The first Monday of September in the US is Labor Day, a bank holiday that all workers celebrate. All but the people at Facebook, that picked this day to start testing the elimination of the Facebook Likes counter.
Data miner Jane Manchun Wong discovered the change using the Android app in the morning and spread the news on Twitter. Later in the afternoon, the company confirmed they started the test as a way to help break users’ fixation with getting likes on their pictures.
Don’t panic now! Facebook likes continue to play a vital role in how content is prioritized in Facebook users’ feed. That’s why it should be an objective of your marketing and advertising goals.
And that’s also why we updated this post to give you 7 Ways to Get More Facebook Likes in 2019. And we included one of our famous AdEspresso experiments too!
Organic reach is dead. Facebook has deprioritized it as a ranking factor in the Newsfeed since 2016. So how do you compete with the onslaught of posts, ads, and shared content that dominate users’ Newsfeed every day? By getting followers to like your Facebook page.
Page likes indicate that users are actively interested in seeing more of your content, so Facebook bumps up your posts on those individuals’ Newsfeeds.
Getting more likes for your Facebook page also helps (or should we say “helped?”) showcase social proof— it lets other users know that your brand is trustworthy. And with 2/3 of Facebook users saying they visit a business page at least once a week, the more credible your company appears, the more likely you can tap into that audience of 1.3 billion users!
Facebook likes also give you more qualitative data on your followers, which you can use to build more targeted audiences.
So even in 2019, with organic reach a thing of the past, Facebook likes still help you build better campaigns and connect with an engaged audience.
To get Facebook users to like your business page, you need to create content that is both useful and engaging.
But with so many different types of content to choose from, Facebook users are only going to like pages that are worth their time, so you have some work to do!
The following seven tactics will help your content rise above the rest and entice users to like your page.
Get More Facebook Likes strategy #1:
Create an Engaging, Informative Business Page
When someone comes to your Facebook page they need a reason to stay. Make sure you’re using a recognizable profile picture, as well as an attention-grabbing cover photo to quickly captivate visitors.
Take this example from e-commerce retailer Chubbies Shorts.
Chubbies’ Facebook business page.
Both their profile and cover photos are on brand and show the product their company sells. The images are colorful and entertaining as well, showing Chubbies’ personality. And with 1.7 million Likes and 1.6 million followers, they’re definitely doing something right!
When you’re managing a Facebook business page, it’s also important to make sure all company information is correct and up-to-date.
The people coming to your page want to learn more about your product and your brand, so any wrong information will result in a bad experience.
Your business page should be an extension of your brand. Show your personality while also educating customers about your products and company.
Get More Facebook Likes strategy # 2:
Use the Facebook Invite Button
Facebook gives you the ability to invite your friends to like your business page. By leveraging existing relationships, you can reliably get your first Facebook page likes.
Just make sure that the people you’re inviting are actually interested in your company. Consistent disengagement with your content will drive down rankings for individual users.
If you have less than 100K likes on your page, Facebook also lets you invite people who have reacted to any of your organic posts (though not your ads).
If your content typically receives a lot of engagement, this tactic is a great way to boost your number of page likes.
Example post with follower reactions from Chubbies.
Chubbies uses the age-old tactic of cute animals to capture Facebook users’ attention. And they’re not shy about asking for likes (for the cute puppy of course!).
Once you’ve invited your friends and anyone who has reacted to like your Facebook page, you can use that information to create a custom audience and target them with ads to increase their potential for conversion.
Seeing what types of content resonate with your current audience can also help you create more posts and ads that elicit the same response (a page like!)
Get More Facebook Likes strategy #3:
Try a Facebook Like campaign
Anyone you’ve invited to like your business page will be listed as Invitedin your Facebook insights. You’ll also see followers listed as Likedonce they’ve clicked that button.
Target these people, as well as users who’ve previously engaged with your posts, with a Facebook like ad. This tactic lets you ask users to like your page without having to visit it.
Just remember to follow Facebook’s engagement bait policy. Ads that trick Facebook users into liking the post will get you in trouble! You don’t want your account to be disallowed due to a breach of terms.
Here’s an example ad we ran for AdEspresso’s own Facebook like campaign.
AdEspresso’s Facebook like ad.
It’s a simple but powerful ad — we let people know what kind of value they’ll receive by liking our page and tease the types of content we typically promote.
Facebook like ads make it easier for any user to like your page.
Instead of having to navigate to your page directly, they can click the like page button on the ad and continue scrolling through their Newsfeed. By simplifying this experience, you increase the potential for likes and keep your company top-of-mind.
Get More Facebook Likes strategy #4:
Engage With Your Audience Often
Part of getting people to like your Facebook page is making them feel like they’re a part of a community.
To build that community, you need to consistently interact with your audience—whether they’re your friends, a target audience member, or even Facebook users who have liked your competitors’ pages.
The more you engage with people, the more of a connection they’ll feel with your brand.
One engagement tactic is asking questions in your posts. This gives you an opportunity to start a conversation with leads by following up when they respond.
Including video in your posts also encourages engagement by creating a personal connection with users.
They will feel like they understand your brand personality more after watching your videos. The narration and visuals may even make them feel like your brand is speaking directly to them through video, which will push them to interact with your posts.
The king of this strategy is internet entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuck. He regularly creates videos that make it feel like he’s speaking to his audience on a one-to-one basis.
https://www.facebook.com/gary/videos/10157412676683350/
Monday Motivation Facebook video from Gary Vee.
As one of the loudest voices in content and branding strategy today, Vaynerchuck has used Facebook videos to engage with and build his community from the very beginning. By sharing videos, he fosters emotional connections with users and encourages them to like his page.
Part of this strategy is asking people to like and share his content, which Gary Vee does in almost every Facebook post he makes.
His 3.2 million page likes mean the content he posts will always be prioritized in the top of his followers’ Newsfeeds.
This kind of engagement is how he’s built one of the most powerful branding and content agencies on the market today.
Get More Facebook Likes strategy #5:
Build a Customer Lookalike Audience
Lookalike audiences help you target Facebook users based on their similarity to an existing audience you’ve created.
The best choice would be your current Facebook followers who have already liked the page.
Starting from a source list, ours is called Leads list in the following example; Facebook will analyze data and pull out commonalities in terms of interests, demographics, etc.
They’ll then spit out an audience that shares these characteristics.
Creating a lookalike audience on Facebook.
This option automatically excludes Facebook users who have previously engaged with your brand as well.
It’s one of the quickest ways to build an audience of potential followers based on your existing customer and audience information.
Once you have this audience, it’s easy to target them with content you know has performed well for the source users in the past.
Whether it’s a Facebook page like campaign, or a post you think they’ll engage with, building a lookalike audience gives you a more targeted pool of potential followers to work with.
Get More Facebook Likes strategy #6:
Target New Audiences Based on Interests
Beyond building Lookalike audiences, create an interest-targeted audience to target a broader, more diverse group of users who would like your page.
To get started, use Facebook Audience Insights to find out what interests your current followers have.
Once you have that list, you can start building a new audience based on those interests.
Audience interest targeting in Facebook.
As you define more interests, you’ll see the potential audience size change on Facebook. Once you’ve narrowed down this audience, it’s time to start thinking about a campaign that will appeal to these interests.
From here, as with lookalike audiences, you can target these users with ads and content that appeals to the interests you’ve defined.
Remember, the more content you create that resonates with users, the more likely they’ll be to engage with it.
That engagement could come in forms of a page like, or a comment, but it all adds up to the Facebook page like you’re looking for.
Get More Facebook Likes strategy #7:
Use Social Proof to Your Advantage
The more Facebook likes you have, the more credible your company will appear. Your followers will back up any statements you make about the value or popularity of your brand.
This makes it “easier” for potential new followers to like your brand. Think about it — a business that has thousands of likes is going to seem more trustworthy than a business with only a hundred likes.
While this can be difficult if you’re just getting started, as your company grows, you’ll be able to use social proof as a part of other marketing and advertising campaigns as well.
It’s an important aspect of building a brand that people want to like and engage with on Facebook.
Testing 5 Facebook Like Campaigns (AdEspresso Experiment!)
We wanted to put this to the test, so we created five campaigns to try and get more Facebook Likes for AdEspresso’s Facebook page and tracked which performed best.
Here’s how we set up the experiment:
- Used the same design for all five campaigns.
- Created a placement split test for each campaign.
- Used three AdSets, one for each placement.
- Spent approximately $100 for each campaign.
We excluded anyone who was already a fan of AdEspresso from these audiences to make sure we weren’t skewing the results.
This is what we found:
We also visualized each campaign in AdEspresso’s campaign comparison page.
Let’s talk through what we found:
- Interest targeting was the best by far, with the lowest Cost Per Like and highest reach.
- Page lookalike and Customers lookalike audiences came next, with approximately the same reach, but a higher Cost Per Lead.
- While our Customers Custom Audience had the highest click-through-rate of these tests, that actually resulted in a pretty low conversion and a high Cost Per Like.
- Interest intersection (targeting people who have ALL of the interests we targeted) was the least successful. While it had the most impressions, that didn’t really do anything to drive down Cost Per Like.
While the results across each campaign weren’t consistent, we were able to use these tests to see how placement impacted likes as well.
Here’s what we found.
It’s no surprise that Mobile Newsfeed placements were the most successful. Most Facebook users interact with the platform on their mobile device.
The Right Column placement really surprised us in terms of performance.
Typically, you would see more impressions in the Newsfeed, but unfortunately, the increased impressions didn’t deliver results across all five campaigns. It was effective at getting our ads in front of Facebook users, but that’s about it.
To double-check our results, we analyzed more of AdEspresso’s recent Facebook like campaigns, with a total ad spend of more than $200,000.
The data did confirm that mobile is definitely the winner.
Based on this experiment, we’d suggest mobile as the placement and interest targeting as the custom audience. That gives you the most conversion potential across the board.
More Facebook Likes Equals More Trust
In conclusion, if Facebook decides to go ahead with the experiment and hide the Like Counter, marketers, and advertisers might have a harder life. But it won’t be a tragedy.
When you increase your number of Facebook page likes (and you will keep on seeing that number on your side), you cultivate an audience that supports and engages with your brand.
These users are incredibly valuable for your company as they’re likely to speak positively of your brand around others.
Continue to nurture these followers, and showcase their support in your Facebook like campaigns. Seeing others’ admiration for your company will encourage users to like your page as well.
Good reading! Thanks for sharing all those numbers.
I see that some services selling likes are claiming that all the likes will be generated organically and are real users. I can also pick users from my country.
What do you think about that, should I try?
The main methods that I have utilised in the past to increase the amount of Facebook likes that I get on my page. Such as uploading videos often, posting during business hours, making sure to fill out all of my info on my page and by advertising. By utilising these methods (and some others) i have been able to get millions of likes and shares on my Facebook page. I do admit though it is very hard to brand yourself when you’re just starting out on Facebook. Which is why I recommend the course that I used when I first started out at http://fbmadesimple.net/ it takes you through every step of growing your Facebook presence which is why I always recommend it.
Dan, thanks for the comment, Kim Garst is a great marketer and even tho’ I’ve not checked her course I’m sure it’s high quality!
That said, just for transparency to our readers, you were actually suggesting it to earn money as you placed an affiliate link in your comment (which I’ve removed linking the main page of the course).
Hi Massimo…
Do you know if the Targeting Options ( #1 Targeting Interest including Audience Insight Tool – and #2 Targeting Interest Intersection ) works on South America????
Thanks for your help
Thank you very much for ALL the information! I’ll try it and then share the results with you!
im trying out your experiment now (except # 2) hope I have great results!
Great, good luck with that and would love if you could share your results with us!
I’m not sure about the FB organic search dropping. Lately I’ve been finding Facebook pages popping up more and more when I Google marketing products.
Very useful article for getting very high likes.
Thanks for sharing the information.Will try to use these strategies to get more Facebook engagement.
Cheers,
Mark
I see that some services selling likes are claiming that all the likes will be generated organically and are real users. I can also pick users from my country.
Don’t get scammed, they always claim that the users are real but they’re not and even if they are, as you can see in the numbers above they’re not engaged but they were tricked to like the page. That’s also why Facebook started going after these guys in court and deleting all these fake accounts from their systems.
A lot of page admin recently saw the number of Page likes decrease exactly because Facebook killed all the fake likes they had bought!
With the help of this effective guide, we can get Facebook likes. Facebook only like real likes and users so that’s why it’s important to get real Facebook like for Facebook page.
I’m a nutritionist and have been doing some research on the best ways to advertise on facebook and this article has been really helpful. Thanks!
Real good Stuff. Facebook plays the key role to drive the traffic. Many-Many websites are only based on social-networking.You’ve mentioned outstanding tips.
Are these findings and stats still applicable for 2016? I saw that this post is from 2014 and the FB ad platform is different now.
Yes, while Facebook has changed a lot recently, most of these findings are still very actual as like ads have not changed much since then. Still we’re gonna refresh this article very soon!
I enjoyed to read your article, Massimo. I totally agree with you – spending money on facebook likes or twitter followers, etc. is waste of money. I’ve read in another article that the google algorithm can detect the quality of the likes and followers. Please correct me, if I’m wrong.
That’s why is more important to have less but more qualitative likes/followers.
It’s clear that social media has a significant role in digital world but it should be used wisely.
I really like what you said about “wasted ads”. We should think in long-term categories.
It really clear and help. Thanks.
Thank you for sharing such informative article, keep it up! 🙂
Wow!, very nice article very informative. thank you for sharing!
Hi there,
I was really looking for a detailed step by step guide to do this because I was really confused about doing this.
Thanks a lot, buddy.
Keep posting good stuff. Cheers.
Wow, Amazing Article.
Just loved this one.
I have been looking for this article for a very long time and finally, I found it. And now I can easily gain more Facebook likes by following your procedures.
Thanks for sharing this valuable article.
keep the good work mate.
I think GIF picture is one of the best tool for likes. Facebook has quietly given users the ability to “react” to people’s comments on the social network, in the same way they can react to posts. Reacting to comments is very similar to reacting to posts. Just hover over the “Like” button with your cursor, or long-press the button on a touchscreen, and the reaction options will pop up.
Wow!, very nice article very informative. thank you for sharing!
some parts of your tests really surprised me, but this is marketing and this is Fabebook: we have to test! Good Job!
Hi mates, its great post regarding cultureand completely explained,
keep it up all the time.
Hey thanks bro
I have been looking for this article for a very long time and finally, I found it. And now I can easily gain more Facebook likes by following your procedures.
Thanks for sharing this valuable article.
Very Good And Knowledgeable article. You have shared so many things about increasing facebook likes and you are right content is the king of SEO world. Thanks again.
Thanks for posting!
As for advertising, our experience shows that video converts waaaaaay higher.
Couple of tips to help:
First, capture attention quickly. Front-load the video with attention-grabbing content to ensure they don’t just scroll-and-go. Next, design for sound off. Most video ads in the mobile feed are viewed without sound. Use captions if there is dialogue. Facebook’s caption feature works really well. Finally, produce for mobile. Consider your dimensions. Make sure your story is told well on a small screen.
Anyway, hope that’s useful. Wrote more about this on our blog this week if you need more ideas: https://bit.ly/2s0G4lj
Later!
Lot’s of information I got from the article.
Thank you for this article because it’s really informative, I love reading your article and I hope that I will read some more about this stuff, it’s really informative and very entertaining. Thanks a lot and have a great day.
I was really looking for a detailed step by step guide to do this because I was really confused about doing this.
Thanks for sharing the information.Will try to use these strategies to get more Facebook engagement
now i found what i looking for thanks for this great article
Amazing Articles! I tried Your tips and Let’s see if we can get interaction from users. However, I have also purchased Facebook Page Likes from Alwaysviral and it works out like a charm, they do provide 24*7 online support, however, I never needed this 24*7 support because their services are too good.
I will recommend everyone to use Alwaysviral website to boost their profiles. I Purchased 2k Facebook Page Likes from them and got pretty good appreciation.
wow great Post
Thanks for your article
Wow Nice Article
Sooo Good article,
Hi – I might have missed this, but what kind of ad were you running? Just boosting content?
i found your article very interesting. thank you for sharing lovely post here. keep sharing. and we will love come back to your website. thanks
Thank you for such a great post. Your post will help me to grow my career in social media marketing field. As I am continuing my digital marketing training under Entercerebrum. So some post like yours very useful to increase my knowledge.
Nice article
Thank you for such a nice and informative blog.The tips given will surely help in increasing facebook likes. Keep writing such Great blog and keep sharing the information.
i found your article very intresting. really nice post. keep posting this type of important post. lots of love from rajasthan
Nice information thank you
I agree with you. we should never buy FB likes. We must start the campaign by targeting right audiences. From Nepal still, we don’t have any e-payment facility, In this case how we can promote our campaign on facebook even other social media too.
Thanks a lot for this amazing article. I got some new ideas and information from this site. keep it up sharing educational ideas.
Wow, I really enjoy reading your motivational article, After a long time, i found your article and finally, I found it. And now I can easily gain more Facebook likes by following your procedures. Again Thanks a lot for sharing this valuable article.
Generally speaking, all you need to get more Facebook likes is to target the right audience. You suggested very good ways and I would add one more – target competitors’ audience. It’s easy to do using third-party sources. Get competitor’s audience insight and use it as you see fit.
nice post
nice post
The tips you’ve shared for increasing like are very good. I’ve tried them. Thanks for sharing these tips
This is an excellent guide to increase facebook page likes. organic reach is declining on facebook. But people prefer to choose a brand by following the brand and watching all the brand stories. I had some tough time in increasing the likes for my blogs facebook page. This article has surely given me some new insights to improve my page likes.
Very well written blog. All the mention ideas are fantastic. Thanks for sharing.
great post you have published. I am sure it will help so many people to get better results.
best methods to grow your business via facebook. I like your content and i will follow this method. Every facebook user must read your blog. thanks and keep sharing.
Great man, you have shared very useful information thanks.
This is exactly what I’m looking for. Although my business facebook profile has been created for about 2 years, there are only 27 likes and about 30 followers. I will apply your tips and strategy to see if I can improve it.
It’s hard to keep up with all this stuff, and I feel I am spending way too much of my time on social media than I am on photography, which is my business. It’s a continual rat race.
Or maybe it is just harder in the beginning when you are trying to grow a social media audience.
Very well written blog. All the mention ideas are fantastic. Thanks for sharing.
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Nice blog, thanks for sharing such an informative blog to the readers. if you want to download Facebook videos to your device then you can download it from fastvid.com. You will get the download link just by submitting the URL of any Facebook video.