Are you boosting posts on Facebook and Instagram but wondering where all your money’s going?
Maybe you’d like to run ‘proper ads’ but are worried you don’t have the budget?
It used to be that the boost button was just about the best possible way to waste a ton of money on Facebook. But, these days, the targeting options are better and some of the biggest brands on the planet regularly boost posts as part of their overall Facebook ads strategy.
Let’s look at some of the pros and cons of boosting so that you can decide what’s right for you.
When boosting might be a good idea
When you’re a new business
Boosting is a good way to let the locals know you’re here as quickly, simply, and cheaply as possible by getting more eyeballs on your content. But remember, if you want those customers to actually take an action, such as sending you a message, visiting your website or enquiring about your services, boosting a post may not be the best option for this (I explain why below).
If you haven’t got a website or landing page
If you don’t have your marketing strategy completely sorted yet, but want to communicate with a wider audience on your social media channels, boosting is a good way to get more eyeballs on your brand without sending them to your website or landing page.
When you have a seasonal product or service
Boosting posts can drive some traffic to your website in between ad campaigns or at quieter times of year when you don’t want to run a proper campaign. These visitors won’t necessarily be the people most likely to buy, or in the market to buy, but they’re people who are showing an interest in your business.
When you’ve got a tiny budget
If you can’t commit to the cost of a full ad campaign – but want to raise some awareness of your business and get more people to your Facebook page or Instagram profile – then boosting is an affordable option, but will not bring the same results as a ‘proper ad’ will.
When you’ve got a big, fat budget
Some of the biggest advertisers on Facebook regularly boost posts, but as part of a strong strategy, with a lot more money being spent on ads than on boosting.
If you think this could work for you, I’d strongly advise talking to an expert ads strategist to hammer out the details, let’s get a call booked in here!
The big BUT…
In all these very different scenarios, you need to remember a few key things:
Boosting can put your business in front of people, but isn’t going to give a good return on investment.
While boosting has a role to play, that role isn’t to get you lots of leads. For that you need good, properly budgeted, well targeted ads.
It’s also easy to spend as much on boosting posts over a year as you would spend on a fixed-term campaign that’s built to deliver results. So, don’t be too quick to hit that boost button!
And you can’t boost any old post.
Just because you’re putting money behind a post doesn’t mean Facebook will show it to people.
Choose your better-performing posts – ones with likes, comments and shares – and boost them.
Facebook will prioritise these posts because what matters to them is that their users like what they see in their feeds.
So… when is the right time to ditch the boost button?
You want results
If you want your ad spend to bring in actual sales and high-quality leads, you need a proper, strategic, targeted campaign.
Facebook ads allow you to reach exactly the people in your target audience, at times when they are likely to respond – in short, the algorithm finds the people most likely to take the action you want.
You can commit enough time and money to get those results
You need to work out how much you need to spend to get what you’re aiming for, this previous blog I wrote may help you with that. If you would like to discuss this in more details, I can help you work out your budget – but you’ll need to be clear about your average order value and what a customer acquisition or lead is worth to your business.
Doing this will help you to understand how much it’s wise to spend on your ads.
It usually takes around 12 weeks for Facebook’s algorithms to learn to fully optimise your campaign – so allow for that.
You’re well and truly ad ready
And by that, you have team’s ready to go, your website and landing pages are fast loading and converting well, you know who your target customer is, how you can help them and what they want from you.
You have the right skills (or know someone who does)
Facebook ads aren’t for the faint-hearted, so you either need to invest in learning how to do it yourself or hire an expert to do it for you.
For ads success you need to build your audiences, set your targeting, create your ads, build your campaigns, and monitor them every day – and that’s just the initial stages.
The next step (and probably the most important) is optimising your campaigns to maximise results, whilst reducing your cost per acquisition. To do this, you need to fully understand the data and the metrics you’re looking at, to know what is working well and what can be improved.
It’s not an easy job, but it’s worth the investment.
So… which is right for you?
Done right, boosting is a quick & easy way to reach your target audience. In comparison, ads can be time-consuming and complex.
But ads and boosting shouldn’t really be compared at all.
Because they do different jobs in different ways – and if you really want to bring in more leads and sales, Facebook and Instagram ads are by far the better path to take.
If you’re ready to ditch that boost button, let me know.
I can help with:
- Power hours for getting ad ready/budget and strategy advice/troubleshooting More info here
- Mentoring services and a bit of hand holding More info here
- Facebook & Instagram ads audits More info here
- Fully managed monthly service. More info here.
