If you were given the opportunity to spread your content far and wide, you’d do it, right? And social media is a perfect avenue for content promotion.

And here’s where Facebook comes in.

Over the last few years, you’ve probably noticed that fewer people are interacting with the post you publish on your Facebook page.

And while we understand that Facebook has become more picky so as to prioritize engaging content, we feel compelled to support our organic efforts with paid content.

That is why when Facebook introduced their “boost post” button, people were tempted to click, in hopes that they would get amazing results.

But the question is…

Is boosting posts on Facebook worth it?

In this blog post, we’re going to explore more about:

• What boosted posts are
• How they differ from Facebook ads
• The pros and cons of boosting posts
• A better way to boost your posts

Let’s dive in.

What Are Facebook Boosted Posts?

Facebook boosted posts are posts that live on your Facebook timeline which you convert into ads through the “boost post” button.

Any Facebook post can be turned into an ad. It could be your live video, funny meme, inspirational quote, or a case study blog post you just published (like the one in the screenshot below).

You can see that the boost post button is accessible, as it is right below each organic post. It’s the easiest route to promote your content.

You’ll be able to do the following:

• Get more post engagement (reactions, comments, and shares)
• Chat with potential customers
• Define your target audience
• Add a call-to-action button
• Choose from 3 placement options (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger)
• Set a budget

In less time, you can get your boosted post up and running. Seems like a great plan, right?

So, Is There a Difference Between Boosted Posts and Facebook Ads?

At first glance, one might assume that FB boosted posts and FB Ads are the same thing – especially when they show up in your Newsfeed. But they’re not.

The main difference is that Facebook ads are created inside Ads Manager and they offer more customization options.

Conversely, boosting a Facebook post to turn it into an ad can be done right from the post itself. However, the downside is that you have no full control over your boosted post.

For instance, you cannot choose some marketing objectives – for example, store traffic. That means if your purpose for running an ad is to get people through your doors, boosted posts won’t be a good option.

Facebook Boosted Post vs Ad

Still wondering which one is right for your business? Here are a few differences between boosted posts and Facebook ads.

	Facebook Boosted Posts	Facebook Ads
End result?	Get more post engagements, connect and chat with potential customers (via Messenger or Whatsapp Business)	Optimizes for specific business goals (access to all marketing objectives)
Placement options	Mobile and desktop News Feed, Messenger, Instagram	More flexibility – News Feed, Messenger, Instagram, Marketplace, Suggested Videos feed, Right Column, Stories
Ad scheduling	None – only duration and end date	Dayparting (running your ads during specific hours of the day) to maximize times your audience is most active.
Formats	Single image and video	Single image, video, carousel, slideshow, and more
Budget options	Simply enter a total budget. Facebook automatically determines your daily spend.	Advanced budget options. You can choose between daily and lifetime budgets.
Creative control	You can edit the CTA button, but not the image, video, and text	You can change all the details of your campaign inside Ads Manager

 

The Facebook boost post button may be an easy and time-saving way to increase the reach of your content. However, their settings and customization options are very limited compared to Facebook Ads

You give up many things with boosted posts…. From the ability to tweak your ad to use up all ad objectives.

Pros and Cons of Facebook Boosted Posts

You now know that boosted posts are very limited compared to Facebook Ads. But does that mean you should not boost your posts at all? Before you decide, we’ve listed some pros and cons below.

Pros

1. It’s super easy. No one can deny it – the number one reason why you’ll click that boost post button is because it’s very easy. That button is Facebook’s way of telling you that in a few seconds, people who haven’t seen your content will now be able to. And when they do, anything can happen, right?

2. Define your target audience. If you want to reach more people within a certain age group or location or have certain hobbies and interests, boosted posts can help you with that. You can also exclude people to refine your targeting.
3. Beneficial for high-performing posts. If you have posts that have generated a lot of engagement and are beneficial to your business, boosting them will increase your results.

Cons

1. You can’t target by language. While you can create a boosted post in a different language, you cannot target by language.
2. You can’t narrow down your audience. As previously mentioned, targeting in boosted posts is not as powerful as targeting inside your Ads Manager.
3. No daily budget. How does Facebook charge for boosted posts? Facebook will show you an estimate of how many people your ad reaches per day. The problem is that there’s no option for a daily budget. Also, you can’t decide when you get charged by Facebook.

4. Less likely to result in conversions and sales.

People MAY buy from you or sign-up for your free offer with your boosted post. But because your ad objectives are limited, and you can’t tweak your ads, your conversion rate could be lower.

How Can You Be Effective In Boosting Posts?

Don’t get me wrong, boosting your posts isn’t a bad plan. If you want a higher chance to get noticed and improve your engagement, boosted Facebook posts are much better compared to free posts.

You might be wondering: How can you maximize the results of a boosted post?

• Don’t boost unless you have a clear goal – What action do you want people to take in the end? A definitive goal will help you select an appropriate call-to-action button. Remember that your CTA button options are limited, so choose wisely.
• Pick what’s relevant – Only boost posts that speak for your business. If it leads people to another brand than yours, it’s not the best post to spend money on.
• Go into your Facebook Insights – Head over to your Insights section to check which posts have the highest engagement rate. You don’t want to boost anything that’s hasn’t engaged your audience.

A Much Better Way to “Boost” Your Content On Facebook

Facebook boosted posts have their own benefits. They appeal to entrepreneurs and solopreneurs who are just starting out with paid promotion.

I would say that they’re also a nice means of getting yourself familiarized with the whole Facebook advertising system. They give you better results if you’re trying to wade through Facebook’s organic reach decline.

But here’s the thing: Manually choosing the best posts (with high engagement) to boost is time-consuming.

What if you like to promote only those posts with a certain number of comments and reactions? What if you’re aiming to promote posts with a certain click-through rate?

Not only that, identifying the best posts gets harder if you’re looking to boost multiple posts at the same time.

Now pay attention:

There is a way to automate this entire process, and that is by using a tool called ConnectAutomate. ConnectAutomate does the heavy lifting for you in that it monitors your Facebook posts and turns the best ones into ads.

Wilco walks you through ConnectAutomate in this video:

All you need to do is set rules (if/then) inside ConnectAutomate. That way, it can automatically boost posts based on your desired:

• Number of posts you want to promote at once
• Posts from a specific time period (today to the past 90 days)
• Number or percentage of reactions, shares, comments, reach, and more

The best part? You don’t have to sacrifice your audience targeting. You’ll be able to target a custom audience, which means you get way better results than typical boosted posts.

Here’s more about ConnectAutomate.

Wrapping Up

Since organic reach has declined, you might end up paying for your content to get more exposure…

The boost post option may seem like an easy way to increase your exposure. However, it’s not always the best.  

While Facebook ads have all the features you need for a precise targeting and possibly higher conversions, there are also ways to maximize boosting – if you prefer boosting for its simplicity.

You can also take boosting to the “next level” with ConnectAutomate. This will remove the guesswork in selecting which best ads to promote, and help you save time and money.

How are you promoting your content on Facebook? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.