Facebook announced this week that they would be making adjustments in the way in which they count the amount of likes on the millions of business pages that reside on the on social network. The change will likely result in a decrease in likes for most businesses on Facebook. While the initial reaction is to be disappointed in the loss of those hard earned page likes, the purpose for restructuring how likes are counted is meant to make it easier to market and advertise on the social network in the future.  

The reduction in likes will be a result of Facebook removing them from accounts that are inactive, deactivated, or “memorialized.” This will give businesses a more realistic picture of how they are performing while providing them with up-to-date insights about the people who actually follow their page. The change will make it easier for businesses to find people who are similar to those that follow them. In addition to the reduction of likes, businesses may also notice that comments which have been generated from deactivated or memorialized accounts have been removed.

For business page administrators who base their success not on post reach or engagement, but solely on the number of likes that their page receives in a given period of time, the change may be a bit shocking. However, they should keep in mind that Facebook is filtering out these likes and comments to make it easier to reach consumers or potential clients. Only a small percentage of those who like a page actually see the corresponding business’ posts within their newsfeed. With that said, simply accruing likes will not ensure your business Facebook marketing success in the long term.

According to Facebook, the change will begin to take place on March 12. The decrease in likes may not occur immediately but within the next few weeks. Like any change that takes place on Facebook, businesses will simply have to adjust. While there isn’t anything that administrators can do to keep their likes, being aware of Facebook’s ever-changing landscape will allow your business to see as much success as possible on the social media network.

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