Recently I was asked if I had an opinion between using “regular” Facebook ads or boosted posts….
The answer? F*CK YES I DO! 😉
It reminded me that most people really don’t know why it’s not a wise choice to be boosting posts. There are certainly some exceptions, but for the most part, boosting posts are not ideal…. the reason being that this decision (ie which type of ad you choose) affects so many things; not only does it affect the engagement, conversions and interactions you may get, but more importantly has everything to do with:
- How your ads are delivered
- How your budget is spent
- Who Facebook actually shows your ads to (within your target audience)
The truth is, success or failure, return or no return has EVERYTHING to do with the type of ad you choose.
The reason this is true, is because different types of ads on Facebook, have different automatic optimization settings.
So let’s talk about this for a minute….
When boosting a post, the automatic optimization setting for your ad (which cannot be changed) is engagement.
Essentially that means that Facebook’s algorithm is automatically working to get you the most engagement possible at the lowest cost possible, within your daily budget.
That sounds fine right?
Except for one thing… (which is my devil’s advocate philosophy).
Primarily, we’re not wanting to spend money and post ads on Facebook for mere engagement!
Ultimately there’s something else we want right?
We want our traffic to:
- Become a lead
- Subscribe to our newsletter
- Register for our event
- Fill out a form
- Buy things (well duh)
The problem when we boost posts and spend money to do so, while hoping to get leads, sales, and conversions? Facebook thinks all you want is engagement and simply optimizes your ad for only that.
So not the business.
The way this campaign will perform is distinctly different than how it would perform if you had chosen “conversions” as your main objective. (which is not possible when boosting posts.)
So the issue with boosting posts is this lack of control; not necessarily that something’s innately wrong with boosting posts, rather that doing so is often misaligned with our IRL objectives.
When you choose to boost or promote a post, but what you REALLY want are CONVERSIONS, Facebook won’t show your ad to the highest quality, highest caliber people who are ready to whip out their wallet and buy …because you literally told Facebook that all you want is likes and comments.
It’s imperative to understand that each type of ad available through Facebook (whether it’s a boosted post or a specifically designated ad objective chosen through Facebook Ads Manager such as page likes, video views, traffic, or conversions) has an automatic optimization setting.
It’s important to make sure to choose the objective that most closely aligns with your real life business objective. (This is where the money is)
So when are boosted posts actually useful?
In my business, I use Facebook Ads to generate leads from a cold, yet highly targeted audience using my 7X ROI Toolkit as a lead magnet.
Once these subscribers opt in, and become what we can consider a warm (or, warmer, at the very least) lead, I at that point do want to engage with them, in order to build up the know, like, and trust factor.
To accomplish this goal, I implement a retargeting strategy to put my content in front of them, often utilizing boosted or promoted posts, which I show only to my new, warm leads… not as a way to get them to sign up for something, but instead as a way to stay top-of-mind with my new audience members (which IS a good fit for boosted posts).
In a nutshell? The important thing to learn here is to be ultra clear on the objective for your Facebook Ad campaigns. Don’t waste time and money throwing ads out without clearly defining these parameters.
The takeaway? Choose the objective and type of ad that most closely aligns with your IRL business objective!!!
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