A lot of brands focus on followers or page likes as a metric for success, but is this a metric that we should be focussing on?
Back in the day Facebook 'page likes' was an important metric. This was because if you 'liked' a page the algorithm would likely show you posts from that page. This was also back in the day when organic reach was real, which feels like it was back when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
With changes to the algorithm, nowadays liking and following a Facebook page doesn't ensure that this is visible in a user's feed. In fact, Facebook has phased out the page likes counter as a metric that is displayed on pages.
With this in mind should brands be focussing on Facebook followers as a metric of success? In my opinion: no.
What's the tangible business reason to gain Facebook followers? Organic reach from followers has significantly declined as pay-to-play has risen as the only true way to guarantee any tangible reach. So with this out of the equation what's the tangible business outcome of more followers?
Assuming that page likes equate to an endorsement of your brand is simply not accurate in modern social media marketing - people will connect with your brand because they like your content and think it's relevant, but re-engaging those people will likely require advertising dollars.
Another assumption is that a page like equates to sales. The consumer purchase journey is long, fragmented and no longer a linear path to purchase. Of all the consumer touch points and indicators of purchase intent a page like would have to amount to the most irrelevant of all the intent signals.
Moving away from vanity metrics towards value metrics will ensure you are investing in the future of your business in a tangible way.