Are Facebook Page Likes Still Important?

When Facebook Pages were first released many years ago, they were a powerful tool for marketers. Facebook also created the concept of a Page Like. A Page Like occurs when a Facebook user decides to follow a page by clicking the Like button. When this happens, a Facebook user would see all the updates posted to a Page.

The ability to show content to followers at no charge was so good for marketers that the numbers of pages on Facebook began to grow rapidly. Businesses started to build large followings around their pages and as their Page Likes increased they were able to get their content in front of the majority of their followers.

But as the number of pages grew, a new problem was created. With the increase of Pages, the number of posts being added each day to these Pages, Facebook had to decide how much content they were going to show to their users.

Facebook always has been protective of their users, not wanting to show them content not relevant to them. The more relevant the content a user sees in their newsfeed will determine how engaged they are on the platform and ultimately how much time they spend on Facebook. The less relevant the content, the less time they will spend and maybe eventually leave the platform.

Many years ago Facebook started to create algorithms which would determine which content from which Pages would be displayed in a user’s newsfeed. As the amount of content added to Facebook exponentially grew, Facebook started to show less and less content from a Facebook Page on a follower of that Page’s newsfeed.

It is thought that as little of 10 – 16% of people who like a page see an update made to that page. These numbers are expected to decline more over the next few years. Facebooks advice is to work on the assumption that eventually none of your posts will be organically shown to people who like your Page.

If this is the future of Facebook Page Likes, then why should you bother to worry about Likes?

Well, there is an important reason to continue to build your Page likes and that is the Facebook Ads Platform.

The Facebook Ads platform allows you to show your ads to only people who Like your Page. This is powerful because you now have the ability to get an important message to the individuals who Like your Page.

I believe you don’t need your followers to see all your post updates. What you do need is for them to see the important messages, and you still have control over this.

I can hear some of you complaining. You are saying, “Why should I pay for something that used to be free?” I can understand your concern, but you need to see the bigger picture.

Facebook now has 2 billion users. There are over 65 million Facebook pages. The average person spends 40 minutes a day on Facebook. You might have to pay to show ads to people who Like your Facebook Page, but there is no other platform on the planet with that many engaged users. And for a small cost you can take advantage of engaging with it’s users.

The key is to build a Page with only followers who are real prospects and clients. Paying for likes the scammy way to inflate your Like count is not a good idea. If you do this when you run your ads to your Page Likes, you will pay to show your ads to people who aren’t real prospects.

I encourage you to build a Page of individuals who are real prospects or clients for your business. Then pay Facebook to show your ads to these people. This is a robust marketing strategy and one worth the cost.

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