Likes, Followers, and Fans: Quantity vs. Quality

All Fans are NOT Created Equally

Let’s face it – ALL business owners want fans to like and follow us on social media.  The more likes and followers we have the more of an audience we have – or do we?

We all strive to gain followers and fans on our pages because the reality is that the more people who see what we put out there the more chance of business coming our way.  The reality is that on the surface, it would appear that we have a larger audience to hear what we have to say.  However, more likes, fans, and followers do not always translate into more people hearing your message.

The problem is that many business owners lose sight t of some of the basic facts.  A page may have a lot of followers, but if you are not seeing a lot of engagement on your page, you may have one of two problems: 1) You do not have the RIGHT followers and fans OR 2) Your message is not what your followers want to hear.  I am focusing on #1 here.

Attracting the right fans is crucial to a successful online presence for your company.  There are many companies out there who promise so many (usually thousands) of likes in a specific period of time(say, a month).  I would caution a business owner to beware of this.  Where are those likes and followers coming from? Find out!  Anyone promising you large quantities of fans like this is probably not getting you the fans your business needs to succeed online.  What good are all those followers if no one cares what you have to say?

Fan and Follower Quality Matters

A business owner should instead focus on the quality of leads.  Fewer leads with more engagement will allow your fans to spread the word about your business, services, and promotions through their likes, comments, and engagement with your page.  The  RIGHT quality likes are worth so much more than thousands of likes and no engagement.  You want to be speaking to your audience when you put out content, not hoping something sticks.  Having the right quality fans will allow you to grow your business online much more efficiently than having multitudes of fans who do not care what you have to say.

As someone who offers social media services, I have to educate business owners all the time on the importance of quality vs. quantity.  One of the first questions many business owners ask me is “How many “likes” can you get me?”.  It is not about how many likes – it is about the ones who really want to hear what you have to say!  Quality means so much more than quantity in building your fan base.  Keep this in mind the next time someone approaches you with visions of thousands of followers.  Make sure they are the RIGHT fans!