Chances are, you’re a social creature. You like people. And you want people to like you, too.

So how would you feel when someone says they like you but are too busy to say “hi”? Too busy to answer your calls? Too busy to acknowledge your existence? (That actually sums up my dating life before I met my wonderful husband.)

In short, being “liked” without any interaction feels yucky. And it doesn’t get you very far.

This brings us to your Facebook page. If you already have 500 or 1,000 fans, congrats! You might think your huge fan base will read all your updates, comment on all your hilarious memes, and share all your content with the world.

You might also think that the more likes you have, the better. You might even spend lots of ad dollars to get more page likes in the hopes of becoming the next social media king (or queen).

Unfortunately, this is wrong thinking. Here’s why:

1. You can’t buy love. Likewise, you can’t buy true Facebook fans. Sure, you can spend Facebook ad dollars on a “page like” campaign. But the people who respond to your ad and like your page probably also like a few hundred other pages. How special do you feel now?
2. If you could buy love, it would cost a lot. Thanks to Facebook’s algorithm, you’re lucky if at most 10% of your fans see your content in their newsfeed. What’s more, you’re lucky if 10% of the aforementioned 10% actually interacts with your content with likes, comments, or shares. In other words, only 10% of 10%—or 1%—of your fans are truly engaged. So if you spend $0.30 per page like in an ad campaign, you’re really spending $30.00 per engaged fan.
3. I can’t think of a third reason. I just like the number 3.

That said, I understand if your Facebook page has just 50 likes and you’re craving more. If you want to build your fan base—at least for appearance purposes—invite folks from your personal friends list to like your page. Some of your Facebook friends are probably real friends and will rally for you.

And if you insist on running a Facebook ad for more likes, stop after you have about 300 fans. (This is a decent number if you’re a local company.) Then focus your ad dollars on driving engagement. For instance, you can use the “boost post” ad feature to get more people to see your posts and interact more. Stay tuned for more advertising advice in an upcoming article!

Finally, remember that you can build page likes off of post likes … for free! Refer to tip # 1 in my Social Media Hacks article. This tip will rock your world. You’ll start building a community that is truly interested in you and your company. They will really love you.

So, when the social creature in you wants more likes, heed my advice. Your social life—and social media—will be better for it.