On Facebook and Instagram, there’s a misconception that the more likes, shares and comments you have, the more your business is going to grow. But, that’s not necessarily the case.

Why having more followers, likes and comments on social media doesn’t equal growth

What’s your real goal?

The first thing to think about when setting up Facebook and Instagram marketing campaigns is the end goal.

Having a lot of comments, followers and shares can be exciting and fun. But ultimately, the goal isn’t necessarily to have 1,000 likes; it’s to generate $1,000 in sales.

Make sure everything about your campaign, from the strategy and messaging to the targeting, is designed with your ultimate objective in mind. Focus on your real goal, and don’t get caught in the weeds chasing vanity metrics.

Don’t waste your energy on clicky users

When you use strategies focused on getting likes and engagement, you’re really targeting clicky social media users. Clicky users are social media users who are highly active users most likely to engage.

While clicky users are great if you want more likes, likes don’t usually translate into sales, which is why they aren’t necessarily the audience you really want if your goal is to get people to come to your store, make an online purchase, schedule an appointment, etc.

The truth is that the vast majority of people who make a purchase do so without ever liking or commenting on the brand’s social media post.

Think about your own social media usage. Which posts are you liking and commenting on when you’re on social media? Probably all of your friends, your family, etc. Most likely, you’re not really engaging with many brands, even if you are about to buy one of their products.

Not only are clicky users unlikely to convert, it’s typically five times more expensive to target clicky users than it is to target the right users.

Targeting clicky users is more expensive because lots of brands want to have more likes and comments, and they are all targeting these types of users. And, since only about 10% of social users are considered “clicky,” it’s a highly competitive audience to target.

All of that, and at the end of the day, targeting clicky users doesn’t even generate sales!

Because clicky users are more expensive, you might think that maybe they drive more results in terms of sales. That’s actually not the case.

A Nielsen study shows that the cost per conversion and cost per acquisition are actually higher when targeting this group. Strategies focused on page likes or post engagement don’t drive a good return on investment when you’re looking at cost per conversion or cost per acquisition.

Think about strategies that can help you achieve your goal while at the same time increasing your brand awareness and getting some of that engagement that you’re looking for.

More likes don’t mean more sales

There’s a study from Harvard Business School that found that if somebody liked the content of a brand, their purchasing did not increase. In other words, an increase in likes did not lead to an increase in sales.

When you’re using campaigns that are focused on just vanity metrics, the results you get will be equally as shallow You’re going to see an increase in likes, but what you won’t see is an increase in sales.

Instead, you need to use other strategies on Facebook and Instagram to increase sales.

How to build a social media marketing strategy for your business that works

Unless your end goal is to get more profile views or likes, don’t waste your money on boosting your ads.

Also, consider more meaningful metrics for success, like brand recall and conversions, and choose the right objective for your campaign.

The brand awareness objective, for example, targets users that are more likely to show interest and to take action with your brand. The video views objective is also good because that targets users who are more likely to want to watch your video.

The landing page view objective is another awesome objective because it targets people who are likely to actually visit your website. Once they visit your website, they’re in your retargeting list and they’re seeing your content, making these campaigns even more powerful.

The website’s conversion objective can also be powerful because it targets users who actually want to purchase your product or services.

If you’re targeting users who are likely to take these actions, don’t expect a lot of engagement, at least not at first. It’s nice if you end up getting some engagement, but don’t expect it or hang your hat on it. Focus on the end objective.

While you’re doing that, you’re going to get more likes and comments eventually. That’s the beauty of this. It’s a win-win. Whereas, when you focus on the engagement objectives, you’re likely to only get engagement.

Learn how to get more out of social media marketing. See our plans and pricing.