by: Cameron Clarkson
Raise your hand if you have spent countless hours trying to convince people to go “like” your page on Facebook?
Truth is, there was a time when the amount of likes you had on your Facebook business page really did matter.
It was a time when you could reasonably expect to reach a decent amount of your “likers” and followers organically just by posting content to your page.
Then, Facebook grew up and got a job.
That job is making money for share holders.
Since Facebook went public in 2012, they have been throttling down the organic reach that business pages get on their content.
Their goal is simple: they want you to run paid ads.
If you can remember back to that simpler time, the user interface of Facebook pages was even designed to emphasize “likes”; after all, Facebook was the company that pioneered the “like” back in 2009.Â
If you check out the design of a 2020 Facebook page, you will notice that “likes” and the “like” button are not as emphasized as they were in the past…they are almost hidden.
That’s because Facebook want’s all businesses to run paid ads on its platform–even the ones that are just starting off and have not developed a large organic following yet.Â
2012
2020
If your goal is to reach customers or clients and ultimately make money from your Facebook advertising…collecting “likes” is the wrong way to go about it. You will keep spinning your wheels as Facebook continues to throttle down organic reach.Â
Additionally, as more and more people join the platform, competition for organic and paid space on users’ timelines is growing increasingly stiff.
The good news is, you don’t need many–or any–“likes” to start reaching new customers on Facebook, but the truth is, you gotta pay to play!
