone. Even if you are running a health related site.
If your audience is, by and large, local, you could invite a discussion on local issues.
Try humor as well- every one likes to be tickled once in a while!
See what interests them and share 2-3 updates with them daily, on an average. Try to get them involved in a conversation or discussion.
That is because every time someone likes your post or comments on it, it moves to the top of the News feed and becomes visible once again to all those who have liked you.
Run Contests
Running contests and asking all contestants to like your fan page first is another easy way of building up a commendable Facebook presence.
Encourage them to share the story of your giveaway or contest with their friends and give them more points or rewards for doing so.
But again keep in mind that a person who likes your Facebook fan page just because he wants to win the two free t-shirts you are offering as the prize or for winning a free cell phone, they are NOT interested in you as a brand.
They are interested in ONLY the prize. In most probability, they will NEVER visit your page again. And so they simply lower the EdgeRank score of your page by just being there!
So, make sure that the contests you run are highly targeted. People should like you because they ACTUALLY like you or your product.
And not because they stand to win a free iPad for doing so!!
Running Facebook ads
Now, another way of getting likes to your page is by running Facebook ads.
They should also be used to get more likes only if you are convinced that doing so will win you loyal people and buyers. People who love you for the personality you portray online.
Bottomline
You can have fans running into hundreds or thousands. Or even hundreds of thousands.
You can buy all the fake likes you want if you need to swell up the numbers on your Facebook fan box.
But keep in mind that these [aid likes are NOT going to buy you any engagement.
Don’t go out of your way t o create an impression and woo people who might not be interested in you or your brand later.
Choose quality over quantity.
Focus on keeping the natural fans happy, so that you don’t lose them.
This can be done if you:
· Share brand related contests from time to time
· Share unique and interesting information
· Ask questions
· Invite polls
· Encourage readers to press the “Share” button
· Synchronize your offline and online efforts
If you think it is too much to ask for, try hiring a social media management expert. Such experts can make all the difference to your online marketing campaign and help you win loyal visitors who will add to your net worth instead of adding on numbers which will bring down your EdgeRank and pull you down the News Feed.
I have seen many companies and people provide fake Likes.
I too was tempted to buy a 1,000 odd likes a few days back. I wanted to impress the visitors to my blog by showing them how hugely popular I am with my readers. I was so sure it would help enhance the brand value associated with MyMagicMix, and also help me earn a few more natural likes in the long run.
And I did a thorough research into this business of providing fake likes.
I then realized how wrong I was!!
I am simply sharing all that I learnt during the course of my research on this topic with all my readers, hoping this will help put some sense into all those who have been thinking on the same lines as me. And dissuade them from buying Facebook likes.
Now that you know how to get more free Facebook Likes, try the genuine methods instead of the illegal ones and see your Fan following swelling up in no time at all.
Please share your views and opinions on the topic by leaving behind your valuable comments!
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