There has been a lot of information swirling around the internet lately about buying Fake likes on Facebook, smear campaigns, and axes to grind.
Very little of it however has been productive IMHO in explaining how and why Buying fake likes is bad for both the page that bought them, and the community that the page is part of.
I wrote an article recently pointing out why I felt they were bad, and was personally called out for my article when it was a generalization.
Normally I wouldn’t care as the internet is what it is, and you gotta let stuff roll off your back. But someone spent a ton of time on their video show recently making a heaping mound of accusations, so let’s take a closer look back at the Facebooks again shall we?
Numbers, like Shakira’s hips, don’t lie. You can say a bunch of different things in public, on posts, and on air, but at the end of the day the numbers have to always add up.
I think most people understand why fake likes are bad, but there still seems to be some business owners out there that may have agendas of their own and throw caution to the wind to take these blatant shortcuts to get to a position they feel they deserve, rather than earn it legitimately.
Likes cost money, they can average around .10 – .25 cents a like. From what I’ve gathered in the few years I’ve been with them, Facebook actually calls them “actions”. Right now we’re in Q4, and the price of an action goes up quite a bit as advertisers a clamoring for holiday ad space!
Here’s an example of what Facebook wants to offer me currently in Q4. Notice the suggest amount of likes for $75 USD only a few hundred.
A popular blog about Facebook Advertising states;
The metric that determines success or failure of a Facebook advertising campaign is Cost Per Action. An “action” is a Like, install, RSVP or some other desired activity.
I’ve tended to get exceptional results with my Facebook Page, and Cost Per Action is no different. I’ve spent an average of $.27 per action — mostly being Page Likes.
If I was ever accused buying fake likes there is one super easy way to clear it up, via the Facebook Ad Manager.
A old campaign of mine from Q1, Q2 of 2014. It shows all likes you pay for though Facebook and none you don’t!
You see there is something called “Insights” and “Ad Manager” on Facebook.
Insights, and some of the other reporting tools on the page level (both available from the web and mobile) just show overall stats for a page. Think of it like your television, it shows you a bunch of channels and you can view them.
The shows may be re-runs or they may be current depending if you picked one at the right time. The same is true with these stats, some may be current depending on when changes were made, or a little out of date. The same is true with Insights, however both are only a portal, and they just show you what’s getting piped into them.
Now imagine the Facebook Ad Manger as the Cable Company’s Home Office, and buying Fake Likes as the cable box down the street or in front of your house. Sure I can go down to the cable box and tinker around and maybe get HBO for free (although quite illegal), and it may show up on my television just fine for awhile, but eventually someone’s catching on.
But what I can’t do is go into the home office of the Cable Company and change their records to say I had HBO all along. It is the source, it can not be tampered with.
Fake likes will show up on any Insights report, or page reporting stats as being there sure. They’ll even appear on your page en masse within a day. But I’m pretty sure they will never appear in a legitimate targeted campaign in Ad Manger.
Well I take that back, if I wanted to launch a campaign specifically, precisely, targeted to a known area of the world where third world click farming existed (that paid what amounts to slave wages) then perhaps maybe?
Or I guess there’s third party places to go that will get you clicks for cash, but from what I’ve read researching this piece, it seems like they are all located around India and Bangladesh.
Remember that’s the same part of the world that does not speak the language of my target demographic or is even my business’ demographic in the first place. Two things I don’t want to be marketing too.
Honestly I feel it’s a crap shoot if it would even work, but why would I even want to to jeopardize my credibility with my readers, and advertisers to do that?
Looks who’s risen to the top now…
I guess if I felt the false pressure to have the most Facebook likes in the Wargaming Industry I would consider it perhaps, but that doesn’t make any sense at all- you can be second, third, fourth… hell you can even be fifth.
Truth is I just want to play with my toys and help inspire other to do the same without involving third world click farms and the like.
But as a business owner myself I know that if I was selling ads to any company that wanted additional exposure via my site or Facebook I would be ASHAMED if I charged them money for that service when there is a high probability it would not be seen by the people I promised.
Actually I’d be TERRIFIED of advertisers finding out that I paid fake likes to inflate my numbers alltogether. Heck I might be inclined to rant about it on my live weekly show for 20 minutes in order to deflect and redirect attention away from the topic even.
I would feel DOUBLY ASHAMED if I was charging fans for access to my content as well, and was using that money generated to develop a demographically tainted media presence to market to advertisers with deep pockets.
That being said I am a business owner whose media presence has been steadily growing over the past few years because of legitimate Faceboook advertising, I know I can personally stand behind any advertising I could offer.
The proof is in the pudding, or at least in this case, the Facebook Ad Manager!
If you have any questions about how Facebook likes work etc, leave em below. I’ll get to them when I can, and next time maybe we can talk about Facebook reach and engagement!
About the Author: Rob Baer
