Does the thought of boosting a Facebook post seem to overwhelm you? Here’s a beginner’s guide to the basics.
Start with the essentials.
What is a boosted post, exactly?
In a nutshell, it’s a post that you publish on your Facebook Business page that you select to put money behind in order to reach a wider, specific audience.
Why should I boost a post?
When you boost your post, it can help ensure that it will appear in more news feeds and be seen by more users.
Who can I reach with boosted posts?
Thanks to Facebook’s Ad Manager, you will be able to target your audience with boosted posts in the same way that you target ads. This can make the boosted post’s feature especially useful if you are producing news-feed content that appeals to specific demographics.
How should I utilize boosted content differently from Facebook Ads?
This depends on your KPIs and goals. Boosted posts are best done when you’re trying to build your overall social presence, drive community engagement, promote brand awareness, and amplify posts that you want your desired community to see. If that’s the case, boosted posts are a great bet. Facebook Ad campaigns are most beneficial for when you are trying to hit a very specific goal, like drive a direct sale, or acquire an app download from a user.
How to create your first boosted post campaign.
- Select your objective options: Choose whether you want to get more people to react, comment, and share, or choose to connect with people to chat via messenger.
- Add a post button: 100% optional. You can choose to add a Shop Now or Learn More button to drive people to your website and beyond.
- Select your audience: You can go Automatic (people that Facebook’s data thinks will resonate with your post), or target-specific with several options—all multiple-choice style (shown below). If you choose to target a specific area or location, Facebook will evaluate how strong of an audience that is for you.
- Choose duration and budget: Try toggling different dollar amounts to see how many people the post would reach for different campaign durations. The tool will break down the cost per day for you.
Boost posts with clear CTAs to track your progress.
At the end of the day, you don’t just want to reach people on Facebook, you want to engage with them. One of the best ways to do that is to ensure you’re giving them a strong Call To Action (CTA). Check out the specific CTAs below to measure your success on a boosted post more effectively.
- Share a special discount or coupon code. If you know you’re going to boost a particular post, offer a unique discount code that only people on Facebook will be able to see. That way, you can check on how many redemptions were earned in comparison to the amount of audience members you reached.
- Create an event on Facebook. Do you have an upcoming event or promotion you want to highlight? You can create a Facebook Event to spread the word. It creates a location to house a quick description, dates and times, associated pages and hosts, and additional details. If you publish this event and boost it, you can specifically reach the audience you’re hoping will attend.
- Poll your community. These are quick and easy engagement-drivers that take little to no time for your audience, but help you know if they’re paying attention (and not scrolling past your post). Whether it’s asking what their favourite product or flavour is that you offer or asking them for input on a new idea, you’ll be able to see what’s resonating at a glance.
Still a little nervous about trying out your first boosted post? Here’s a step-by-step list of things to think about.