It’s no secret that Facebook is pay to play. If you want your content to be seen by significant amounts of people, you have to give your money to them. Whether it’s an ad or a boosted post, reaching your audience is always more efficient when you’ve invested some capital into it.
So, which is a better investment for your business? Boosting or running an ad? The answer, like many things in social media marketing, lies in a grey area that varies from business to business and industry to industry. There are still some truths found in all the craziness and there are some questions to ask yourself when deciding which one to prioritize.
1. What are you trying to communicate?
The creation of any great ad always starts with these principle questions; who are you? What is your value to the consumer? What are your means of communicating that value?
Once the answers to questions have been established, you can start making decisions on the ad alone. Typically, if you’re focused more on increasing interaction with organic posts, boosting will be cheaper and more effective. Generally speaking, boosting is a less targeted way to reach more people than a normal organic post would. Because of recent changes on Facebook, boosting is usually the best way to guarantee your organic media is on somebody’s feed. Posting it normally just isn’t cutting it anymore.
If your ad has more of a tangible objective, you might consider spending the extra money and designing an ad. Facebook’s ad designer gives the ability to set an objective and track it throughout the campaign. This feature can be helpful in measuring your ad’s performance if you’re looking to generate something more specific out of it. Typically, your ad won’t be the same content you’re using in organic posts. What you’re trying to communicate through a designed ad varies, but typically is more about showing your general offerings to people who might be interested.
2. Who do you want to reach?
Your target audience decides almost every aspect of your ad. Who you’re trying to reach also decides where exactly your ad should land. Boosting posts puts your posts on someone’s timeline, but not a specific person’s timeline.
When you design an ad through Facebook, you are able to choose who you’re targeting. Things like age, gender, etc. play a huge role in who you’re targeting, so if you’re paying for an ad, be sure you’re being very specific in your target segments and adjust your messaging accordingly.
3. What is your end goal?
At the end of the day, what do you want to accomplish by running ads or boosting posts? Everyone will probably answer about the same; we want to increase engagement, following, and ultimately generate leads and brand awareness. Those are great goals to have, however, it is important to set unique, targeted goals for every ad you run so that your progress is quantifiable.
With boosting posts, those particular goals will be fine. Boosting is about getting your content seen by many and hopefully calling that person into some action. In any advertising on Facebook, it is key to set specific goals prior so that they’re clear during the design process, the launch process, and ultimately, the process of tracking your ad and deciding where to go from there.
4. What is your budget?
Like many business decisions, it all boils down to what you can afford. Facebook ads obviously offer more customizable features and can do a better job at reaching your target audience, but that comes at a price. Boosting can oftentimes accomplish what you’re looking to accomplish and save you money.
So, which one is ultimately better? They’re both good. Varying what you’re boosting and what you’re running as an ad is the best decision for your business. Using boosts and ads strategically in conjunction with one another will yield the best results. Be sure to stay tracking how your company is performing with both and base your decisions on that progress. Facebook is an ever changing environment, so it might not always be what you’re expecting. Stay up to date and set checkpoints.
Be sure that whoever works with Facebook internally at your company stays up to date on the everchanging ad environment. Everyday, Facebook releases some new feature or aspect of boosting/ad design that are relevant and directly affect anything that you’re running. There are also always rumors in the mill about how other technology changes might affect the way your ads run, so be sure to stay up to date on those as well. Stay current and keep an eye on what you’re running always!
If your current marketing strategy just isn’t cutting it anymore, you’ve come to the right place. Our team of experts here at Blackwood Creative would be more than happy to work with you and help you meet and exceed your business goals. We’re in the business of building remarkable brands – yours could be next. Reach out to us today!
