There is a lot of upset I'm hearing over Facebook's recent action of eliminating likes on business pages from fake & inactive accounts. Let me explain why it's a GOOD thing! Think about it like having 100's of people in a room, but no one is really talking to you or looking at you and you aren't allowed to walk up and strike up a conversation with them. Wouldn't you rather be in a space where everyone is there to participate in some way? Yes, of course we want that "like" number to be super high, reflecting that we are so amazing that 15 zillion people like us. The truth is Facebook only "shows" each post to a small percentage of our fans, so if you have a bunch of likes from fake or inactive accounts you are wasting precious impressions on thin air. Hence, when you have a page full of real fans and you provide interesting quality content, you will naturally gain more exposure through their friends as they like and comment on your interactive posts. Facebook also rewards you for having interaction by showing your posts to a higher percentage of your fans.

I'm a Facebook ad fan myself because it's very inexpensive, track-able and can be laser focused to your exact needs. However, contrary to popular belief, there are ways to increase the percentage of fans that Facebook shows your posts to without using ads... just be ready to work REALLY hard for it! Your business page is creating relationships with its fans and relationships take time & energy to grow. Just like my friend Ed Bernstein of 25 Score says about events, "It's not how many are there, it's about the quality of people that ARE there and the value or take away they get from it."

So, in summary as long as your business page is providing great content, posting regularly and engaging with the audience the drop in likes might actually increase your engagement.

JR Social Conduit provides Social Media Management Services for almost any budget. Contact me at (661) 755-2545 or email JR@JRSocialConduit.com for more info.