A Facebook page likes campaign is a targeted advertising strategy focused on getting more people to like a business’s or brand’s Facebook page. The goal is to increase the number of page likes, which expands the potential audience that will see future posts from that page. More page likes means greater reach and engagement for future content.
Why do businesses run Facebook page likes campaigns?
There are several key reasons businesses invest in getting more Facebook page likes:
- Grow reach – More likes means each post from your page has the potential to be seen by more people organically.
- Appear more popular – A high number of likes looks impressive and influential, which can build trust and credibility.
- Get better distribution – Pages with more likes may appear higher in News Feed placements and get wider distribution.
- Boost engagement – People who like your page are more likely to engage with future content than non-fans.
- Retargeting opportunities – You can create custom audiences of fans for future ads and promotions.
- Low cost per result – Likes are relatively inexpensive compared to other high-value actions like sales or email signups.
While likes were deprioritized by Facebook’s algorithm changes, they can still be valuable as a vanity metric and a way to expand reach potential. However, actual engagement ultimately matters more than just the number of likes.
How do Facebook page likes campaigns work?
Facebook page likes campaigns leverage Facebook Ads targeting capabilities. Advertisers create ads driving people to like a specific Facebook Page and define the target audience to show those ads to. Some of the key components include:
- Ad creative featuring a call-to-action for the viewer to like the Page
- Targeting parameters like location, demographics, interests to reach your ideal audience
- Bidding and budgeting to get the optimal number of results for your spend
- Placement – News Feed, Instagram Feed, Stories, etc
- Optimization toward cost-efficient likes
The Facebook Ads platform makes it easy to set up and optimize campaigns focused on getting more page likes. You can track performance and cost per like in real time and make changes to improve results.
What are the key targeting strategies?
The targeting parameters you choose for the ad campaign will determine who gets shown your ads and therefore who will potentially like your page. Here are some of the most important targeting strategies for Facebook page likes campaigns:
Interest-based targeting
Using interest, behaviors, and demographics to target ads to your ideal audience most likely to engage with your page. For example, targeting followers of complementary brands and competitors’ pages.
Lookalike audiences
Creating custom audiences of people similar to your existing customers and fans. This expands your reach to new people with a higher likelihood of relevance.
Engagement-based targeting
Building audiences of people who have already engaged with your Facebook content in some way, like reacting to posts or watching videos. These warm audiences are great targets for ads.
Retargeting
Serving ads to people who have already visited your website or interacted with your brand in some way outside of Facebook.
Location targeting
Targeting specific cities, regions, or countries where your business is relevant and your ideal audience lives.
Combining different targeting strategies together in thoughtful ways allows you to hone in on the segment of people most likely to like your page.
What types of creative and messaging work best?
The visuals and copywriting of your Facebook ads have a big impact on their success at generating likes. Here are some best practices:
- Highlight key brand identifiers in the imagery like logos, products, slogans, etc.
- Use clear, simple messaging focused on getting the click or Like.
- Convey the value of liking the page – what will they gain by being a fan?
- Use video ads if relevant to capture attention in the feed.
- Leverage giveaways, coupons, or other incentives if permitted by Facebook policies.
- Test different images, copy length, caption style to improve performance.
You want creative that gets attention and conveys what unique value the audience will receive by liking your page. Troubleshoot underperforming creative and make optimization tweaks to improve click-through rates.
What makes a Facebook page likes campaign successful?
There are a few key performance indicators and benchmarks to assess whether your Facebook page likes campaign is succeeding:
- Cost per like – Generally $0.50 or less per like is considered reasonable for most campaigns.
- Relevancy of new fans – Are the people liking relevant to your brand and products?
- Engagement rate of new fans – Do they engage with future page posts more than existing fans?
- Quality of likes – Focus on real human accounts without suspicious behavior.
- Sales attributed to new fans – Track downstream ROI from the expanded audience.
Gaining thousands of likes means little if they aren’t from your target audience or if the accounts are fake or inactive. Judge success more by the quality and long-term value of fans acquired, not just raw numbers.
What are some common mistakes to avoid?
Some potential pitfalls to sidestep with your Facebook page likes campaign:
- Targeting too broad of an audience untargeted to your brand.
- Having unclear or confusing messaging in the ad creative.
- Not monitoring and optimizing based on performance data.
- Overpaying per like due to poor bid strategy or loose targeting.
- Focusing too much on vanity metrics like likes rather than real business value.
- Poor page content that fails to engage fans after they like.
- Using fake likes services or questionable tactics that violate Facebook’s policies.
Avoiding these common missteps can lead to much better results and return on ad spending from your Facebook page likes campaign.
Conclusion
When strategically executed, Facebook page likes campaigns can expand your audience reach and visibility. Define your target audience clearly, create compelling ad creative, monitor performance closely, and focus on quality likes that engage. Treat it as a long-term investment in your Facebook presence, not a short-term vanity play. With the right targeting and optimization, you can acquire relevant new page fans cost-effectively.