Whether you’re the social media manager for a major brand or you’re just trying to get your own business off the ground, it can be tempting to buy Facebook likes. After all, it just takes so darn long to build up followers organically. There’s all the posting, replying and upkeep — and it’s a lot to handle when the weight’s all on your shoulders.

I get it. And I feel you.

But remember the old adage, “You get what you pay for?” In this case, it totally rings true. If you pay $10 for 1,000 likes, you’re going to get likes from fake users, sock puppet accounts, and people who will never, ever, ever buy from your business.

In the end, it’s just a waste of money. And what’s worse? It can actually hurt your Facebook performance in the long run.

FREE GUIDE: Facebook Audience Targeting & Content Performance

How to Buy Facebook Likes

Let’s delve into the big question: Exactly where and how do you buy Facebook likes?

There are hundreds of sites out there that promote buying Facebook followers—and for cheap.

The process is simple. You can pay for likes from sites like Buy-Cheap-Social.com, Boostlikes.com, or even Fiverr, which has dozens of providers who will bump your Facebook likes for just 5 dollars. In a few days, your page’s following goes up by thousands.

But the easy way to gaining more likes on Facebook isn’t necessarily the best route.

Why Buying Facebook Likes is Bad Business

There are lots of reasons why buying Facebook likes is bad for business, but they all boil down to one thing: Those new likes your buying? They’re either not real, people, they’re not active accounts, or they’re not users who would be interested in what you have to offer.

No matter which category your purchased likes fall into, they can hurt your:

EdgeRank – EdgeRank is the algorithm with which Facebook measures your engagement — how many people interact with your post, like it, comment on it, or share it with others. A high EdgeRank means you’re offering good content that your followers enjoy or find useful. A low one? That means your content is lacking, and Facebook will only show it to a very small portion of your followers (if any). Unfortunately, purchased Facebook followers do nothing but hurt your EdgeRank. Highly unqualified followers or even outright fake accounts, they rarely interact with posts, even on pages they “like.”

Organic Reach – Your page’s organic reach is directly tied to your EdgeRank, so when your EdgeRank suffers, so does the total reach of your page. Your content isn’t displayed to many followers, and therefore your followers’ social circles don’t see your page in their feeds either. It’s a slippery slope to social invisibility.

Lead Generation – At the end of the day, the goal of your Facebook efforts is to draw in new customers and sales, right? Buying Facebook likes does absolutely nothing to further this. While it might give you an uptick on your page’s likes, it in no way means your exposure or reach is any better, and it definitely doesn’t mean there are more potential customers for you to connect with. Put simply: Buying likes doesn’t necessarily hurt your lead generation efforts, but it does take resources away from other efforts that will help them — like Facebook advertising, for example, which can be super targeted to hit your ideal demos.

Authenticity/credibility – Today’s customers value authenticity and transparency — and they can spot a fake from a mile away. What do you think it says about your brand if they spot hundreds of fake likes on your latest post? Or they notice your following go up by 2,000 in a three-day period? It can damage your reputation for sure.

Experts Insight on Buying Facebook Likes

“We’ve tested ‘page like’ campaigns before but if you look at the revenue, it doesn’t have any correlation,” Casey Edwards, Social Marketing Manager at CPC Strategy said.

“Increasing page likes does not necessarily mean you’re going to increase organic reach.”

“Unfortunately, some retailers will aim to increase the number of likes on their page without knowing how that actually impacts (or in many cases) doesn’t impact their business.”

Everyone wants a bigger following, but don’t give into temptation to buy Facebook likes. If your organic likes aren’t happening fast enough and you need to speed up your traction, invest in Facebook advertising instead.

Just a few dollars can bring in hundreds or even thousands of new likes in a couple of hours. And the best parts? Those followers will be qualified.

So the moral of the story? Advertise for likes. Don’t buy them.