To Boost or Advertise…
That is the question!
When it comes to spending the marketing budget on Facebook the question on many small to medium business owners’ lips will be… will I take the time to create a Facebook ad or simply hit the boost button on a post I’ve already put up?
Some of you will even pick up the phone or jot us a message at Ready Marketing asking us to help make that all important budget decision. Remember – step one in the process of any marketing spend is always to consider your business goals, objectives, and how much you want to spend.
Check out our quick checklist of important points to consider as you take a deeper dive into the whirlpool of Facebook ads versus boosting posts…
10 things to consider when spending money on Facebook!
- A boosted post is a normal Facebook post and is easy to use and navigate. It has limited targeting, budgeting, and setting options, but can be useful to help your brand reach a wider audience.
- Boosted posts are usually used to improve your brand’s social media engagement metrics and overall social presence.
- Boosting the right post is essential. If your post has no likes and no engagement – do not spend money on it!
- A Facebook ad is a targeted campaign, created through Ads Manager with a range of custom features and settings allowing you to reach and track a significantly wider audience giving you a much bigger bang for your buck.
- Facebook ads tend to have a bigger immediate impact and translate directly to campaign goals.
- Maximising Facebook ad dollars is essential. You need to be strategic about where to spend money advertising on Facebook.
- Facebook ads should be interesting enough to stand out from the crowd and have scroll-stopping ability.
- Facebook Ads offer a range of analytics options. They provide several different ways businesses can track ad engagement and define campaign goals.
- Facebook Ads offer richer formatting options than posts (e.g. slideshows and carousel options). Some formats are built specifically for campaign goals (e.g. product promotion, lead collection, website redirection).
- A mix of Facebook ads and boosted posts can be a useful way to break up your budget whilst working towards both longer-term and short-term goals. Getting your spend right on both is the art.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to your objectives…
It has been said the difference between boosting a post and creating a Facebook ad could be explained as similar to the nutritional value of a six pack of chicken nuggets compared to a home-cooked Sunday roast chook.
You may say it’s not hard to decide where your dollars are better spent, but as outlined above – it depends on what you are trying to achieve. Do you just need a drive-thru snack to get you to the next meal or are you going all out and inviting Grandma over for dinner? There is a time and a place for both.
Social media marketing is a science not a hobby!
As social media continues to become an increasingly sophisticated tool for business marketing, never has it been more important to get the ‘science’ of social media marketing right.
Set and forget social media marketing is not going to cut it in the new era. Increasingly – if you don’t know your audience, if you aren’t testing and evaluating your input regularly, and if you aren’t paying for the right ads to reach the right people – you will be buried and lost in the sea of social media.
The secret to social media marketing success!
Surprise… surprise…there are no secrets to success with social media marketing. Success is the result of preparation, hard work, evaluation, and adaptability – it’s an ongoing process.
Continually building your knowledge base along with being open to professional advice and new ideas is key in the digital sphere. Keeping ahead of the game isn’t easy. Keeping up is essential!
Allocating dollars to Facebook in your marketing budget will increasingly be the way for businesses to ensure they are getting their brand noticed. It is a cost effective spend if it’s done right and monitored closely.
Call us today to see how we can help you get your Facebook marketing spend working for your business on 02 6360 1301.