Facebook Ads vs. Boosted Posts – What’s the Difference? What's the Difference, and Which One is Better for Business?

Summary

With 1.62 billion users globally on Facebook in 2019, social media still remains an effective way to reach your target audience and deliver customized messages promoting your product or business. But navigating Facebook and developing your marketing strategy can be daunting deciding between boosted posts and Facebook ad campaigns. Which one is better?

Let's Break Down How Facebook Ads and Boosted Posts are Different

Facebook is increasingly becoming a pay-to-play enterprise for businesses. While making regular posts is still an essential part of business, Facebook's algorithms prioritize people over brands. That's where Ads and Boosted Posts come in. Both Facebook Ads and Boosted Posts are forms of paid advertising on Facebook-they enable your brand to bypass the News Feed algorithms and secure visibility among audiences you can't possibly have reached organically. 

Boosted Posts

Boosted posts essentially are organic posts you have made to your business page timeline. You have an option to "boost" the engagement that post will have by putting some money behind it. When you chose this option, you can add some simple targeting such as location radius and special interests. This post will then be served up higher in the News Feed of your business page followers and other people as you've defined. Typically boosted posts are best for brand awareness, keeping your brand top of mind when someone needs your product or services.

Pro: It's super quick and easy and keeps your brand in front of your target audience.

Cons: You are limited to News Feed placement, and get very little details about the post's performance.

Facebook Ads

Facebook ads are created in the Facebook Business Ads Manager, do not appear on your business page timeline, and are meant to be part of a larger campaign strategy with a clear objective and conversion actions. When creating ads, Facebook walks you through three detailed steps for each ad which aid you in outlining your ad structure.

Pros: You can create very elaborate campaigns to deliver tailored messages to your target audience with deep analytics to measure success. The ability to remarket in Facebook ads is also a HUGE benefit to serve ads to people who you know have already shown interest in your business or product.

Cons: It takes time and skill creating a successful Facebook ad campaign with the ever-changing landscape of Facebook ads targeting and placements, deciphering the analytics, and adjusting the campaign throughout the duration.

The Bottom Line

Both Boosted Posts and Facebook Ads campaigns have their place in building business and revenue for a company, and we regularly use both strategies for our clients. But it's essential to establish your goals and develop a long-term strategy before deciding how to invest in social media marketing, or you might end up with a lot of wasted ad spend. 

Don't Get in Over Your Head

Need help determining which is best for your business? Get in touch with our digital marketing team. We'll help steer you in the right direction!