Boosted Post or Facebook/Instagram Ads…. are they really different?
The short answer: YES!
When it comes to advertising on Facebook and Instagram, there are two viable options:
- Boosted posts
- Facebook ads
Naturally then you ask yourself – Which one is best for me?
The short answer: BOTH! Along with strong, clear, concise, comprehensive and smart social media posting.
In terms of ads, the main questions to answer when you are trying to determine which one is best for you – an ad or is boost – is to decide what your goals are and how much time you are actually willing to devote to managing a campaign or do you want to set it and forget it…
The bottom line is that Facebook Ads, while time intensive, yield more results and different results for your business than Boosted posts.
Boosted posts: Fast Food – yummy and delicious and the get the job done in making you not hungry anymore and they taste good.
Facebook ads: Homecooked made with the heart Family Meals – substantial, sustainable, good for you -they include all of the food groups, look really good, make your whole body feel good, better and optimized for life.
What really is a Facebook Ad?
Facebook Ads are customized ads that are curated in your business ADS MANAGER by following a series of steps that Facebook has developed to create a true AD CAMPAIGN. These steps include figuring out your goals, objectives, targeted market, actions and then creative and imagery that is related to your ad and will make your ad relevant to the audience you have decided on. There are many different types of ads, video, carousel, slideshow, canvas, photo and dynamic. Your goals include: awareness, consideration and conversions – each of these goals has subset objectives. The most important thing to understand about Facebook ads is that Facebook shows your ads to the people within the audience you create who are most likely to complete your objective. That means selecting the right objective is paramount for success and the visual aspect is also!
What really is a Boosted Post?
A Boost is similar to a Facebook ad IN THE LOOK, however, boosts are actually not at all the same. They are the short and quick “fast food” version of advertising on social media platforms. Nothing is wrong with Fast Food, I love fast food from time to time, but it doesn’t sustain me and it can’t sustain your business advertising either. A boost is simple and easy, you determine your basic goals, allocate a budget and can decide between some very basic targeting demographics. Your boosted post is then placed on the newsfeeds of your audience.
Key Differentiators
In simple terms: Boosted posts are great in that they are able to reach a large number of people and increase the engagement of a particular post or your overall page. That is what they do, the purpose. Facebook ads are sincere, comprehensive marketing campaigns rooted in strategy and created to advertise a product or service to a specific, intentional market. Ads are highly strategic and effective. Ads take more time to set up and require daily massaging and management to achieve your goals, however your will see optimized results, better results and increased ROI. Facebook ads should be created to generate leads and revenue for a business while boosts are usually better to increase post/page likes, engagement and comments. Facebook ad campaigns provide research and metrics so that you can dive deeply to understand how your ads are performing. This also helps to determine where they can be improved upon for better results. Boosted posts provide a clear concise snapshot of the performance however metrics overall are limited – not to say this is a bad thing at all – it’s just fact.
Audience Targeting: Boosted posts cannot be as intensely targeted as Ads. The capabilities behind ads for targeting are drilled down and include specific interests and information, age brackets, gender and location. We are also able to develop retargeting audience with a pixel coded to your website and we can develop the amazing and impactful lookalike audience to serve ads to. A lookalike audience is one that is created based on customers/clients who have engaged with you on line as well as people who are similar and target them with our ad.
Ad Placement: Boosts and Facebook ads can be placed on both Facebook and Instagram simultaneously. Your Facebook ad, however, can also be placed in different locations across each platform such as in the newsfeed, Instagram stories or in Facebook messenger chats. Boosted posts will appear in the newsfeed of the platform (or both platforms) where you chose to boost your post.
Ad Optimization:
- Boosted posts can be optimized for page likes, comments, shares and overall brand awareness.
- Facebook ads can be optimized to these metrics but ALSO to increase video views, sign ups, purchases or app downloads. app installations, video views, newsletter sign-ups, purchases through an online store etc.
So…. Here is the deal – On social – a consistent look, feel and voice for your business, developed and instituted over multiple platforms, posted daily to newsfeeds and stories, coupled with quick boosts to optimize audience and engagement, running alongside targeted Ads is the best way to advertise your products and services on social media. The 37MMG teams are EXPERTS in all things social and the truth is we are affordable, trustworthy and take a personal approach to social media. If you don’t have time for social, let’s have a conversation! We can get social FOR YOU!