FAQ: Do High Follow Counts on Facebook Unlock Hidden Features?

Remember when you played video games, and reaching a certain level or beating that one boss gave you special powers or abilities? It was a rewarding concept. The higher you go in the game, the more “rewards” you earn. When it comes to social media marketing, often brands obsess over increasing the like and follow counts on their pages. But what does having high follower counts really mean? Is it like video games, where you are granted more power the higher you go? Here, we’ll answer that question in regard to high follow counts on Facebook.

The short answer

If you’re imagining that getting say, 1,000 page follows on Facebook will be like reaching a level in a video game, after which a hidden gem appears on the screen for you—sorry. As far as we know, there are no tangible “prizes” or hidden features that you get from high follow counts on Facebook. The most you may get in the way of immediate gratification is a “Congratulations for reaching 1,000 Page Likes!” from the platform itself.

The good news—there are benefits of having high follow counts on Facebook, but they may just not be as obvious on the surface. More on that in a minute.

10,000 followers on Instagram

Unlike Facebook, Instagram (owned by Facebook) does have built-in bonuses for pages that garner at least 10,000 followers on their pages. This is the instant, tangible gratification we talked about above.

The most notable for business page purposes is that getting to 10,000 likes on Instagram unlocks a “swipe up to link” feature on Instagram stories. It allows users to swipe up on a page’s story post to directly access the business’ website, blog, email sign up list (or wherever the business chooses to link to).

The benefits of having high follow counts on Facebook

Switching gears back to Facebook—don’t be discouraged by the lack of a promised reward. The rewards do exist—you just have to know what to look for!

Higher chance for post engagement

More eyeballs on your Facebook content means there’s a better chance that people will engage with said content. Engagement can mean post reactions, positive reviews, or comments or direct messages inquiring about your product or service. These engagements in turn make your content visible to a larger audience.

Increased credibility

When people see a high follow count on a page, herd mentality often sets in. “If that many people are following a page, maybe I should be too!” Pages with strong followings automatically appear more credible to the everyday social media user.

Gain more from insights

The more activity you have happening on your page, the bigger the benefit you will get from using Facebook’s Insights tool. Facebook Insights allows you to track a significant number and type of statistics related to consumer interaction on your business page. This information can in turn aid you in crafting effective marketing campaigns and strategies.

A word of caution

Don’t misinterpret. While we did just name several benefits to having a high number of followers on your business’ Facebook page, that doesn’t mean you should go crazy trying to collect page likes in illegitimate ways. In other words, don’t buy likes! Buying likes will hurt you more than it will help you, as pages that get caught doing so can be actively penalized. Also, non-quality followers won’t get you very far. It’s true that 50 human, organically-attracted followers are better than 1,000 robot and/or spam ones.

Summary

High like counts on Facebook do not earn you extra lives or the power of invisibility, but they can make a difference when it comes to your page engagement. Just remember to always prioritize quality over quantity, as page likes alone are not a measure of success.

McNutt & Partners is a full-service advertising and digital marketing agency. Contact us today for your marketing needs! Call 334-521-1010, or visit our contact page.