Unsure whether you should boost your Facebook (or Instagram) post?
I’m sure you’ve seen it a few times before, the tempting 'Boost Post' button which promises that for just a few pounds you can increase the reach of your post.
Before you do, it can be helpful to know what a boost will achieve.
Using the paid part of Facebook allows you to optimise for a business goal, so you’ll get better results by choosing the right one.
First, you need to let Facebook know what your marketing objective is. e.g. do you want more people to visit your website or do you want people to watch your new video?
Selecting the right Goal
When you click on boost, you’ll see there is an option at the top to select your Goal.
NB: the goal options available can vary on each post.
If you want to get more engagement, Facebook will find the people who are most likely to comment, like or share your post. It’s worth having a think about your post first, does it already encourage engagement? Are you asking questions? Are you using a call to action?
If you want people to message you about your product or service, to ask questions or to book a call, you can select get more messages.
Get more video views will show your post to the people who are most likely to watch your video.
Do you want more people to visit your website? If you want them to simply visit the website to have a look around or read a blog, then you can choose to boost. But if you want them to take action when they get there e.g. download your new lead magnet, then boosting probably isn’t the right option for you.
It’s likely you’ll get better results creating an ad campaign with a Traffic or Conversions objective.
When would you choose to create an ad campaign instead?
In most cases, it's likely that creating an ads campaign is a better use of your budget. And I'm not just saying that because I'm an ads manager! When you're spending money on marketing, you want to be sure you're getting the best bang for your buck.
When you run a campaign, there’s a larger selection of objectives available, allowing you to optimise for brand awareness, engagement, conversions and lead generation etc and many more.
You also have more control over how your ad will look. You can test out different images, headlines and CTA buttons so that you can work out which options get you the best results. This level of detail and testing isn't available when boosting posts.
Ad campaigns let you create super-targeted audiences so that your ads are shown to the right people and you can exclude the people who aren’t relevant to your product or service, which makes for a highly effective campaign.
Another bonus is the detailed reporting you find in Ads Manager. If your campaign isn’t delivering the results you want, the data will show you where adjustments need to be made, giving you a better chance of optimising your ads.
So the next time you think about putting money behind a post, I encourage you to think about your end game, what do you want to achieve? Want more advice on running Facebook ads? Drop me a line hello@claireshelley.co.uk or leave me a question below.
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