Boost
With the decline of organic reach on Facebook many overly busy entrepreneurs are making a lot more use of the bright blue boost button on the bottom of their post to increase their reach and attract new followers to their page.
At first glance, this seems like a great idea. We are all looking for quick and efficient ways to do more with our time and money. Pressing a button on content that we have already spent time creating and letting Facebook do its thing seems like a no brainer. With the option to pick your budget and some control over who will see your post, this sounds like a decent strategy. A couple of clicks and voila, you are done and can get onto more important aspects of your day.
While this all seems well and good, as with all things, lower effort often leads to lower results. Facebook boost is a bright shiny object for those of us who don’t have the time, energy, resolve or know how to dive into actual ad creation and management on the promoted posts option. For others it’s a quick, almost reflex, reaction to add a low-cost side-bar marketing tactic with the expectation that it might work to pick up a few low hanging fruit or close-outliers.
Either way, you need to consider the fact that a low-cost, low-effort option might actually cost you hundreds or even thousands of dollars in missed opportunities if it is used instead of the better, slightly higher investment option.
Facebook boost can be a decent option if your goal is simply to increase engagement and reach on specific posts or to test market images or topics to see if they resonate with your ideal client. If this is what you are looking to do, choose content that has already had some decent success organically.
Boosting a post that did not do well with your organic reach is not the way to go. If you spent time creating content and it just didn’t resonate with your current audience, don’t waste your money boosting it just to try and satisfy your need for engagement on something you created. Sometimes posts fall flat and that’s ok. If it didn’t resonate with your current followers who (should be) your ideal clients, then boosting it to others will either not work at all or potentially draw in people who are not your ideal client anyway. Either way, it’s a bad strategy and not the best use of your money.
Stick to boosting content that has already had a good organic response. If it is fun, informative and engaging it can work well as a quick introduction to who you are and what you do. It’s a light and easy way to try and catch someone’s eye to let them know you are fun and interesting.
Boosting a post is not the way to go if you are trying to grow your e-list or get people to buy. If those are your immediate goals, you need to spend the time and money to do it right and properly promote yourself. Facebook ads will give you a lot more control over your target audience and feedback on engagement. The analytics are far better, and you can even experiment to see what content, format and time of day gives you the best results through the split test feature. Facebook ads are a far superior option to ensure that you are maximizing your reach and hitting your objectives.
If you have spent time and money creating the perfect product or program don’t rely on the shiny blue button at the bottom of the page to carry your message to the world. It is a low effort shot in the dark that will likely result in sub-par results. Spend the time and money that you feel your product is worth to hit the bullseye, expand your reach and communicate your value to your ideal audience.
