Should Your Company Purchase Facebook Fans and Likes?

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With over 50% of the planet’s largest retailers now creating Facebook pages to help them to communicate and interact with new or existing customers, there is an ever-growing trend to try to accumulate as many fans and sign-ups as humanly possible.

Because of this, there are a number of online providers popping up who promise to sell Facebook Fans so that page owners can increase their numbers quickly and rapidly.

You just need to do a Google search for “buy Facebook Fans” and you can see how many people are jumping on the bandwagon.  But, before you get your credit card out and go off to purchase some new fans for your company’s page you need to ask address a number of questions of which I have highlighted below.

Is it Illegal to Purchase Facebook Fans?

Currently there is no legislation stating that you cannot buy Facebook Fans for your company page. However, Facebook do monitor the social media network and have been known to take a close look at pages where the fan base has suddenly increased and inflated for no real reason.

You could potentially face a penalty from the network with a banned account, although this is an extremely rare occurrence.

Is it Worth the Money Paying for Facebook Fans?

This is the most important question really, and my view is that it’s not worth the time or money, and here are just a few short reasons why if you are trying to build up a legitimate brand on Facebook, you should avoid paying for fans and likes.

Paid For Facebook Fans Offer No Financial Value

Let’s say you go out today and pay for 30,000 new likes and fans to your Facebook page.  That looks great in terms of numbers but in reality it will offer you no real monetary value because these people probably have little to no interest in your brand, services, products, and story.  With that in mind it’s unlikely they would ever go on to purchase anything from you.

Social media platforms are developed to help you to interact with true fans – a purchased fan will never enter into that degree of interactivity with your company, and will probably dislike you as soon as you start pushing content out to them via your official page.

Potentially Bad for Public Relations

If you do go ahead and purchase fans and likes for your company page and it is seen to suddenly increase five-fold overnight, then there’s every chance someone, possibly even a competitor could notice, and put two and two together – potentially leading to a PR disaster should the news spread about your social media tactics.  Bad news spreads very fast on Facebook and Twitter – so why take that risk?

Inevitably Will Lead to Negative Posts and Comments

So you’ve got a load of new fans that you paid for… you then start telling them all about your amazing products.  In reality they have little to no interest in your services and could simply start responding negatively on your wall each time you put out some news.

You are more likely to get positive interaction from someone who has gone out of their way to find you and want to be engaged.

Conclusion on Whether You Should Buy Facebook Fans

My view is quite simple: it’s not worth the time, money, or effort.  Any fans and likes purchase will inevitably unsubscribe from your pages over time and you could risk upsetting your existing customer base.

Some people hold the view that a company with a huge amount of fans on their page will mean other users are more inclined to follow their lead and like you too, but is there any value in preaching to the “un-converted”?

I don’t believe so… there are so many more clever ways that you can engage and increase your Facebook numbers – simply keep checking the Social Media section of the Tech Info Blog for inspiration over the next 12 months.

Bob Simmons

Bob Simmons is an online blogger who specializes in writing about technology, social media, and the automotive industry. Bob drives a Ford F-150 pick-up and runs a number of GPS websites aimed at giving people independent and qualified advice on their in-car navigation systems – here’s a recent post all about the Chrysler Navigation DVD if you want a taster.Please check his website on www.GPSNavigationDVD.net for more information on if you want advice on a factory-installed GPS device for Acura, Chrysler, Honda, Ford, and Nissan cars.

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