How to Use Facebook Fan Gate to Get New Likes

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A Fan Gate is essentially a filtering tool to ensure that different content is visible to different users, depending upon whether they have Liked a Page or not. In fact, the name itself is suggestive of the function. It is a barrier, to go beyond which, a user has to fulfill some criterion; in this case, Liking the Page. Therefore, a Fan Gate enables those who have ‘Liked’ a Page to see all its content, while those who have not, see only part of it.

Fan Gate is a free app available with several third party developers like iframe, woobox, pageyourself, etc.  You may also hire a coder to create a Fan Gate app for you on Facebook page, or develop it yourself. The latter, however, would require a basic understanding of coding; here’s a detailed tutorial that you may find helpful.

The most obvious question now is, how and why would users Like a Page if they cannot even see content? That’s where the following strategies come in:

Holding Facebook Contests

Gain without much pain is always very attractive, and this is exactly the mantra that most Internet users follow. It is then, no wonder, that Facebook contests are extremely popular.

A good idea to gain new Likes would be to hold a contest by creating a Facebook Landing Page, which can only be accessed if one Likes it. Those who do not Like the Page would only see the Fan Gate that advertises the Page, and only on Liking it would they be able to see the details.

Those interested in the contest would like the page so that they are considered eligible to participate.

Now, as per Facebook rules, ‘Like’ to participate is not acceptable. However, the ‘Fan Gate App’ allows businesses to find a way around this rule by making certain aspects of the page ‘for Fans only’.  So, you don’t have to say ‘Like Us to participate’, but still make sure that people can participate only if they have liked you.

Having Exclusive Offers

There is nothing more enticing than the promise of special offers that are shrouded in exclusivity. If one pairs their Fan Gate with the exclusive, promotional offers, people wishing to avail them would undoubtedly ‘Like the Page’ without any hesitation. However, here too, the Fan Gate content must be suitably impressive for users to feel that the promotional offers are exciting and lucrative.

Offering Exclusive Content

In the world of social media, there is nothing more important then content. If one has quality content to offer, users would have no qualms in Liking a Page.

Therefore, it is a good idea to offer interesting content including eBooks, videos, Mp3 and other downloadable content through landing pages that can only be accessed by Fans. That will ensure that new Likes come your way!

Share Promo Codes

Sharing a promo code for discount coupons for your online store or E-books (if you have created any) with your fans through the Fan Gate app is also a great way to attract more likes.  In addition to that, you also get to create an aura of exclusivity around your page.

Invest Time and Effort On The Landing Page

Spend time and effort in designing the landing page visible to non-fans. It should be such that it communicates the brand message and inspires people to like the page. For instance, let’s say you want own a nightclub and want to associate your brand with oomph, flirty fun and lot’s of color. Your landing page then should have pictures and graphics that resonate with your branding message.

Finally, to get the most out of the Fan Gate app, you should set aside a small budget at least for creating Facebook ad campaign about your offer for fans. You can start with a budget of as little as $30 and increase it if the ad campaign delivers results.

So, what do you think of Fan Gate App?

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Author: Vishal Gumber

Vishal is the founder of Appsquare.com.au, an app development company in Australia that creates innovative apps, provides part funding for selected app ideas and also helps app developers get funding through its network of Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors.

46 thoughts on “How to Use Facebook Fan Gate to Get New Likes”

  1. Sherryl, your site is really great! 🙂 You have some excellent content and impressive social media and comment stats. We should connect sometime, maybe see if we can help each other out in any way. Have a great weekend! Matthew

  2. Thanks for your suggestion. I owned a page and regularly post various contents on it but still get less likes. After using your tricks now i’m getting more likes than previous. Thank you again.

  4. I think fan gates are an excellent idea to choose your long term targets. Ofcourse it will help in filtering the right audience from the general mass of visitors. A very helpful tool indeed. Thanks for sharing Vishal.

  5. Facebook fan gates will not only help you gain new like s but will fetch you some potential clients too. Considering the effort a reader will put to get through that fan gate, you can be sure that you have got a potential client.

  6. Effort and daily posting on the Facebook page is required to create more fans for it

  7. Hi Vishal, Facebook fan gates are actually a good way to get genuine traffic, and you can be sure that the crowd your site is pulling likes your site. Contests, promo codes and and offers are another way of making the visitors come to your site repeatedly. They are actually very helpful.

  8. Hi Judy,
    Thanks for taking the time to weigh in on this. Years ago, I ran Facebook ads. It drove a lot of traffic to my landing page but I didn’t make one sale from it. I don’t believe that I even got an inquiry from it. That doesn’t mean it won’t work for you. Like and PPC advertising, you really have to track it to see if it’s working for you. Good luck with it!
    Sherryl Perry recently posted..Is Organic Search Traffic from Google Important to You?My Profile

  9. I haven’t tried Fan Gate though I believe this is a good app to use. It is like a tool to give a teaser to users who have not liked you and eventually get them to hit that “like” button.

  10. Hi Vishal,
    Your post really helped me to understand the How to Use Facebook Fan Gate to Get New Likes. It has great details and yet it is easy to understand.
    That’s what i was looking for. I will definitely share it with others.
    Thanks for sharing.

    1. Hi A.K.,
      Thanks for letting me know that you found Vishal’s article about Fan Gate apps to run contests on Facebook. When Vishal approached me with this topic, I thought it would be a nice fit for my blog. This is a strategy that I haven’t incorporated yet. I’m keeping it in mind for the future. I’d have to make more of a commitment to Facebook though. I don’t update my KeepUpWeb page as much as I should. I tend to share more on my personal page. It’s something that I need to think about and decide what I want to do.
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..Does Your Social Media Strategy include Twitter Direct Messages?My Profile

  12. Useful idea Sherryl.

    Will not try it since I am not able to do coding.

    By the way there is an outcry in Sweden about using contests to get likes. What is the difference between your suggestions Vishal and what is considered “fake” contests arranged by for instance Apple. Apparently there is no competition it’s only done to get likes. One person that warns about this is an expert on social media that travels with the Swedish prime minister.
    Catarina Alexon recently posted..Could your visual presentations be better?My Profile

    1. Great question Catarina! Fake contests are self defeating in many ways, so as a company I don’t see much benefit. You can get ‘Likes’ once, but if you are not offering Value or if your contest loses credibility, nothing stops people from ‘Unliking’ the page or blocking the updates.

      A Facebook Like is a means to ends like engagement and greater brand visibility. As a social media user, you can ‘Unlike’ a page if you think the contest is fake.

      As a business, organizing contests can work, but you have to follow-it up with interesting posts and perhaps new contests to keep the fans engaged.

      Hope that helped:)

  13. Hey Thanks for the important information. Now I’ll look at the FB Fan page to grab more attention there. Thanks again. 🙂

  14. This is a really good way to use social media to promote whatever it is you’re doing. There are so many people on Facebook these days using it for a variety of reasons and having a landing page is a good idea.

  15. This is very good advise and information. I had no idea. I need to seriously think about how I could and will approach this. Thank you for this and all the great suggestions. It just points out how there is much much to learn and having you as a resource makes that so much easier. 🙂

    1. Hi Susan,
      I’ve never created a Fan Gate app on my Facebook page (yet anyways). So, when Vishal proposed this topic, I thought it would be something that I could learn from as well as others. Personally, I will like a page to enter a contest or get a special promotion. So, it’s probably something I should do myself. 🙂
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..2 Tips on Using Social Media to Get Found OnlineMy Profile

  16. Hey Vishal,
    I never knew about FB fan gate. Yes I do heard about all things you discussed here, like contest, offers etc…
    But I`m confused how to create a landing page which is accessed only of they like? Using app?
    BTW informative post.

    ~@Khajamoin1

    1. Hi Khaja,
      To create a landing page you need to have basic coding knowledge, or your could hire a coder to create one for you. It’s not a very expensive process really.

      If you really want to do it yourself though, there are a number of free tutorials available on the web that share the html codes you can use to create simple landing pages.

      Yes, you would need to use the fangate app to make sure the your fans and those haven’t liked the page yet see different landing pages.

  17. I am first time visiting your blog and I like your style of writing and your topic selection.We all knows that Facebook is becoming a trending place to market your business.Your article help online business owner to provide right content to right reader and in increasing FB likes.

  18. Yep, that’s a great way to get more likes and more exposure.Thanks for sharing btw

    1. Michael,
      Fan Gate apps are fairly new to me (which is why I accepted Vishal’s guest post). I just checked Facebook’s rules for running contests/promotions and they have a rather lengthy list of terms. One of them is: “Promotions on Facebook must be administered within Apps on Facebook.com, either on a Canvas Page or a Page App.” So, I take it that asking someone to like your page to access your content is allowable but no one wants to incur the wrath of FB. 🙂 So, an app is a must.

      I found FB’s rules here: http://on.fb.me/WI4PzB. (They also state “We reserve the right to reject or remove Pages for any reason.” on this page.) Thanks for weighing in on this!

      1. Yeah, they like to put lengthy words in contracts and terms, don’t they (as in everyone :))

        Found it on

        “iii. You must not condition registration or entry upon the user taking any action using any Facebook features or functionality other than liking a Page, checking in to a Place, or connecting to your app”

        But as you said, better safe than sorry, I guess
        Michael Aulia recently posted..Philips Gets Out of the Consumer Electronics BusinessMy Profile

    2. To add a bit to Sherryl’s explanation. While you can’t ask people to like your page to participate in a contest, you can make only fans of your page eligible for a contest. This means, even though you are not saying ‘Like to participate’ you have made sure that only people who like or have liked your page can participate:)

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