Something happened over the weekend, that could potentially be bad for the hobby.
Normally I don’t try to get caught up in these sorts of things, but as a legitimate advertiser on Facebook since 2011, who has paid out thousands of dollars to them, I feel this situation may warrant a second look by hobbyists.
Blood of Kittens wrote up an article about some recent advertising activity that some of us have been keeping a very close eye on now for a few weeks.
Buying fake likes is one of the worst things you can do as a business according to JP Marketing. They even go so far as to say; “..if an advertiser ever found out you did that, they’d never do business with you again.”
Why? Well not only does it make you look like a fraud when you are caught, BUT it hurts you as well. You see only a portion of any business’ followers are ever going to see those posts on Facebook in the first place.
Let me put it to you this way, if you have about 50,000 likes on Facebook, you may have some posts that are seen by around 8,000 people on average (unless it gets shared a lot OR goes super viral).
So if you are a company that just bought a large portion of your likes, and none of them have anything to do with your business (for example table top wargaming), it’s quite possible that very few of your actual target gaming audience will even see your posts.
Why even have Facebook at that point if the only people seeing it are, for example, in Bangledesh, and have seemingly nothing to do with your business in the first place?
What’s even worse is that if you are CHARGING manufacturers to promote their products/brands, they are not even getting their monies’ worth now!
Plus this action is strictly forbidden by Facebook, and they can place limits on pages (such as disabling their “Like” button), or even unpublished a page altogether
I hope anyone that pays for such table top wargaming advertising really takes a second look at any company that operates on Facebook this way.
Where there is smoke there is fire – Unattributed Idiom
About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
