11 Pro Tips To Boost A Facebook Post (And Stop Wasting Money) 2021

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“I didn’t get anything”

“Boosted for €1 and no one saw my post”

“Budgeted €1 a day and got no sales – Facebook ads are a scam!”

Sound familiar?

Don’t let sour grapes stop you from drinking from the wine glass of Facebook success. Oh no.

Here are 11 simple Boost a Facebook post tips to make your next advertising campaign a success.

However, the how-to boost a Facebook post problem is out of the world difficult if your fans do not care about your business!

I hear you saying “all my fans care about my business”, well no. Let me explain.

🎧 Listen to this blog post

‘Fans’ are not your raving lunatic fringe fans that have your back in a fight. Worse those ‘fans’ will probably not buy from you. Likes are vanity numbers, proxies, placeholders and bloat.

Don’t worry, I am Urban Renström, there is always science and research involved in everything I talk about, teach, and demonstrate.

1) The Best Boost a Facebook Post Advice?

Boost a Facebook Post

First, don’t blame the tools. Learn how to use the tool best.

The best boost a post advice is don’t.

Because, how to boost a post is a crude and unrefined instrument. The boost a post button is the easy button creating the feeling you are actually achieving your goals.

The boost a Facebook post button is to increase engagement on a post! Not to get sales, email sign-ups to a giveaway, or get traffic to your website.

Yet, Facebook advertising is super powerful. You’ve heard the stories, you’ve read the case studies and now it is your turn to get out-sized results. Oh my.

Yet, the boost a Facebook post button is not the super powerful Facebook boost post strategy.

You are a smart and a savvy boss ( because you are reading this blog! – insert smiley face emoji ), and you want to grow your business but, you don’t want to waste money in the process. So:

Use Facebook Ads but, move quickly away from the crack cocaine of the Facebook boost button and use Ads Manager.

Using the A good Facebook boost post strategy you will get outsized return and results. You can then tell all your friends and (be the hero and) become a better business owner.

But, the blue boost button? Meh, for most use cases.

I’m bullish on Facebook advertising.

But, be bearish on the Boost a Facebook post except to test 1-minute videos.

You will do so so much better by graduating away from the ‘boost’ button.

2) The Lucrative Five Reasons not press the Facebook Boost a Post Button

Facebook-Boost-Post-Stop-Wasting-Money
  • You can only boost one post at a time. Not accurate! You can boost multiple post simultaneously. However, when you ramp up your advertising efforts, and layer and order your adverts to target and retarget people, then running multiple adverts is a requirement.
  • Boosting uses the Post Page Engagement Campaign (Objective) or get more messenger messages (Nov 2020). The boost button will not help you promote an offer or events, or get off-site conversions.
  • Audience Targeting is limited. Demographic targeting is available – age, gender, location, and interests. But, behaviour targeting or other psychographic targeting is not. Nor can you build Facebook Custom Audiences. Power and finesse happen when you layer behaviours on top of interests. This subtlety is not possible with boosting posts.
  • Reducing costs is not possible with a boosted. Nope! Not possible. Narrow the interest targeting? Nope. Choose interest a, b, and c, but exclude x, y? Nope. Optimize your photo/image? Nope. Worse still you cannot edit a boosted post, you must delete it and start over.
  • Ad placement of a boosted post is only on Facebook and Instagram, no Audience Network, no Desktop Right-hand column, and no ability to target different mobile devices or operating systems.

Rules!! Advertising on Facebook has rules. You/we/all must follow the advert rules set out by Facebook. This page is the home of the Facebook Advertising Policies. During a quiet Sunday afternoon crack the page open and read.

Enough with the rules and negativity Urban!! Ok, there is one solid use case when the ‘boost’ is perfect.

I hear you asking ‘is pressing the boost button a guarantee my ad will be seen?’

3) Facebook Advertising is an Auction

Boost-a-Facebook-Post

Brand equity and awareness aren’t automatic; companies must employ frequent attempts to introduce their brand and services to their target audience. – ShortStack

Facebook-Boost-Post

Firstly, it is an auction. Not in the traditional ‘I-bid-more-money-than-you-so-I-win’ auction. Yet, still an auction.

Secondly, (and crucially) the ad which creates the most overall value for users will win the auction. Read. That. Again. Slowly. Not she who bids the most, but, she who offer the most value to the user.

Yes, Facebook’s advertising system is ‘smart’ and can determine the forward value of your advert!

How-To-Boost-a-Facebook-Post

…at the core of the ads auction is the idea that people should see ads that are relevant to them and deliver as much value as possible for the business.

The total value of ads is determined by:

  • Advertiser Bid – the money you say you would pay
  • Ad Quality & Relevance — represent how interested Facebook thinks a person will be in seeing your ad — specifically the measures of the ads quality and relevance.
  • Estimated Action Rates — how likely, the eligible person (fan, audience), is to take the actions required to get you the result you’ve optimized for.

The money you bid is important, but, relevancy, quality and anticipated action rates of the audience are also important.

Getting your boosted post in front of your fans is bigger than simply ‘press and hope’.

Jargon separates ‘those in the know’ from those not in the know. Here are 14 media/advertising terms you will encounter on your advertising journey.

4) The Actual How-to Boost a Facebook Post

opps a missing video, what the heck?

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5) Top 13 Terms Tripping Up Facebook Advertiser – A Glossary Of Facebook Advertising Terms

EVERY time you pay Facebook it is an advertisements. Boost, sponsored, ads, or adverts.

Facebook-Boost-Post-Ads-Glossary

6) Boost A Facebook Post Like A Pro (And Stop Wasting Money)

The process of boosting is a process.

Find a post that is organically performing well and getting likes, comments, and shares. Then boost that post (think of a boost as you adding petrol to an existing fire).

Click over to your Facebook Page, then click the Insights Tab

Facebook-Page-Insights-Tab

On the left side column click ‘Posts’ then on the far right-click the down arrow and choose “Post Clicks / Reactions, Comments & Shares

WHere-to-find-Page-Post-Engagement

You’ve not filtered your page posts by which get the most engagement. Boost the top post.

Boost this top post to: 1) fans of your page, or 2) friends of fans of your page, or 3) a saved audience.

Recall from earlier the goal of boosting a post is to get more of your fans to see your post. Therefore, choose option 1 Fans of your page.

7) How often should you boost a Facebook posts?

No hard and fast rule exists on how often you should boost a post. The best use of the boost feature is to get more of your fans to see your post. You should expect more interactions, likes, comments, and shares. If the post is worthy.

Secondary benefits of a boosted post are you may also get visitors to your website, signups and sales.

If you want different results than post engagements. Then step up different ads with the Ads Manager or the Power Editor using different Campaigns (Objectives).

Boosting guidelines:

If you only boost your promotional/sales post, then your fans will hate you, tune out and unlike your page. Use the boost feature to build a community of interested people who will buy from you.
To ‘build a community of interested people‘ post and boost informative, interesting content and 20% of the time boost a sales post and 80% of the time boost an interesting, informative post.

Successful advertising is predicated on crystal clear-mountain-spring-water-clear goals. Muddle up your advertising goals and well you are muddy. Then your results will be dirty.

8) Choose a Single Clear Goal

Everything is easier with crystal clear-mountain-spring-water-clear goals.

Clear goals produce clear results. Boosting a post is not a magic formula for business success. Therefore, let a boosted post achieve its objective – get seen by more of your fans. Do that and your results and expectation will line up perfectly.

Single clear goals

Want sales? More website traffic? Want more clicks to a landing page? Signups to a free trial or offer? Or sales?

Then don’t use a boosted post. If your goal is website traffic, clicks to a landing page, signups then you must choose the correct Campaign (Objective). The Campaign (Objectives) are only available in the Ads Manager or the Power Editor.

Note: Power editor was depreciated by Facebook in April 2018.

Facebook Boost a Post
Campaign (Objectives) Galore! Ads Manager and Power Editor Offer Advertisers 11, 14 Different Advert Objectives

9) Target these Three ‘Audiences’

This targeting advice is specifically for boosting a post. Not for marketing and advertising on Facebook. Why?

The posts you share on your page — eligible for boosting — have a different context (or should) compared to other adverts you create on Facebook.

Target these audiences:

  • People who like your page — Fans of your page
  • People who like your page and their friends
  • People you choose through targeting — Saved audience
Boost a Facebook Post
Boost a Facebook Post Choose the Audience Popup Window

Not sure who to target with a new audience? Start with and create a Marketing Persona for your Ideal Client.

10) Repetition, Repetition, Repetition — The Power of Repeating Advertising

Repetitive marketing means ongoing marketing, and having a long-term strategy enacted over the course of a designated time span.

7TouchRule2

How many times does a person need to see an advert before they buy?

1,2, or 7? Guess?

It is closer to 7. People must see an advert 7x before they buy. And it’s probably more than 7 as the 7 rule is old and created in a time when advertising was in its infancy. The 7 rule was developed by the movie industry in the 1930s. Then the only ads were in newspapers, magazines, radio, and movies.

Why care about a rule made up by dead people from 86 years ago? Because the maxim holds lots of water today.

The upshot? Don’t expect one boosted post to drive people to take action. Ok? Ok. Use the rule of 7 and put your message in front of people more often. No! Not the same message and same ad in succession.

That would be spam. Be smart, be creative and work it. Be thoughtful and come up with different posts and boost them.

11) How Much To Budget? What Does It Costs To Boost A Facebook Post

After pressing the blue Boost button a window pops up.

Depending upon which audience you’ve selected, the ads system suggests a budget and an ‘estimated reach’. Clicking the down arrow offer additional € vs reach options.

The estimated reach is an estimate.

Recall Facebook wants the user experience to remain high. Choosing a higher budget does not mean you will win the auction.

Boosting-Facebook-Post-Budget-Duration
How Much to Spend on Boosting a Facebook Post? Depends Upon your Audience Size and your business goals

Boosting a Facebook Post

Boosting a post is the quick and dirty entry into the world of advertising on Facebook. Use the boost button only when you want your fans to see a post. Any results on top of the ‘engagement’ is a bonus.

To get remarkable business, revenue/profits you must quickly graduate away from boosting a post and use the Ads Manager or Power Editor tool.

Did you get any results from boosting a post? Let me know in the comments.

Haha. Yes, *Free* please! Boost by definition is an advertisement. Therefore you are paying money to Facebook to give your post more reach in the newsfeed.
The short answer is you cannot boost a Facebook post for free.

The smallest amount you can spend is $€£1/ day.

Depending upon your audience size, ads account quality ranking, the competition in the market, the type of post (text, video, image, etc), and many other factors you will reach a few 100 people per day with €1/day.

The Simple Simon answer is to push the blue boost post button!
1) Choose your *Goal* e.g. “What results would you like from this ad” Facebook gives 3 options, ‘Automatic’, Post Engagement (written as ‘get more engagement’), and ‘get more messages’ (Facebook Messenger)
2)Choose which ‘Button’ a)no button, b)Send Message, c)send Whatsapp message
3)Choose the Special Ads Category (if your boost is for social issues – political, election, civil etc.)
4)Choose your Audience (Who should see your ad?)
5)Duration and Budget – how long to boost your post, and choose your budget. The lowest is €1/day.
6)Placement – where to show your Boost Post? Your only options (using this interface) are Facebook, Instagram and Messenger. See this post on the Facebook Ads Manager for more placement options.
7)Pixel – turn on or off. On naturally! This Facebook Pixel article is a detailed walkthrough on installing and using the pixel.
8)Payment – add your Visa, Master Card, Amex or other payment details.
9) Press the *Boost Post Now* button

From your ads manager create, make multiple audiences. So that when you boost a post next time you have many more options. See this post on making super-powerful custom audiences.

None! Both are advertisements. The *difference* is the location where you create the advert. One is from your Facebook page and the other is via the Facebook Ads Manager.

Define *not working* or clarify your understanding of not working? Low Reach, poor engagement rate, etc.

Go to the post displaying the *boost unavailable* and hover over the Boost Unavailable words. Facebook gives tips that explain why you’re unable to boost the post.

As Simple Simon as it sounds, correct those actions and the problem is fixed.

Furthermore:
*Cover photos cannot be boosted
*Cover videos cannot be boosted
*Shared post cannot be boosted
*Shared albums (of pictures) cannot be boosted
*Expired Posts cannot be boosted
*Your advertising account is blocked.

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8 Comments

  1. FAKE FB numbers for sure: I usually put $20 average for boosting (I do not do ads) and my results vary, NEVER reaching what FB estimates, they count multiple impressions per customer page annoying some customers who then UNLIKE me! $100 I spent on one boost after seeing Organically it was over 2000 I figured it would do even better if I put some $$ on it! The estimated reach was 9600-25,000 – final number reached: 5943 (HOWEVER) – over 3200 were organic and only 2700 were paid!! I complained to them, and things changed: I can not find the ad in the feed but I can pull it up in “POST DETAILS”, where the numbers were changed to 15,704 Reached = 9761 organic and 5943 paid = BULL DOO DOO! As I look at the same ad under “PROMOTIONS” the number is the 5943 which were the original final results. Bottom line: I have gotten MUCH better results with a $25 spent on FB but they lie.

    1. Hey Demor,
      BTW – Boosting a post is a Facebook ad…
      Estimates are estimates.
      ‘count multiple impressions per customer page’ yes that is called frequency. Impressions are different to reach.
      Unless the post was deleted, it is still on your page.
      Naturally, and you know this, as you boost a post more then once, the total reach and impressions increase.
      Ad performance depends less on the money spent and more on the size of your audience, your message-audience match, image, text, and competition. E.g. if you have 1000 person audience, with $25 a day budget you will go through that audience in an hour. Your ad performance will drop as frequency increase, people get ad fatigue and delivery will be throttled.

      Urban

  2. Thank you very much for publishing this of article, I like your article very much. Your post is very informative and helpful.

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