When I was in college one of my final projects of my program was to “start” a business from scratch and create a marketing plan for our invented business. But it wasn’t meant to just be a simple typed report; groups were required to bring various elements to life in order to test out some of our ideas. My group and I decided to create a Facebook page for our wedding planning company to prove our business concept. We invited over 300 of our friends to like our page, posted about “our services”, and regularly shared content. My friend and I began to get more involved in the process, and we soon became absolutely captivated in increasing the number of likes on our Facebook page; a very common feeling that MANY business owners (maybe even you!) know all too well.

There are a lot of people out there running Facebook business pages and spending countless hours and dollars stressing out about how to get more likes. But why? The primary goal in marketing is to get your brand in front of your target market…a.k.a individuals who are actually interested in what you are offering. This is why the quality of your Facebook following is much more important than the quantity of likes. If 1000 individuals like your Facebook page but they aren’t actually a part of your target market, then you’re wasting your time. It would be much more beneficial for you to have 30 likes from individuals who are actually interested in your brand and your product or service offering. Why spend money attracting one million of the wrong people when you could be spending time on 10 of the right people?

What I’m trying to say is 1. Facebook shouldn’t be a popularity contest. A company that has more followers than another doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re financially in a better place than the company with fewer followers.  2. If you’re going to spend the money on Facebook ads, you better be sure you’re targeting the right individuals, or at least those who can spread your message to someone who can benefit from it, and lastly 3. Measure engagement, not the number of likes. Who is liking your posts? Who is commenting? How many people are commenting? How many people are sharing? What are they saying?

With these points in mind, stop stressing and make better use of that energy by re-working your strategy and focus on those followers who truly care.