Why pay for something that’s free? If you’re a business owner, entrepreneur or up and coming leader in the industry, you’ve probably noticed that “Boost Post” option every time you make a post on Facebook. Maybe you’ve even clicked on it to check it out—but then you realized you’re essentially paying for people to see your posts. If someone’s your friend, follower or likes your page, shouldn’t they be seeing your posts anyway?
Not necessarily. When you boost posts, you’re not “paying for something that’s free.” Facebook for business was never totally free like it’s free for personal use. Think of it like some of those “free” dating sites. You can do a lot with the freebie options including building a portfolio, but if you really want to find Mr. or Mrs. Right, you might need to upgrade to the premium stuff.
Pass the Booster Seat
Facebook has lowered their organic reach for pages—including yours. If you want to be seen in newsfeeds, you need to pony up some cash. Basically, your posts double as paid “ads” when you boost them. The good news? Unlike traditional paid ads, you don’t need to commit to a set amount. You just have to handpick the best posts to boost, so you can budget (and post) accordingly.
Now comes the tricky part: Picking which posts to boost. It might sound obvious, but only boost your own content—leave any shares or links to other people or businesses un-boosted. Choose content that’s relevant and helpful to your audience, and steer clear of overly sales-y posts. If you’re doing a giveaway, freebies, contests or anything else that might score you more fans, definitely boost that.
Sounds easy, right? Facebook is smarter than you think. It has a 20% text law when it comes to photos. Basically, if a photo has more than 20 percent text, it’s un-boostable. It’s not a huge deal for most, but if you’re creating an infographic or meme just for Facebook, it’s frustrating when you put in all that hard work then can’t boost it.
Choosing Your Audience
When you click on Boost Post, you have two options: Boost it to “People you choose through targeting” or “People who like your page and their friends.” This is also where you design your budget/choose how many people actually see the post. In the latter choice, the tail “and their friends” is exactly why you sometimes see random things pop up in your newsfeed. You can blame your friend’s friends for that.
Let’s take a closer look at that option. Just because someone is friends with your friends doesn’t mean they’ll be remotely interested in your business. It’s easily a waste of money, and you can even build a poor reputation. On the other hand, if most of your friends are in a geo-specific area and you want geo-targeted posting, it might be for you. If you want to drive some traffic to your site, cherry pick “through targeting.”
When you target your boosts, you can pick your audience including their age, location, gender and select up to 10 of their interests. Then, you can customize budget for just one day or up to seven.
Boost Smart
If you’re not boosting your posts, you’re not reaching your audience—it’s that simple. People need to be actively going to your website to see them. Otherwise, you’re putting in a lot of work and effort that will never be seen. And if you hire a Facebook manage and don’t give them a budget? That’s like asking your accountant to work with no calculator.