Boosting Facebook Posts VS Using Facebook Adverts
Katie Batchelor
With over two billion people using Facebook and Instagram each month, these platforms are providing your business with a massive audience ready and waiting to hear about your products and services.
However, there is more than one way to reach them… But, what’s the most effective way… boosting posts or targeted ads?
A lot of our clients when asked about their advertising strategy respond with something along the lines of “I already advertise on Facebook; I’ve boosted a few posts and they’ve had great engagement!”
Boosting posts is wasting money. It is not advertising.
Here are three reasons why you shouldn’t be boosting your Facebook or Instagram posts:
1. Boosted posts are less targeted than adverts
Targeting the right audience is key to generating leads and converting them to sales from Facebook. However, boosted posts only provide very basic segmentation and targeting filters. This means that your posts won’t always be seen by the most relevant audience. .
2. Boosted posts ROI isn't easily measurable
With a boosted post, you won’t have a Facebook conversion tracking pixel installed onto your website so there is no easy way to tie any website activities back to any specific boosted post on your businesses Instagram or Facebook.
3. Boosted posts won't achieve specific goals
It’s so easy to boost a post and see its engagement doubling… However, it’s equally as easy to boost the post without considering why you’re doing this.
Remember, every part of your marketing should be linked to an objective and a purpose.
If it’s to get more engagement… what is the purpose of this engagement?
Before boosting a post, think about what goal it is going to help you achieve and if it’s specific enough.
So, instead of boosting posts,start using Facebook Ads Manager to target your audience instead.
Here are three reasons why you should use social media adverts instead of boosting posts:
1. Adverts have more targeting capabilities and control than boosted posts
Facebook ads allow you to target prospective customers more precisely and reach conversion objectives. The ad centre gives you the ability to create overlapping audience types and lookalike audiences. E.g. if your business page on Facebook doesn’t have a large following, Facebook’s Lookalike Audience capabilities is a great way to help you find audiences which are similar to the one which is already engaging with your products and services.
Facebook ads also let you choose where exactly your ads will be displayed. I.e. on Instagram stories, mobile/desktop news feeds etc. Equally, by using ‘ad scheduling’, you are able to turn your ads on and off throughout a specified timeframe and on a schedule, which suits your marketing needs.
2. Adverts ROI are measurable
With Facebook ads, you can use conversion tracking. Once you have installed the Facebook Pixel, you will be able to track activity derived from your Facebook ad. So, if you want to target people who have clicked on a specific link, you are able to do so with customer conversion tracking.
3. Adverts allow you to retarget
With Facebook ad manager, you can target ads to custom retargeted audiences which is going to lead to more conversions than if you were to continue boosting posts.
Although Facebook ads are simple to use, they are one of the most misused and underutilised marketing tools out there.
Remember: before you create any live adverts, carefully consider how they fit into your overall marketing strategy and objectives.
Still unsure of how to get the best results for your small business on social media? Speak to us about social media marketing!
Get more engagement on your instagram posts by reading ‘Instagram Hacks 2020 – Use These Tips for More Engagement’.
