Creating a paid Facebook ad strategy isn’t just about crafting killer content; it’s about implementing a comprehensive marketing strategy to promote your content and achieve the best results. To do this effectively, you need to enhance your post’s visibility, engage potential customers, and maximize your return on ad spend.
Did you know that 90% of marketers see significant returns from Facebook ads? This underscores the importance of having a well-thought-out distribution plan that places your content in front of the right people at the right time, driving both post engagement and website conversions.
So, which is better for your potentially sponsored content: Boosted posts or Promoted posts? Whether you’re aiming for likes, clicks, comments, contacts, or sales, this guide will help you weigh the pros and cons of each option and determine which approach is right for you. Don’t click that boost button just yet.
The Enduring Success of Facebook Ads and Boosted Posts
Don’t believe anyone who says Facebook marketing is dying—despite the sentiment, there’s never been a better time to advertise within its online universe. Did you know that Facebook boosted posts and promoted posts can both be shown on Instagram?
Even though you can’t turn your head without hearing about TikTok or short format video, Facebook—the town square of social media—and its little village of Instagram are still the most widely employed networks for ad marketing.
Facebook has stopped acquiring new users and actually lost some, but it remains a powerful platform. It began losing users for the first time in 2021, but you might say it has enough of the pie already.
What matters today is that Facebook ads, launched in November 2007, have had time to develop, and they get results, which may be one reason it remains so successful for online marketing.
While Facebook continues to evolve, its advertising potential remains robust. Here’s a closer look at how Facebook’s ad revenue reflects its ongoing success and why it remains a top choice for marketers.
Facebook Advertising Campaigns Are Still Growing
Facebook has seen a massive $28.6 billion haul—a 56% increase in ad revenue year over year, despite its lessening social presence.
According to the HubSpot State of Marketing report, companies using Facebook ads have the highest ROI of all paid channels. More than 1 in 3 named Facebook ads as their top return on investment, ahead of Instagram, TikTok, and Google Ads.
Lurking in the shadows of these numbers, of course, is the change in Facebook’s algorithm, which has drastically cut businesses’ organic post exposure. Today, most organic business Facebook posts get viewed by only about 1 in 19 of their fans—about 5%. When the changes first happened in 2016, a company called SocialFlow found that organic reach dropped 42%. It seems with every new update, Facebook changes its algorithm again so users see more of their friends and fewer brand pages.
So, Facebook ads work! But do you have much of a choice? The good news is that a return on investment is likely, as long as you know what you’re doing.
The Key Factors to Consider in Boosted Posts and Facebook Ads
Having a Facebook page is free, but getting your Facebook posts seen isn’t. As a business, you need paid content in order to be seen, and boosted posts and promoted posts are your two main options.
A simple way to understand the difference between a boosted Facebook post and one that is promoted:
- A boosted post is like a deli sandwich with just the bread and a protein.
- A promoted post is like that same sandwich plus different meat options, all the toppings, and whatever condiment you crave!
One key advantage of Facebook boosted posts vs Facebook ads is unlimited free audience research. They’re closely related, but they’ve got some key differences, and which you serve depends on what serves your goals best and who you’ve invited over for lunch.
What Is a Boosted Post?
A boosted Facebook post is when you pay to show more people one of your regular Facebook posts—one on your page’s timeline already. It’s the easiest to do; you simply need to click boost post, and you are done. Boosting is limited to two options—website visits and post engagements. This is where you select your followers, friends of your followers, or accounts chosen based on specific demographics, geolocations, and psychographic characteristics. You can choose to add a call-to-action button as well, and you get a limited ability to track metrics.
Boosted Posts Pros
- Helps harness the power of your best organic posts
- Easy to make—just use an existing post
- Looks less like an ad
- A modest amount of customization features
- Ability to track conversions with a Facebook pixel and other analytics
- Start one-on-one conversations
- Build your audience with likes and turn new followers into customers
- Market events
- Facebook offers
Boosted posts Cons
- Content is seen in fewer places than promoted ads
- Targeting options may not be enough
- Limited CTA and conversion tools for advertisers
- Can only serve one audience at a time
What Is a Promoted Post?
A promoted Facebook post is original content created through the Facebook ads manager. You get many more customization features and greater precision and flexibility in targeting.
So how do you choose? It all depends…
Promoted Post Pros
- Wider placement potential
- More creative content creation tools
- Can run over longer periods
- Access to wider audiences
- Can target multiple audiences at once and put them within just a few clicks of your conversion page
- Ability to re-target website visitors
Promoted Post Cons
- The learning curve can be steep—you can use an existing post, but it is not recommended since that form of Facebook advertising is more like a boosted post
- Needs to be a regular part of your routine
- Time-consuming to set up and manage
There Are Big Differences To Boost A Post On Facebook and Paid Ads
Let’s zero in on some of the broader languages above about a Facebook boosted post and content promoted with ads manager.
Cost
With a Facebook boosted post, you set a certain advertising budget depending on the number of people you want to serve the post to and for how long.
A promoted post or Facebook ad, on the other hand, uses a cost-per-click basis. You set a maximum amount you want to pay per click, create a total budget, and enter an online bidding system that determines how much you end up paying for each click-through. There are a few different bidding options.
Which Is Better?
It’s easier to set it and forget it with the boost post feature, but cost-per-click gives you better mileage, especially if targeted just right. Both are adjustable at any time.
Ultimately, the return on investment rides on whether the content matches both the desire of the brand and the intended action of the online community.
Placement
Scope of placement is one of the strong suits of a Facebook ad campaign vs a boosted post.
Boosted posts are limited to Facebook NewsFeed, Messenger, and Instagram.
Content promoted with ads manager extends to the Facebook NewsFeed plus the side column, Messenger, Instagram, Instagram Stories, Instant Articles (branded and customizable article format content that renders fast on mobile), and Audience Network (an off-Facebook, in-app advertising network for mobile apps).
Which Is Better?
If you want to reach more people, go through ads manager. But if all you want is your post to show up in your feed, you get the most bang for the buck with Facebook boosted post offerings.
Formats
Facebook promoted posts have more creative options, but a boosted post lets your organic talents shine.
Boosted posts will look almost exactly like the original post but will be tagged as boosted and display a CTA button based on a selection provided by Facebook based on your objectives.
Promoting posts through Facebook ad manager, on the other hand, offers several options:
- Photo
- Video
- Carousel (up to 10 images in one ad)
- Slideshows
- Collections
- Playables
- Stories
CTAs on a Facebook Boosted Post
- Book Now
- Learn More
- Shop Now
- Sign Up
- Send Message
- Send WhatsApp Message
- Call
- No Button
Which Is Better?
It depends on your goals. Generally, boosted ads are good for encouraging likes, comments, and other interactions—much like a regular organic post. Promoted post formats are built to encourage economic activity and are often more eye-catching, for example, this Artsy ad announcing the launch of their newest gallery, aimed at boosting posts and ads.
Targeting
There’s no doubt that Facebook-promoted posts have significantly stronger targeting abilities, but don’t count out the capabilities of boosted posts.
There are three overlapping audience types with targeting available:
- Core audience—audience engagement that you reach the most
- Custom audiences—for specific campaigns or sub-sections of your core audience
- Lookalike audiences—people who don’t currently follow you but highly resemble those who do
With a boosted post, you can reach your fans, friends of fans, and people you serve through demographic and psychographic targeting options.
But you can reach a wider audience through ads manager—really boost your Facebook ad spend to grow your customer base by creating lookalike audiences.
Which Is Better?
he ability to target multiple audiences at a time through ads manager makes it second to none.
In general, if you think your content will resonate with your fans and their friends, or you have a good instinct for targeting, boosting could be just what you need.
But sometimes the friends of your fans just aren’t interested and manual targeting doesn’t work. Then, it makes more sense to use a brand new lookalike target audience that resembles your fan base.
Objectives
Every Facebook ad has an objective, but they don’t work the same for boosted posts and promoted posts.
Boosted posts work a lot like organic posts. They encourage engagement and likes, which are ideal for top-of-funnel content and brand awareness.
For example, Maersk boosted this video ad to announce the launch of a partnership with Ocean Cleanup to let engage their audience network.
They can make sense for lead generation if used tactfully—it can be quite direct if the ad is served in Messenger.
Promoted posts give you many more options that empower you to build brand awareness, but also drive conversions, store visits, sales, web traffic, app installs video views, etc.
B2B company Dropbox, for example, ran a video tugging on the heartstrings of its customers in this 30-second video with a CTA leading to learning more about their file-saving plans.
Which Is Better?
It’s a safe bet to say you can be more direct sales focused in a promoted post vs the informative or entertaining nature of a boosted organic post. But if you’re just trying to keep your fans cheering, you may not need all the robust conversion tools available in promoted posts.
Final Thoughts...
From content strategy to distribution, both Facebook promoted ads and boosted posts require dedication and expertise, with a steep learning curve and many variables to consider.
Many brands find success with boosted posts, but often a combined approach yields the best results. Most businesses benefit from integrating both strategies to maximize effectiveness.
Consultants and experts can assist you in designing a Facebook ad strategy that aligns with your business goals and targets the right audience effectively.
Ready to enhance your Facebook ad strategy? Whether you opt for boosted posts or promoted ads, understanding the nuances will help you maximize your ROI. Contact our team of experts to create a tailored strategy that meets your specific needs.
