Solved: Niche Page Reach & Likes Ads (The Real Reason)

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out! Happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance on getting your niche business page off the ground. It sounds like you're thinking about things in a smart way, especially not wanting to spam your mates with irrelevant content. That's a good start. What you're asking about, finding the right audience with ads and those worries about organic reach, well, it’s a really common set of questions we get. It's a bit of a minefield out there with all sorts of advice floating around. We'll need to unpack a few common misconceptions right off the bat, particularly around running ads for "likes" and how Facebook's algorithm works.

You'll need to rethink your approach to "likes" campaigns...

Alright, let's talk about those "like" campaigns. You're right to be hesitant about inviting friends who won't engage. That's a sensible starting point. But, and this is a big but, running targeted ads specifically for page likes to find your audience isn't usually the way to go either. In my experience, these sorts of campaigns are pretty much always a huge waste of money. You'll get likes, sure, maybe even cheap ones, but those likes rarely, if ever, translate into actual customers or even meaningful engagement that helps your business.

Think about it: what's the actual business objective? Is it to have a high number next to your page name? Or is it to get people to visit your website, sign up for your service, buy your product, or get in touch? Most businesses need the latter. A page like is a vanity metric; it makes you feel good, but it doesn't pay the bills. The Facebook algorithm, or any social platform's algorithm for that matter, is designed to show people content they'll engage with. If someone likes your page because they saw an ad for "liking pages" (which often attracts people looking for something in return, or just clickers), it doesn't mean they're actually interested in your niche business or what you offer. They're just fulfilling the ad's objective.

We've run enough campaigns to see this play out time and time again. You can rack up thousands of likes for pennies, but then when you post organic content, those "likers" don't see it, or if they do, they don't engage. Why? Because they weren't the right audience in the first place. They were just people willing to click "like" for whatever reason, often with no real intent to buy or interact with your business beyond that initial click. It's like filling a shop with people who just wander in because the doors are open, but they have no intention of buying anything. You need real customers, not just foot traffic that doesn't convert. My advice would be to swerve likes campaigns entirely. Focus your ad spend on objectives that drive actual value, like website clicks, leads, or purchases.

To illustrate what I mean by the difference between vanity metrics and actual business value, have a look at this:

We'll need to look at how Facebook's algorithm actually works...

Now, onto your reservation about Facebook cutting your organic reach if they know you're willing to pay. This is another really common misconception, and frankly, it's just not how it works. Facebook doesn't punish you for running ads. In fact, if anything, they want you to run ads! Their whole business model is built around it. The idea that paying cuts your organic reach is a bit of an old wives' tale, often spread by people who haven't quite grasped how these platforms operate.

The truth is, organic reach for business pages, across most platforms, has been declining for years, for everyone, regardless of whether they advertise or not. Why? Because there's just so much content out there. The algorithm's job is to filter that content and show each user what it thinks they'll find most relevant and engaging. If you post something and your existing followers don't engage with it – they don't like, comment, share, or click – then Facebook takes that as a sign that the content isn't very interesting, and it'll show it to fewer people. It's a feedback loop.

The real issue isn't that Facebook 'punishes' you for paying; it's that if your initial audience (like those friends you mentioned, or those cheap 'likes' from a bad campaign) aren't engaging, your organic reach will naturally be low. Paid ads, when done correctly, actually help you find new, relevant people who will engage with your content and your page because they genuinely care about what you offer. That engagement, in turn, can sometimes give your organic reach a little bump amongst those newly found relevant followers. So, don't shy away from ads because of this fear. Embrace them as a tool to find the right people.

Here’s a simplified way to think about it:

I'd say you need to really drill down on your ideal customer...

So, if 'likes' campaigns are out and organic reach isn't magically 'cut' by ads, what should you do? Your instincts about wanting the 'right target audience' are spot on. This is where you need to spend your energy. The most crucial part of any successful advertising campaign, especially on social media, is understanding exactly who you're trying to reach. You need to develop a clear 'ideal customer persona'.

For a niche business, this is even more important. You're not trying to appeal to everyone; you're looking for that specific group of people who are genuinely interested in your unique offering. Start by asking yourself:

• -> Who benefits most from what I sell?
• -> What are their demographics? (Age, gender, location, income level etc.)
• -> What are their interests? What other pages do they like? What hobbies do they have? What publications do they read?
• -> What are their behaviours? Do they shop online a lot? Do they engage with certain types of content?
• -> What problems do they have that my niche business solves?
• -> What's their psychographic profile? What are their values, attitudes, and lifestyle?

Once you've got a really clear picture of this ideal customer, you can start translating that into Facebook's (or Instagram's) detailed targeting options. For instance, if you're selling handcrafted artisan candles, you wouldn't just target "people interested in candles." You'd go deeper: "people interested in 'home decor'," "sustainable living," "small businesses," "Etsy shoppers," "meditation," or perhaps even specific craft fairs or designer brands they might follow. This precise targeting is what makes your ad spend efficient. When the ad is seen by someone who genuinely cares, they're much more likely to engage, click, and convert.

Here's a little visual to help you map out that ideal customer:

You'll need to focus your ad spend on what really matters...

Okay, so now you've got a solid idea of your ideal customer. The next step, and this is where alot of people go wrong, is picking the right objective for your ad campaign. You mentioned running ads for likes earlier, and we've already covered why that's a dead end. Instead, you need to tell Facebook exactly what action you want people to take that actually helps your business. Don't be afraid to be specific. If you want people to visit your website, choose the 'Traffic' objective. If you want them to buy something, choose 'Conversions'. If you want them to fill out a form, choose 'Lead Generation'.

For a niche business, your goals might be a bit different from a big e-commerce store. Maybe you want website