Why You Shouldn't Boost Posts

Boosting posts is most business owners go to tool on Facebook- it’s quick to access and simple to set up, but is it the best tool to utilise? The short answer - no. The objective of boosted posts doesn’t usually align with the business outcomes you might be hoping for, they are really only worth it if your goal is to purely build social media engagement.

What are Boosted Posts on Facebook?

A Boosted Post is an ad created from a Facebook post that already exists on you page with the goal to increase the reach of this post. You may also reach new people who could be interested in your Page or business, but don't currently follow you.

4 Reasons why you Shouldn’t Boost Posts

Boosting posts on Facebook is relatively simple, press the boost button and you're practically ready to go. However, unless you are significantly lucky, the extra reach your posts receive from boosting is unlikely to make the impact on your business you intend as boosting posts doesn’t make the full use of the Facebook advertising system.

1. Boosted Posts Offer Limited Audience Targeting Options

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When you boost a post you are left with limited options to customise your audience. Which means you aren’t able to reach the most relevant audiences or attract the right users to accomplish your business goal. You don’t have the ability to link to a specific page on your site, create custom audiences or control when/ where the ad is shown. When you choose to advertise your business it is crucial that you are delivering your ads in the right places and at the right time, with Boosted Posts this just isn’t possible. You are still able to target by location, age and gender - however, with a Boosted Post the location targeting is extremely misleading. For example, if you select East Sussex as the location you would like to target, this includes:

• People who live in East Sussex
• People who recently were in East Sussex
• People who are traveling to East Sussex

As a general rule, if you own a business in East Sussex you would want to target your audience to only people who currently live in East Sussex.

2. Boosted Posts Focus on Vanity Metrics and Engagement

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Boosted Posts focus on “boosting” the visibility of a single post with the aim of getting as much engagement as possible. This is fine if this is your goal, but it is important to note that the people that like and comment on your posts aren't necessarily the people who are actually going to buy from your business or use your services. Engagement alone is not going to lead to conversions or increased sales.

3. Lack of Objectives

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When boosting a post you get to choose from only three basic objectives, however within Facebook Ads Manager you get to choose from what was thirteen objectives to now six simplified objectives with different metrics that can help you reach a specific business goal. Depending on the approach you choose, the metric will vary. Whichever the metric is, it will be clearly aligned with the chosen objective. These relevant measurements provide clear, actionable insights - which offers further long-term success. The option to choose from a diverse range of objectives allows you to focus your campaign and helps Facebook optimise your ad for the specific actions and results you want to see.

4. Your Post isn't Designed to be an Ad

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The post you created as a general feed post and then decided to boost isn't designed to be an ad! The ad creative and body text are not optimised to achieve your goal. Facebook Ads Manger allows you to engage with your audience in the best way possible with a range of ad creative options, from video ads, single image ads, carousel ads and more - each with specially curated text, headlines, call to actions and links.

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Why you Should use Facebook Ads Instead

The lack of targeting, customisation, and measurement capabilities means the effectiveness of Boosted Posts is severely limited. Facebook ads work a little different to boosting - they are created and managed within Facebooks Ad Manager.

Facebook Ads make a superior choice over boosting, with Ads Manager offering better targeting, more data, and additional objective options. You can use a campaign objective that aligns with your business goals. You are also offered more control over:

• Specific ad objectives
• Advanced targeting on who sees your ad
• Better placement options on where your ad is seen
• More creative control on what your ad looks like
• How your budget is managed
• The ability to edit settings whilst the ad is running
• Managing multiple campaigns, ad sets and ads

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How Fountain Digital can Help

Are you ready to take a step back from boosting and dive into the world of Ads Manager? We can help! Don’t go at it alone - with the right team behind you, you can achieve your goals by getting your ads in front of the right people. Get in touch today to see how we can help.

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