Why Facebook Like Gates are Overrated

Facebook fan gates are overrated. There. We said it. And we don’t mind that they’ve been banned.

In some circles, such a statement is blasphemous, especially since they help so many company get likes. But let’s be honest here, what good is a like if you didn’t come by it organically? What incentive is there for someone to share your page, or your content, if it is something they never had any true interest in in the first place.

But let’s back it up here for a moment. Some of you are probably scratching your heads right now. What is a like gate (or fan gate, to some of you)? A like gate is, in essence, a tab that business owners can add to their Facebook page and run a contest or offer coupons and discount codes from. The catch? In order to enter the contest or gain access to the coupons and discount codes, participants have to like the page first.

If you didn’t already know what like gating is, then you probably aren’t too concerned that it is banned from Facebook starting November 5^th.

Why would Facebook ban such a successful program. It’s pretty simple really, and this statement from Facebook explains it best:

To ensure quality connections and help businesses reach the people who matter to them, we want people to like Pages because they want to connect and hear from the business, not because of artificial incentives.

Got that? What Facebook is saying, and we here at AIMS agree with, is that companies should be connecting with those who like their pages because of the products and services they offer; because the liker believes in it, not because you have a super rad deal that everyone wants, but will then either disregard or hide you once your purpose has been served.

Our advice? Don’t sweat the like gate ban. Instead, get creative and start connecting with your customers again.