Here's why Facebook's Engagement Might Not Work for You Facebook's sponsored posts may get you likes, but does it really help your business?

By Rustam Singh

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

Twin Design / Shutterstock.com

If you run a business, then it is quite natural that Facebook is perhaps the first place you setup a page to promote it. Perhaps, the Facebook page may actually have been setup before the official website (or even the only platform) for fans to follow. It doesn't take too long to see, how desperately Facebook wants you to buy paid advertisements to push your content above others.

The trick seems often too tempting to resist. By keeping costs of paid promotional for your page or posts extremely low, everyone is tempted at one of time to promote their content actively. Yet somehow, this doesn't seem to work out in terms of actual profitability or engagement for your business – why's that?

Here are top four reasons why paid/sponsored posts on Facebook might not be the right idea for your business:

The likes you generate might be generated for like-farms

One of the infinite secretes the internet hides behind its shiny displays of content are click farms – where hundreds or thousands of individuals engage using sophisticated softwares that change their IP addresses among other variables to log in and out of thousands of accounts and basically spend their day liking, as well as, commenting on random pages that they see. While some shady pages uses these farms to instantly get 10,000+ likes overnight on their page, there have been reports of Facebook actually using the exact same protocol to increase your likes using the same method if you bought paid ads.

Are you really targeting those users that matter?

While your ad gives you very helpful options to target only users from a particular country and those that may have similar tastes, are you really? Some independent researcher have confirmed most dummy likes, and a vast majority of likes on virtually any page arise from random clicks or users that'll click like on basically anything and everything. That high number of likes probably isn't even close to the number of actual people interested in your content.

Engagement matters, not likes

What use are high amounts of likes if your engagement rate is extremely low? It's important to glance at the engagement rates of your pages regularly, because this number determines where all those likes actually evolved into. It's important you take one good look at the number and compare them to likes. What use are 10,000 likes if your engagement rate is less than 3%?

Facebook is just a stepping stone to your real website

Unless you actually sell products via Facebook, and if you do then you have another completely different ballgame to be worried about, your Facebook likes are literally worthless. Your posts may even go viral, shares crossing 6 digits and total likes run in millions, but it's all useless unless people actually adopt your goods & services. The priority should be getting users to engage more into you business, rather than just increase the number of likes and shares of your posts. Just remember, 10 active clients are better than 100 empty likes and shares on Facebook.

What's your experience with Facebook's paid promotional been like? Let us know in the comments o0n our official Facebook page Entrepreneur India

Rustam Singh

Sub-Editor- Entrepreneur.com

Tech reporter.

Contact me if you have a truly unique technology related startup looking for a review and coverage, especially a crowd-funded project looking to launch and coverage.

Business Ideas

70 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2025.

Business News

JPMorgan Shuts Down Internal Message Board Comments After Employees React to Return-to-Office Mandate

Employees were given the option to leave comments about the RTO mandate with their first and last names on display — and they did not hold back.

News and Trends

Ecozen Secures Over USD 23 Mn Debt Funding to Expand Climate-Smart Solutions

This round of investment will be directed toward scaling Ecozen's flagship solutions, including Ecotron, Ecofrost, and advanced motor control systems.

News and Trends

D2C Skincare Brand Foxtale Raised USD 30 Mn Series C Funding

Last year, the Mumbai-based brand raised USD 18 million (around INR 150 crore) in its Series B funding round, led by Panthera Growth Partners from Singapore.

News and Trends

India has the Potential to Host over 620 New Large GCCs by 2030: ANSR

The BFSI sector dominates GCCs in India, followed by Manufacturing and Retail/CPG. There is also a strong focus on digital technologies, with 85 per cent of GCCs engaged in digital commerce initiatives.

News and Trends

NeoSapien Secures INR 80 Lakhs on Shark Tank India 4 for AI Wearable

Founded in 2024 by Dhananjay Yadav and Aryan Yadav, NeoSapien aims to integrate AI into daily life through its wearable technology