Buying Facebook Fans…is there no GOOD way?
Buying Facebook fans, it’s a bad idea, right? Well of course! You pay some off-shore vendor on elance or craigslist and you get a certain number of fans – 99% of which live in an entirely other country and have zero interest in your brand.
But what about buying Facebook fans the right way?
Huh?
Facebook advertising, while it has a much catchier name, is technically still buying fans. But in this case, you’re buying extremely targeted, likely interested in your product/industry and often willing to engage fans. Which is where the key difference, and success, lies.
Say you are a MMA fight brand (an industry I have worked with) that sells gear and clothing to both professional and amateurs in the sport. Your ideal audience is a specific dynamic, and a definable demographic. You can use that information to create a Facebook ad targeted specifically to people who are most likely to by your product – and be interested in your page. In addition, you can widen your search to people who would potentially be fans of the sport based on other interests that they have. Finally, Facebook allows you to set time restraints on your advertisements. This means a brand can specifically target times of day as well as the individual.
There are two big keys to remember that make Facebook ads so phenomenal:
- Facebook ads are not a one-to-one click costs. If you create an advertisement that focus on the right audience, one click can convert into multiple fans very easily. For example, in one campaign we ran during a specific promotion, we spent an average of $35/day and paid $0.45 per click. Which means we should have gotten about 77 fans per day, right? We actually got an average of 120 fans per day, all who were within our target demographic! Why? Because when John Smith liked the BrandX page, his friends saw his ‘activity’. And some of them clicked over to the page from him and then liked it as well. The inherent traits of Facebook and its newsfeed meant that BrandX gained an average of 55% more fans per day…for free.
- Facebook ads are not a long-term commitment. You can test them for a couple days, a week or even a month – and then cancel it the next day. You have the ability to run A/B testing, try different images, promote stories and specific campaigns. With Facebook, you have creativity on your side! The most successful Facebook advertising campaigns I have seen are short-term. They are run for a specific promotion with a specific call to action. Once the campaign ends, the fans are more than likely going to stay on the page (how often do YOU un-fan a page once you’ve ‘liked’ them?) So, as long as you continue to provide awesome content on your page, those fans will continue to stay engaged…and feed the growth of your brand.
Bottom line: Targeted advertising on Facebook translates into targeted fans. Targeted fans translate into more participation and engagement. More participation and engagement translates into more brand recognition and more sales.
Buying fans through craigslist or any ‘get fans quick’ campaign = BAD
Facebook ads targeted to the right audience with strong call to action messaging = GOOD
Has your brand tested Facebook advertising?
If not, why not?