By Sommer Burbank

Thanks to complex social media algorithms, your organic posts will only ever reach a small portion of your total audience. So, no matter how good your content is, it will never be seen by everyone who could benefit from it. Whether you need to introduce a new product, announce an event, or just spread awareness about your brand, some goals can be reached by boosting a post, while others are better reached by creating an ad.

Not sure whether you should be investing ad dollars for your update or announcement? Check out our guide to boosted posts and paid ads below.

What is a boosted post?

A boosted post is an organic post from your Page's timeline that you can boost to an audience of your choosing with a set budget. Boosted posts differ from ads on Facebook or Instagram because they are not created in Meta Ads Manager, and don't have all of the same customization features.

When you boost a post, it'll show up in your audience's Facebook (and/or Instagram) Feed as an ad. To set up your boosted post, you'll need to set the below parameters:

1. Who you want to reach: target audience of the type of people you want to connect with
2. Your max budget: exactly how much you want to spend over the course of your entire campaign
3. How long you want to run your ad: the duration of time your ad will run on Meta technologies

Because boosted posts require a budget to be shared with a larger audience, they are still considered ads and are identified as such in any bills you receive from Meta. This is the core similarity it shares with Meta Ads.

Pros of Boosted Posts

• Help your content reach more people
• Easy to set up
• Offer more affordability

Cons of Boosted Posts

• Show up as "ads" to your audience so they’ll know that you paid for the reach rather than it happening naturally
• Limited customizability when it comes to creating your ideal audience
• Will only increase audience engagement on the post itself, rather than click-throughs

What is a Meta Ad?

Meta Ads are created through Meta Ads Manager and offer more advanced customization solutions, targeting Facebook and Instagram. Within Ads Manager, there are many advertising objectives to help you reach the audiences you care about most and bring you closer to achieving your business goals.

Beyond what a boosted post may initially optimize for, Meta ads can additionally optimize for app installs, website conversions, video views, shop orders, and more.

What more can I do with Meta Ads?

Compared to boosting posts, running Meta Ads offers more advanced tools, whether that's more placements, more objectives, more targeting capabilities, or more control.

Pros of Meta Ads

• Choose where your ad is placed: Additional placements include the Facebook News Feed side ads, Messenger ads, Instagram stories, instant articles, and Audience Network
• Choose an objective: Align your marketing strategy with your business goals by choosing from options like store traffic, conversations, and lead generation
• Enhance your ad creative: Facebook Ads include carousels, description options, and various call-to-action buttons to motivate your audience to take action
• Customize your audience: Facebook Ads give you more options to identify and reach your ideal audience, such as advanced tools that allow you to create “lookalike audiences”

Cons of Meta Ads

• Meta ads can be complicated to create and require more in-depth knowledge of your ideal audience
• Ads are created from scratch rather than boosting an existing post that’s already doing well
• Meta ads can be more expensive than boosted posts

When to use Meta Ads vs. Boosted Posts

It's important for any business to identify exactly what they're hoping to achieve with an ad. For example, if you want audience engagement on your Page or to develop your brand awareness, boosting a post is a great way to maximize visibility and grow your audience. To create more advanced ad types and campaigns targeting more specific audiences, the better alternative is to create Meta Ads using Ads Manager.

Consider Boosting Posts If You Want To:

• Increase audience engagement on your Facebook or Instagram post
• Improve visibility on your best posts
• Host promotions or giveaways
• Boost visibility of events hosted through Facebook

Consider Facebook Ads If You Want To:

• Develop brand awareness with a targeted audience
• Convert website visitors
• Generate leads
• Drive traffic to your store
• Get orders for your store
• Have your videos seen by more individuals

Interested in running Meta Ads for your beverage alcohol brand, but not sure how to get started? Our team of paid media experts can help! Learn more about our paid alcohol advertising services by reaching out to paidmedia@speakeasyco.com today.

Sources

Hubspot

Meta Business Help Center