Why You Should Think Twice About Boosting A Facebook Post.

6/12/2017

To Boost or Not To Boost For Facebook Ads?

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!!

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.