Boosted posts vs Sponsored posts on Facebook. Which one is better?
If you have a business page on Facebook you may have noticed the big blue “Boost post” button under each post. If you were wondering what the difference is between a boosted post and a sponsored post, on Facebook, I have put together this short article that will hopefully help you decide which one you want to go for.
Boosted posts
A boosted post is a post from your Facebook page that for a fee will appear higher on your audience’s news feed. The fee you pay depends on the number of people you want to reach and the payment you make will depend on the number of impressions your post will eventually get. While this sounds relatively easy and straightforward to do — you can bring, after all, traffic to your page without even leaving your page, there are conflicted opinions about whether boosting a post is worth doing at all. There are those who say that boosted posts are a waste of money and then, there is this user who claims to have generated $2,400 in sales by spending $20.00 only on boosted posts.
Sponsored posts
Sponsored posts are like Facebook ads. They allow you to target your specific demographic down to the minutest detail but they take a bit more time to plan than a boosted post.
Boosted posts do not offer the option to plan a detailed campaign though. While with a sponsored post you can choose which country, age range, gender you want your prospective audience to be, what interests, behaviours or financial means you want them to have, with a boosted post your audience is limited to “people who like your page”, “people who like your page and their friends” and “people you choose through targeting”. When you click on the third option, the choices you get are still quite limited compared to what you would be able to do if you were opting for a sponsored post. For example, you cannot choose any behaviours, you cannot use detailed targeting and you cannot exclude your page fans if you want to.
Which posts should you boost?
If you do decide to boost a post however, make sure you know which one is worth investing money on. Start with a post that has already done well organically and offers helpful content that is specific to your audience. Any links (with photos) you boost should be pointing directly to your own website or to content that gets people on your mailing list. Do not send your hard-earned traffic to third party links if you want to make the most out of your investment. And do not boost affiliate links either. Check out your affiliate programme’s policies first. Amazon Associates put a stop to this type of paid search back in 2009.
Sponsored posts or boosted posts? Each one has its own merits and limitations. At the end of the day, the way to get more traffic or engagement on Facebook is by posting useful content that your audience wants to read and by implementing the right marketing strategy.
