Posted 07.23.2022 by Josh Krakauer

Don’t Boost! Promote Facebook Posts Properly to Increase Reach

When you publish a post that starts building great organic engagement, amplifying your reach to more people becomes the next goal. Here's how to run Facebook ads properly.

If Facebook plays a part in your social media marketing mix, there’s a high probability you’re familiar with their ad platform. Thanks to the ever-changing Facebook algorithm, only a small selection of your fans will see a post at any given time.

When you publish a story that starts building great organic engagement, amplifying your exposure to more people becomes the next goal. And this is where Facebook ads come in. Before I cover that, heed my warning:

Stop “Boosting” Posts!

“But it’s so easy” – You’ve caught yourself saying. And you’re not alone. Hundreds of thousands of page managers use the ‘Boost Post’ button to increase their post reach. It makes it super easy to run a campaign.

Just set the general targeting (to your page’s users and location), then the total budget for the promotion. BAM, it’s running until budget or time runs out.

Example of the Facebook "Boost Post" Button

It’s so simple and fast!

So what’s wrong?

How does Facebook Boost Post work?

When you click the Boost Post button, Facebook creates a new Facebook ad campaign for the post you want to promote. That Facebook campaign is optimized for “Post Engagements”, which means reactions, comments, and shares. After you enter your desired targeting, total budget, duration, payment method and you’re off to the races. Most people set it and forget it at this point, and the results vary.

Facebook Boost Post vs. Promoted Post: What’s the difference?

Truthfully, “boosting”, “promoting”, or “amplifying” a post implies the same thing. After Facebook introduced the feature, the marketing and business community started using “Boost” as a catch-all for Post Engagement and reach ads on Facebook.

The biggest technical difference between the Boost Post button and manually promoting a post through Ads Manager has always been the number of targeting and bidding options.

That said, the Boost Post feature has seen some significant updates in the last year.  As of July 2020, some of the new updates include:

  • Advanced demographic and behavioral targeting options
  • The ability to use and create custom audiences
  • Conversion tracking with the implementation of pixels (note: only an available option if you have an existing pixel already built)

Facebook Boost Post New Targeting and Tracking Features

While the targeting and tracking options are now much more robust than previous iterations, Boost Post is still limited when compared to manual promotion. Here are the major limitations we’ve found:

  • Limited to one audience at a time
  • No placement or device targeting (Desktop vs. Mobile vs. Column)
  • Limited duration of ad flights; there’s no ongoing option

Facebook offers far superior targeting options if you use their self-serve ad tool (ad manager) to set up your ad campaigns rather than depending on the limited options available through your Boost button.

When you create precise targets for each ad, you can better determine which audience is performing (engaging/clicking/converting) best for your business.

That’s the point, isn’t it?

Get the most for your paid social media budget by improving your social media ROI. One of our favorite parts of online advertising is the ability to manage spend efficiently; boosting Facebook posts takes that opportunity away from you.

With Boosted Posts, your ad reaches one audience at a time.

Learning something new about your audience with the Facebook Boost Post method becomes a challenge. To efficiently control your budget while maximizing learning, break out those targeting options!

With Ads Manager, you can create multiple ads from one published (organic) Facebook post by breaking out different targeting parameters and running them head-to-head (i.e. split-testing).

Then, you can easily pause the ads that don’t perform after the ad has been optimized (give it at least 2-3 days, or after 2,000 people reached). Want to learn something new with your ads? Try some of these targeting experiments to start:

  • Separate audiences by age and gender
  • Target people who like your competitors
  • Separate ads by placement: mobile and desktop; audience network, newsfeed and right column
  • Re-target people recently on your website with the Facebook Pixel
  • Target people with Facebook’s various demographics, interest and behavior categories

And that’s barely making a dent in the Facebook ad universe.

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Boosted Posts are reach based, not lower-funnel objective based.

While reaching more of your current and desired audience is important, there are other business objectives to consider.

  • Driving in-store traffic? Consider redeemable Facebook “Offers.”
  • Looking to acquire new leads? Conversion pixel-tracked link posts or native lead forms will do the trick.
  • Starting a 1-to-1 conversation? You can run ads right to Messenger and engage prospects with a chatbot.
  • Marketing an event? There’s an ad type for that too.

Of course, if generating brand and upper-funnel awareness or building an engaged community of customers are priority goals, promoting Facebook posts with the Post Engagement objective will serve you best.

In Conclusion: Where boosted posts offer a quick fix to reaching more people, allocating 5 – 15 minutes to promote Facebook posts properly in Ads Manager and adjust targeting will allow you to maximize your total return on ad spend (ROAS) than ever. And that’s one acronym we want to use wisely.

Next time you feel compelled to “Boost” the post, reach for the self-serve tool instead.

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Frequently Asked Questions about Boosting Posts

We get loads of questions about Facebook ads from thousands of visitors per month. Here are some of the frequently asked questions.

How do I boost political ads?

In 2018 Facebook launched a new policy that requires admins to get authorized before running political ads on Facebook and Instagram. We wrote a guide for how to get authorized that may help.

Can I edit my post after it’s been boosted?

You can edit your audience, duration, budget, post text, or Instagram placement after a post has been boosted. For a long time this feature was completely unavailable to advertisers.

Does Facebook advertising work for B2B brands?

Absolutely, Facebook is an incredibly effective channel to reach qualified buyers throughout the sales funnel. With custom audiences, you can retarget prospects that have visited your websites or subscribers on your email list. You can also reach prospects by targeting by job titles. For more ideas, read our guide to B2B social media strategy.

What’s the best way to learn Facebook Ads & Ads Manager?

The best way to learn what works is through testing in small increments. For campaign feedback, we recommend joining a free Facebook Group and digging through the archives. For guided learning, we recommend digging through Meta Blueprint.

If you’re looking for a more guided experience, you can hire a paid social agency like Sculpt to train your team on best practices.

Why am I reaching “0 people” after boosting a post?

If you are seeing zero people reached, your boosted post is not being shown. Your ad may still be in the approval queue, which is especially common if this is your first boosted post. In some circumstances, it may be necessary to duplicate your ad and start over. Note: This sequence can not be performed with the “Boost Post” interface.

Will I get charged the total budget if I stop my boosted post early?

No! Your total budget is the maximum dollar amount you will spend if you let the Boosted Post run its course. If you stop the campaign early, so will your payment.

Can I boost a personal Facebook post?

At one point, interestingly, you could. Alas, this option is limited to pages only now.

How do I make my post eligible to be boosted if there’s too much text?

As of September 2020, Meta will run your post as an ad if there’s more than 20% text in the image or thumbnail without any reach restrictions. The 20% grid tool is gone, too. That’s good news! However, while they don’t outright reject or limit ads for excessive image text anymore, Meta does still recommend keeping image text within their guidelines as they tend to perform better.

How do I stop ads that click to Messenger?

In the boost post interface, an option exists to use automated placements, or manually select them. If you manually select there is a checkbox to run ads on Messenger, Instagram, or Facebook. You can manually uncheck that setting. If the ad is already running, you can use Ads Manager to change the placement settings of your ad set.

Is it better to boost a Facebook event or a Facebook post?

If your main objective is to generate RSVPs for your event, boosting an event post is worth a test. You will be paying to reach the target audience you select with a post about the event from your page, therefore it is technically the same as boosting a post. Other marketers have found that boosting a more engaging video post with a description and link to the event has been effective. We tend to agree.

Why isn’t my boosted post working?

If you are having trouble boosting a post, you might be missing correct payment information, the right role permissions, or acceptable content for promotion. From our experience, it boils down to one of those. You can find a broader list of possible culprits on Facebook’s Help article.

How do I contact Facebook to resolve my boost issue?

You can chat with their support team directly through email, although you must have a Page and ad account for them to reference. Once you fill out the form, you will get connected on chat to speak with a live rep. It may take a few minutes.

What’s the best payment method to use for Facebook advertising?

Your payment method is a personal choice. However, using business credit cards as a payment method for Facebook ads may allow you to earn additional points or rewards for every dollar spent on ads. One of the most popular cards used by Facebook ad buyers is the Chase Ink Business Preferred (affiliate link) for one very important reason: cardholders earn 3 points for every $1 spent on search and social media advertising purchases (up to $150K per year).

That means for every $10,000 spent on ads, you’re earning 30,000 reward points.  It’s a credit card, so the usual discretion is advised when signing up. But if you’re investing in ads and want an extra kickback, this is a powerful hack. (It’s the one we use!) You can earn 100,000 points when you open an account and meet the minimum spending threshold by using our affiliate link, here.

Still have a burning question about Facebook ads budgeting, campaign strategies, targeting tactics, success stories, or technical issues?

Sculpt is a full-service B2B social media marketing team with experience managing successful Facebook campaigns ranging from $500 to $50,000 in monthly ad spend. See our social media pricing here.

Create an effective Facebook campaign strategy for your business:

speak to a strategist

Looking for great Facebook ads resources? Here are a few of our favorites:

Meta Blueprint – Free DIY advertising courses from the team at Meta

Meta’s Business Manager resource center

Jon Loomer’s Blog

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Josh Krakauer

Josh Krakauer is the CEO of Sculpt, that B2B social media agency you just discovered. Josh has launched social media campaigns for best-selling books, publicly-traded corporations, and early-stage startups. Josh works from Washington, DC, but still thinks Iowa City is the best city on earth.

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