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Buying Facebook likes: an advantage or disadvantage for your hotel?

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With the growing influence of social platforms in the travel industry, hotel marketers are beginning to become aware of the immense value of earning a legion of “Likes”: on their Facebook page.

“Likes” have become the new currency of social approval – the iconic system sends to mass users an instant signal of popularity that allows hotel businesses to quickly establish a level of dependability and credibility. Such value has spawned online industries where Facebook likes can be bought in bulk for extremely low prices. This new culture of buying fans however, is often frowned upon and appear to some as unethical in nature and in some cases proven to be ineffective.

But there are legitimate and organic ways to gain Facebook likes that deliver impressive results through this strategy. Before delving deeper into this topic, Juicebox Management would like to share as Bali’s fastest growing digital marketing agency, we do not support the use of buying Facebook likes. Our uniquely integrated marketing strategies are the work of our dynamic team striving for excellence and exceeding expectations of large and small businesses. Trust us to spread your desired brand awareness and products or services in an ethical way.

 

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Approach #1: Purchasing From “Facebook Like Farms”

When you Google ‘Buy Facebook Likes’, you’ll find an endless amount of websites offering to deliver you thousands of new “Likes” and followers (that are marketed as “Real Human users” or “Active Accounts”) for shockingly low prices.

The cost alone should be enough for people to grow suspicious as to the integrity of these services. The reality is, almost all of these “Likes” are not legitimate fans and are mostly users from countries that aren’t even a part of your target market. You’re probably paying to seek approval of an audience that has zero interest in your hotel. This in itself might not look like a huge problem if your goal is to merely establish an authoritative appearance on your Facebook page. But this strategy comes with major consequences.

One easy way to tell whether a page has bought “Likes”: lots of likes but limited to zero engagement on a post. This can ring alarm bells with genuine users interested in your accommodation that you’re trying to influence, which could potentially lose you the very credibility you were trying to earn.

Limited engagement on your posts impacts your EdgeRank – a Facebook algorithm to determine where and what posts show up in a person’s new feed. If you find a page with a lot of likes, yet only little to no liking or sharing the post, the more inactive fans the page has and the more limited number of organic reach. This means that the business will have to spend more advertising to get reach, and on top of that, a large portion of your advertising spend will be used on advertising to fake users that don’t have any interest in staying at your hotel.

Approach #2: Running Facebook campaigns for new likes

This approach is run through the official Facebook Ads platform, meaning it is a more legitimate way of acquiring “Likes” for your page. This is one of the methods that can be effective.

The idea of a Facebook Advertising campaign driving “Likes” to your page sounds like a great result. But despite a potential short-term boost in fans, the long-term value of this strategy doesn’t always stack up. In our point of view, as digital marketers, investing into fan acquisition isn’t necessarily the smartest way of using your marketing budget – this is because there is no guarantee these new fans will interact with your page or engage in your hotel. At the end of the day, you could be investing in a lot of money for what could be a cosmetic metric.

If you’re considering this route, the better strategy would be to focus on getting organic and genuine fans and prospects for your page. They come in followers that legitimately want to stop scrolling to read and engage with your business. They could be past guests that have been to your hotel and enjoyed their stay, or interested scrollers who have been dreaming to visit your holiday destination.

The more your page have engaged followers, the higher return on any future marketing Facebook Advertising campaigns you will run.

Buying likes or investing in a huge marketing budget in order to gain social approval from Facebook is not necessary. Instead, try posting relevant, informative, creative, and enticing content that taps into the needs and desires of your targeted guests. While the methods we have mentioned in the last two articles won’t bring you a wealth of new “Likes” or “Followers” overnight, at Juicebox Management we believe continued investment in a variety of cost-effective strategies is the beginning to a sensible and long-term approach for social media success.

At Juicebox, we believe in authentic growth and engagement. Our digital marketing experts can help you develop a robust social media strategy that focuses on organic reach, genuine audience connection, and measurable results. We are committed to helping your hotel thrive in the digital landscape. Contact Juicebox today to explore our comprehensive range of social media management services and take your hotel’s online presence to new heights.

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