Facebook continues to experiment with Ad services and types.  It makes sense as it helps Facebook earn income (see 2nd Qtr earnings great report).

Hopefully it offers businesses better and easier tools to improve their marketing on Facebook.

The new “upgrades” to boosting a post in the News Feed are solid and helpful features page Admins should be aware of for potential use.

‘Boost Post’ Offers Targeting of News Feed Posts for Facebook Pages

One of these recent changes is with the ability to “Boost” a post (formerly ‘Promote’) that can be done by Facebook Page Admins right from their Timeline.  This feature has undergone multiple changes in the last year.  Until very recently it was not very worthwhile because it only allowed you to market to existing fans or friends of fans.  While reaching more of your fans can be a good idea, there was a desire to reach new people as well!  Some users who used the “friends of fans” feature received negative feedback because some friends of fans of your page may not be interested in what you provide, so this triggered higher spam reports and lower results.

Now, however, Facebook allows some significant and helpful targeting that was really only available in the more difficult to navigate Ads Power Editor before.  So this is a great move by Facebook to help pages advertise more easily key News Feed posts!

The Quick Overview of “Boost Post” for Facebook Pages

 What’s the value?

• Boosting a post can help an existing post reach more of your fans, and/or reach beyond your fans to targeted people.
• Generally any post a Page makes will be seen by 12-20% of the Pages fans, so boosting a page can help it reach many more of the fans, as well as target non-fans who fit your target criteria.
• It can be setup easily in a matter of a minute right on your Facebook page.
• Target by multiple variables including Location, Gender, Age and variant combinations.

Why would a Page Boost a Post?

There can be a number of reasons to boost a post including things such as:

• The post did really well and so you know it has good traction so keep the traction going on days 2-4 by boosting it to reach even more.
• You launch a contest or sweepstakes on a tab and you want to get the word out about the promotion so boost the post that invites participation and links to the custom tab. (Be sure to use the Smart Mobile friendly URL).
• You want to drive awareness of a event, webinar, or other special offer so you want to reach friends of fans and other targeted demographics

What Options Do I have?

Boosting a post creates 3 types of ads that are by default shown to both mobile and desktop users.  Here’s how to get started:

1. Click the Boost Post button on the post you want to create an Ad for.

2. Select “People you choose through targeting” in the Audience section.

3. In the “Add Targeting” dropdown, select your preferences in Location, Age, and Gender.  You can select multiple.  For example, you could target users in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, that are male ages 21-35.  The default for “Location” is countries but there is a drop down for Cities, etc.

4. Enter your budget you want to spend and then complete by selecting “Boost Post”.

 Option 2:

Repeat Step 1 above and then proceed with:

2. Select “People who like your Page and their Friends” in the Audience section.

3. Then click the “target” button at the bottom of the pop-up Ad window (see image below). This enables the “Add Targeting” drop down.  From within target you can select your preferences in Location, Age, and Gender.

Can I make changes to my Ad?

Facebook creates the Ads for you based on your targets.  The ads are then in the Facebook Ads area and can be adjusted there.  Simple things such as adding budget and stopping the promotion can be done on your Facebook page by going back to the “Boost” button.

Is it better than creating Ads using the Ads Manager or Power Editor?

It is simpler, faster, and can be helpful.  It is not as granular or detailed as what you can do with Power Editor that is launched in the Ads Manager. So whether it is “better” is based on your needs and goals.  It is better for speed and general targeting for location for example.  It is not nearly as detailed as what the Power Editor in the Ads Manager offers though.

How much will it cost and how much Reach can I get?

That depends on our Page fan count.  For pages with 500-1500 fans you can reach many more Facebook users that meet your target demographic for as little as $10-$15.

The updated “Boost Post” options are not for everyone.  Some will still prefer the more advanced options in the Power Editor.  These updates, however, are a GREAT step forward and can be a helpful and convenient way to quickly extend the reach of posts to mobile and desktop Facebook users that meet your target.

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