For years, organic reach on Facebook has been declining. In the past, companies could’ve reasonably expected to reach over 15% of their base with an organic post. Now, they’d be fortunate to achieve over 5%. This isn’t exactly, news, though. Businesses have experienced falling organic post engagement rates for years. It’s just reached the point now that many companies feel compelled to advertise on Facebook in order to garner positive impressions. There are two basic ways to advertise on Facebook: through traditional ads or by boosting posts. But which is better? In the Facebook Ads vs Boosted Posts debate, which provides greater value?
Boosted Posts
A Boosted Post is exactly what it sounds like –– a post that’s been given a boost. Boosted Posts are simply regular posts that businesses can repurpose for several reasons including: to attract more website visitors, increase social reach, gain more impressions, or improve visibility on social pages. Boosted Posts, unlike Facebook Ads, are very straightforward to create and easy to manage. Once you’ve selected the post you want to boost, the audience you’d like to reach with the post, the duration of the post, and budget, you’re all set. This is a good thing and a bad thing. While Boosted Posts are very easy to set up, they’re limited in their scope.
Facebook Ads
Facebook Ads are complex. Users can customize Facebook Ads in a number of ways based on campaign, objective, and target demographic. Facebook Ads also allow professionals to access look-a-like audiences (also technically available with Boosted Posts), and they afford greater freedom regarding where a user can place an ad. For reference, Boosted Posts can only be placed on either Facebook or Instagram feeds, whereas Facebook Ads can appear also as side ads, messenger ads, instant articles, or within an Audience Network.
Other benefits of Facebook Ads include the option of A/B testing, advanced lead generation ads, more options for campaign objective than Boosted Posts, and a greater variety of advertisement type. With Facebook ads you can also use more rules and more integrations to match your objective. Lastly, while Boosted Posts enables users to “re-boost” the same post to the same audience, Facebook Ads allow for users to duplicate an ad with more variations for different audiences.
Tale of the Tape
Here’s a quick rundown of how Facebook Ads and Boosted Posts perform against each other:
Versatility & Customization: Winner –– Facebook Ads.
Cost: Winner –– Toss Up. Boosted Posts cost a minimum of one dollar per day to run. And the number of impressions garnered via Boosted Posts varies wildly based on budget and demographic selected. Facebook Ads operate on a Pay-Per-Click (or impression) basis, and therefore it’s difficult to directly compare the cost-effectiveness of the two strategies.
User-friendliness: Winner –– Boosted Posts.
Placement Options: Winner –– Facebook Ads.
Best Practices for Boosted Posts
As with many “vs” questions, there is no definitive answer one way or the other. Rather, Boosted Posts present certain advantages and Facebook Ads offer others. Since many companies employ Boosted Posts before they attempt Facebook Ads, here are a few best practices worth remembering:
- Only boost successful posts. It’s a much better idea to give your best posts more exposure than to spend money trying to make up for the deficiencies of your least effective posts.
- Always test. There is no exact science to engagement –– so be willing to experiment a bit with boosted posts.
- Be Specific. Being as specific as possible with your posts, your goals, and your audience will give you the best chance for positive outcomes.
- Change it up. Facebook posts are not meant to be static, and the law of diminishing returns will likely affect a Boosted Post or an Ad after a few weeks.
The Bottom Line
Ready to take your social media marketing strategy to the next level? Then contact the professionals at Agile & Co. today! We can help you optimize your Facebook advertising efforts and ensure that you reach quality leads with your ads and/or Boosted Posts. You can check out our free eBook to learn more about our methods here:
