If you’re keeping tabs on the number of “likes” on your business Facebook page, you might have noticed recently that your numbers took a little dip.
You might be concerned, but there’s no reason to panic.
How “Likes” Work
A “like” is a connection. When someone likes your Facebook page, it shows up in their news feed, and their action is visible to others on their friends list. This gives your page an extended reach and opportunities for others to like your page. Once someone has liked your page, your posts show up in their newsfeed, allowing you to connect with that person and provide content that is relevant to their interests. They’ll also show up on your page as someone who likes your page (and business).
Why did my likes decrease?
Accuracy of data is important, and occasionally, Facebook does a little “cleanup” on the data available to business pages. The most recent cleanup has been the removal of likes from accounts that are have been deactivated or memorialized. While this has resulted in a drop in the total likes count for a number of pages – most noticeably for Etsy – the important thing to remember is that the resulting like count is now more accurate for active, viable accounts, and that the number of likes that your page may have lost will probably rebound over time.
What to Do About It
If your business page has suffered a dip in likes recently due to this recent purge, there are things you can do to recover that lost number, and maybe even improve it. Remember, the likes your page lost most likely came from Facebook removing deactivated or memorialized accounts. The value of these likes is negligible at best.
Strategies to improve your page’s like count can include:
- Posting daily updates on your page
- Providing meaningful/interesting content with increased frequency
- Run Facebook ads to attract attention to your page
- Offer a discount or promotion on your page that could be liked and shared by your followers
Just having a business page on Facebook isn’t enough. To take full advantage of Facebook’s marketing potential, you must actively engage your audience, providing valuable content on a regular basis. With consistent activity on your page, periodic purges like the one that just occurred can be recovered from relatively easily.