If you are cruising along in your business and have started to play around with Facebook Ads you may have heard of the Facebook Business Manager & Ads Manager. Now if you are wondering, "why  would I need the Business and Ads Manager when I've gotten this far without it?"- then this post is for YOU!. At first it can feel a little intimidating but don't be afraid because it is definitely worth figuring out if you and your business are ready for it! 

First let's start with the basics. Facebook is broke into 4 parts:
1. Facebook (most common part) - Where you browse your Facebook feed.
2. Business Manager - Gives you control of your Facebook and allows for an external team to work with your Facebook Business Pages, Groups or Apps.
3. Ads Manager - Allows you to better control ad payment options, manage objectives, analyze outcomes & insights for your ads.
4. Power Editor - Is for larger, more advanced advertisers who want to create, edit and publish multiple ads at once and have precise control of their campaigns (Facebook).  

But why do I need the Business & Ads Manager? 
1. You can run and track your ads
2. Manage assets such as your Pages and Ad Accounts
3. Add an agencies or marketing partners to help manage your business. For example, you may be interested in hiring a social media manager or VA to help with your Business Page and ads.
4. It's separate for your personal profile so you don't have to worry about mixing personal and business content on your Facebook.
5. Manage multiple Ad accounts and Facebook Assets
6. More in depth report and insights into your audience and advertising outcomes.
7. It's FREE and available to everyone
8. Helps curb Facebook scrolling and lesson distraction!

As a social media manager, both the Business and Ads Manager make it possible for me to work with your Facebook Pages or Groups while you still keep the ultimate control of your account. However, I do want to warn you, that it may change the way you manage your Facebook Business Page. 

When you try access your page you via Facebook.com you will see your business page listed under the "Business Manager" vs "Your Pages" (see the image below). What this means is that to access your Business page you will have to do so through the Business Manager vs Facebook.com.  

In the Business Manager your Page will look exactly the same but the color is grey vs blue. (See the image below.) Everything is still the same but it has a little different look,  you don't get distracted by your Facebook Feed, you can hire help and still maintain your accounts control AND you have WAY more options for ads and insights. 

​Where this gets inconvenient is if you post to your Business Page off of your mobile device. You no longer will have access to your Business Page via Facebook Mobile App. Now I do a lot of posting via the desktop so this isn't really a problem for me but if you use mobile it can be frustrating when you are sharing content via Facebook Mobile. I get around this by using the Facebook Pages App and my desktop. You can also share the post in a message to yourself then grab the URL and schedule it or share it from your desktop or the FB Pages Mobile App. 

It's also important to note that if you use the ads manager you can use the FB Ads App to manage your ads. One reason I really like using these two apps and the Business Manager is the fact that I don't get distracted with scrolling when I go into them. I get right to my business and don't mess around with the millions of distractions that is Facebook!! 

If you are not ready to give up your mobile access you may want to think twice about setting it up. The Facebook Mobile App access is a problem for some as they like its convenience.  Admittedly, it took some getting used to but now that I've made the switch I love it. Also, I am a social media manager so I am part of many different business' Facebook Pages, Groups and Ad accounts. I definitely recommend using it if you are running a lot of ads or looking for someone to manage your accounts. For more info about the Ads Manager and how to be more efficient with your ad spending make sure you read this post.  

If you are still interested in the Business and Ads Manager, ask yourself these three questions before you set-up the account:
1. Do you have more than 1 person working on your business marketing or managing your current Facebook or Instagram business presence?
2. You manage multiple Facebook or Instagram accounts - Facebook Pages. Instagram Accounts or Ad accounts?
3. You are wanting to grow your business and are considering hiring external help.

So, now that you know some of the pros and cons to using FB Business and Ads Manager you can go and set-up your own accounts!! It's not that difficult to set-up, just head on over to the two links mentioned below and Facebook will walk you through it!! 

Facebook Business Manager

Facebook Ads Manager

And if you're still not convinced, don't take my word for it, check out this blog post by Buffer for a more in depth overview of the Ads Manager.
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Once you have set-up these two accounts and want to Boost a post the "right" way head on over and check out my newest post that explains how to effectively boost a post on the Ads Manager! ​

When clients come to me for help with their Facebook strategy I hear this all the time, "Why wouldn't I just boost an existing Facebook post? It's easy, fast and convenient to do. I am too busy to create a full blown ad and I have a great post that I can just boost. AND, Facebook says that for $26 I can reach almost 5000 people close to me!" (Insert sarcasm here and a little eye roll.)

Usually a couple weeks later or after they have boosted a few posts I am told that "Facebook advertising doesn't work!" Sound familiar?! The thing is, Facebook advertising can actually be very effective - if you are doing it right.

The main reason that you should think twice about boosting an existing Facebook post is because you cannot control the outcome nor choose your goal. Facebook does allow you to choose your audience and tells us that we can reach up to XXXX number of people for just a few dollars.  The problem, however, when you boost a Facebook post is that Facebook is just trying to reach those people and get a reaction in some way, shape or form. Facebook actually considers ANY kind of engagement a win even if it's not on the post you are boosting. See why this is a problem? 

When you spend money on your Facebook ads YOU should have the control over not just who sees your ad but what that ad objective is. The "why" when you run a Facebook ad is HUGE. Facebook needs to know what YOU want the ad to accomplish. So while boosting a post is super easy and there is a couple occasions when it's ok to boost it is not an efficient use of your $$$. And if I am spending money on an ad I definitely need to have control over it!!
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What happens when you boost a post VS create an ad?
Say you set up an ad objective for conversions, meaning you want people that see your ad to "do" something, like sign up for your newsletter, Facebook will not only put it in front of your targeted audience they will also try to put it in front of the people in your target audience that are more likely to convert because of past behaviour on Facebook. WOW! Believe it or not, Facebook actually wants your ads to be successful - so you will come back and spend more money!!

Now if this was a boost on an existing post you might get this ad in front of a tonne of people and have great reach and/or impressions as well as some likes BUT getting in front of those people that are more likely to "convert" is a gamble because you haven't TOLD Facebook that is what you want it to do. It will see the boost as successful because you have gotten some engagement and people seen your post but as we all know that doesn't mean the ad "worked" hence you are throwing money at the wall and hoping it will stick! 

There are however, a couple reasons to just Boost a post. These include:
1.  If you are new to ads, and do not yet use the Ads Manager
2. Are only spending a few dollars ($5-$10)
3. Want to create some social proof to an add prior to running a full blown ad campaign
4. You need to boost something quickly and from your mobile

Now fear not friends, you do not need to create a full ad campaign every time you want to just boost an existing post. There is a way to boost a post and still control your objectives BUT you need to do it through the Facebook Ads Manager.

​* Please note that this is only if you are not using the Facebook Business Manager and Ads Manager. I recommend using the Business Manger but not everyone likes it because you do not have access to your Facebook Business page on Facebook Mobile. If you like to share posts to your business page via your mobile vs your desktop please note that it is a little more tricky. If you want to learn more about setting up the Business Manager and Ads Manager for your Facebook Business Page please read this blog post first!

Why would you boost through the Ads Manager then versus just creating an ad campaign? Social Proof. Social proof is when social media users assume credibility because of the popularity of a post, page or group. If a page has 10, 000 likes people give it more credit and assume credibility than a page with 200 likes. It's human nature to assume that something that is more popular or known is "better". Now these likes may have been bought or may be spam but that doesn't matter, a page, post or group with more likes, comments, followers and shares gets more "street cred" in social media. So why not use that to your advantage? If one of your posts is doing well organically and is resonating with your target market take advantage of that by "boosting" the post and make it an ad. 

So now you know when to click "boost" and when to use the ads manager. The beautiful thing is that using the Ads Manager is actually quite simple as well. Just a couple extra steps but not near as detailed as creating an ad. You do not need to create the copy or creative as it's already done on the post! ( Quick Tip:make sure that when you want to boost via the Ads Manager that your post is exactly as you want it because you cannot change it.)

To get started follow these super simple instructions!! It's as easy as 1, 2, 3, 4!
1. On your Home feed, click on the Ads Manager. 
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2. Click on All Tools then select Page Posts.

3. Check off the post that you want to "boost" and in the Actions menu choose "Create Ad". 

4. Create your ad!

That's it. Now you can use a boost a post with control of your objective and target audience. If you haven't already set-up your Ads Manager I can help you with that by reading this post. 

For more help with Facebook Ads or social media support book a Free Discovery Call with me! :)