Securing user engagement and driving website traffic with a simple post was quite easy back in the day when Facebook’s news feed wasn’t as crowded with high-definition videos and graphics. In 2024, advertisers must learn how to boost a post on Facebook while taking advantage of Meta’s cutting-edge toolkit.
Advertisers often wonder, does boosting posts on Instagram work just as well as a Facebook boost? Indeed, boosting a winning post is much more effective at generating and converting leads as compared to curating new content that hasn’t been tested. A Facebook post allows brands to actualize the full potential of organic content by converting it into a paid advertisement.
Our step-by-step guide on how to boost a Facebook post will walk you through the best practices using a case study to demonstrate the power of a Facebook boost.
What is a Facebook Boost?
A Facebook boost is a quick way to turn an existing piece of content with high organic traffic into a paid Facebook ad. This simple trick works wonders at driving traffic and broadening audience reach, resulting in higher likes and follows for your Facebook page.
A quick Facebook boost can help you secure the following:
- Higher user engagement
- New page likes and followers
- Brand promotion
- Driving lead generation through organic traffic
- Testing content and understanding audience preferences
Facebook’s continually upgrading algorithm favors organic traffic as the platform aims to provide its users with original and unique content that secures higher engagement. Posts that secure higher organic engagement are more likely to go viral as users engage with them voluntarily. Facebook boost turns such a post into a paid ad, allowing advertisers to recycle winning content and expand their audience reach.
Facebook boost posts are easy to set up and publish, and they show as sponsored posts in the News Feed. As you learn how to boost a post on Facebook, it’s important to set a budget and prioritize posts that have secured higher user engagement.
Budgeting for a Facebook Boost
Facebook allows advertisers to determine their budget, based on their advertising goals and audience reach targets. If you’re just learning how to boost Facebook posts effectively, it’s wise to start with a small budget, around $1 a day. Adding more money will naturally increase the audience reach, but starting small is a great strategy to test audience response to various formats and templates.
In order to set up a Facebook boost, you need to specify the amount for your maximum total ad spend. This total budget will be utilized to secure leads throughout the duration of the boosted post. Facebook offers detailed insights into how the budget has been utilized with accurate figures for user impressions and interactions.
Starting to learn how to boost a Facebook post with a small budget will give you an accurate idea of the budget required to effectively engage your target audience. Suppose you set up a Facebook boost post with a $70 budget for a period of 7 days. In that case, Facebook will allocate $10 per day to run the boosted post. The daily allocation can vary but the platform will ensure your total budget is not exceeded.
Step-by-Step: How to Boost a Post on Facebook?
Figuring out how to boost a post on Facebook isn’t that challenging as the process is simple and much quicker than designing an ad from scratch. A Facebook boost eliminates the hassle of advertising, particularly on days when you’re overwhelmed and there’s no new content to maintain user engagement.
However, figure you start learning how to boost a post on Facebook, be sure to address some prerequisites.
In order to learn how to boost a Facebook post, you need the following:
- A valid payment method
- Administrator or Manager Access for the Facebook page
- A Facebook Ads Manager account with a valid payment method
Once you’ve addressed these prerequisites, you can follow the steps below to learn how to boost a post on Facebook.
Step #1: Choosing the Right Post
The first step to learning how to boost a post on Facebook involves finding the right post that has secure high organic engagement. You can select any post that features the blue Facebook boost post option, visible on the bottom-right corner of the page.
If you’re unable to find the boost post icon or it says ‘boost unavailable’, it’s likely that boosting isn’t allowed for that particular post. Facebook doesn’t offer the boost post feature for every post on a business page. For instance, you cannot boost unpublished posts, cover photos and videos, and Facebook click IDs.
Here are some common reasons you might be unable to boost a post despite seeing the icon:
- Your Facebook ad account is disabled.
- Your payment method is invalid or disabled.
- You’ve been denied the use of Facebook boost because you’ve repeatedly violated Facebook advertising and content policies.
- The post you’re trying to boost features prohibited content that violates Facebook’s community guidelines.
As you determine the right post to convert into a paid ad, it’s important to consider the guidelines shared above and focus on content that aligns with the platform’s regulations. At GCG Media, we strongly advise working with popular posts that have secured higher levels of engagement. Leveraging popular Facebook posts can enhance your strategy when creating a Facebook ad account in 10 easy steps, optimizing your approach to engaging and effective advertising.
Step #2: Select the Boost Post Option
Once you’ve chosen the right post, go to the lower-right corner and click on Boost Post. A new window will open where you can optimize the post you’ve selected.
Step #3: Determine your Target Audience
Defining your audience by setting the right parameters is a crucial step that will help you understand how to boost a post on Facebook for higher returns on ad spend (ROAS). Go to the Audience section to determine the target users for your boosted post.
It’s wise to target a larger audience comprising users who like your page and friends of users who follow your page alongside demographics. Be sure to target users based on their geographic location, age, gender, behaviors and interests. If broad targeting isn’t delivering the desired results, incorporating Facebook interest targeting can refine your audience, ensuring your ads reach users with specific interests and improving overall campaign effectiveness. New features such as Meta Conversion API enhances targeting your Facebook audience by providing detailed insights and data, allowing for more precise audience segmentation and improved ad performance through better tracking and attribution.
Step #4: Budgeting & Duration
Budgeting is indeed the most challenging aspect of learning how to boost a post on Facebook for effective results. You can set your budget in the Budget section, choosing between a pre-set amount and a custom figure that aligns with your spending limits. Once you’ve selected your budget, set a duration, ranging from 1 day to 7 days or more.
Once you select the duration, your chosen budget will be spread out to regulate engagement on a per day basis.
Step #5: Finalize Facebook Boost Post
Go through every section and examine the settings you’ve chosen to optimize your post and turn it into an effectively targeted ad. Once you’ve reviewed the settings, click Boost.
Your post will not show up on the News Feed immediately. First, Facebook will review the post to ensure your content doesn’t violate any of the platform’s advertising guidelines. Once the post is approved, it will show up in the users’ News Feeds.
Wandernana Case Study: How to Boost Facebook Post for Effective Results?
At GCG Media, we deploy a wide array of strategies to help our clients set up multiple avenues for lead generation and conversion. We strongly believe in recycling winning content to supplement the lead generation potential of ad campaigns across various social media platforms.
We routinely utilize the Facebook boost feature to help clients grow their following on Facebook and acquire new clients by supercharging website traffic. In this case study, we will demonstrate the potential of Facebook boost posts using the example of Wandernana, a longstanding client of GCG Media.
This particular ad has an MTD spend of around $1,500 and a return on ad spend (ROAS) of 3.54. Let’s dive deep into the elements that make it effective at encouraging immediate action.
Attention-Grabbing Headline & Visuals
As you convert a Facebook post into an ad, it’s important to incorporate attention-grabbing visuals and headlines that will compel users to pause scrolling and explore further.
The headline for Wandernana’s post says, “Commencez 2024 du Bon Pied avec Wandernana,” which loosely translates to start 2024 on the right note with Wandernana. This Facebook ad headline, accompanied by immersive visuals, evokes a sense of positivity and encourages users to be optimistic as they plan their future.
It encourages the audience to take a fresh start with a new year, presenting Wandernana as the right choice for a refreshing change. The goal is to appeal to the Facebook lookalike audience’s aesthetics and inspire action by motivating them.
As we dwell on the visual appeal of this post, we notice the use of vibrant hues and a woman enjoying the scintillating aroma of Wandernana’s products. While users cannot smell the product from the image, they can certainly experience the sense of pleasure and satisfaction this image intends to convey. Such images elevate the brand image and positioning in the minds of the consumer by evoking the right emotions to make them curious.
At GCG Media, we strongly urge advertisers to pay attention to the psychology of colors while designing Facebook posts and ads. For instance, this image plays up the brightness of green and peach – making the ad striking with a sense of freshness. More importantly, the colors green and peach perfectly align with the health and wellness theme for this brand. Understanding the psychology of colors in designing Facebook posts and ads is crucial when choosing the right ad sizes for your campaigns, as it helps ensure that your visuals are both impactful and appropriately sized to attract and engage your target audience effectively.
Clearly Outlined Brand Offerings
When choosing a post for a Facebook boost, it’s important to prioritize content that will drive website traffic and encourage users to buy your products or avail your services. If a post doesn’t serve this purpose, there’s really no reason to convert it into an ad and waste your advertising budget.
This Wandernana ad has performed exceptionally because the product specifications and offer details are clearly outlined to eliminate ambiguities and speed up the buyers’ decision-making process. The product benefits are clearly outlined in the simplest manner, presenting it as a solution for those who wish to combine delicious flavors with nutrient-dense ingredients for a healthier lifestyle.
After hooking the audience with the promise of “healthier and tastier meals”, it dwells on their pain points by discussing the weight loss benefits – a strong selling point for health-conscious consumers. Once you’ve clarified the specifications and benefits, it’s important to inspire action by creating a sense of urgency.
In this ad for Wandernana, we created a sense of urgency by presenting the product with a limited-time offer. The post encourages consumers to avail a limited-time 40% discount, incentivizing them to buy using the code FB40 – a great trick to encourage immediate purchases. We’ve highlighted the discount in a bold red, which contrasts with the subtle background color palette to grab attention.
Branding & Community Building
Utilizing Facebook boost posts is an effective strategy to cement your brand identity and foster a sense of community. It’s important to use posts that align with your brand appeal and evoke a sense of belonging when users interact with your content.
Wandernana’s ad evokes a sense of belonging and community using the phrase, “Rejoignez la communauté Wandernana,” which means, ‘Join the Wandernana community’. Such phrases foster long-term brand loyalty by encouraging consumers to believe they’re a part of a close-knit community.
The ad copy further cements brand appeal by emphasizing that the product is manufactured in France, and made with 100% natural ingredients. Such messaging reinforces trust by providing quality assurance, further encouraging consumers to avail the offer immediately by silencing their doubts.
Effective Use of Hashtags
Hashtags reign supreme on social media because they create catalogs and connect brands with ad trends relevant to their offerings and industry segments. More importantly, hashtags make Facebook boost posts more discoverable by a broader audience interested in health, wellness and nutrition. In fact, boosting Facebook posts and running Facebook ads are both effective strategies for increasing visibility and engagement, but each serves different purposes in driving audience interaction and conversions.
Wandernana’s post contains hashtags like #Wandernana, #RepasSain, and #Bonneresolution to connect the post with users interested in healthy meals and New Year’s resolutions alongside creating a community for all Wandernana posts.
A Clear & Compelling CTA
There’s no point spending hundreds of dollars on Facebook boost or ad campaigns if you’re not adding a clear CTA compelling users to take action. A call-to-action (CTA) is an integral part of the ad copy for it invites the user to take action and leads them towards the next step. CTAs play a crucial role in lead conversion as they guide potential customers through the buying journey.
Wandernana’s ad has a clear CTA: “Cliquez ici pour en savoir plus!” which means ‘Click here to learn more!’ This CTA invites the viewers to take action by directing them to visit the landing page where they can buy the product advertised in this post.
This ad from Wandernana is effective because of multiple elements that make it compelling, interactive, inspiring and most importantly, compelling at converting leads. It combines clear and evocative language with a visually appealing design, a community-building approach and a strong call-to-action.
Most importantly, this post incentivizes users to purchase by offering a discount voucher and creating a sense of urgency with a limited-time offer. As you start figuring out how to boost a post on Facebook, be sure to select posts that grab attention, communicate value and encourage immediate action.
Final Thoughts
The secret to understanding how to boost a post on Facebook lies in selecting the right post that aligns with your advertising goal. The process itself is simple and won’t take longer than a few seconds; but the effectiveness of this strategy lies in the content rather than the process.
Many advertisers struggle to utilize the Facebook boost feature due to algorithm glitches, technical errors and temporary restrictions imposed due to repeated violations of Meta’s policies. At GCG Media, we’ve empowered innumerable advertisers and brands struggling with bans and restrictions with our specialized Facebook Agency Ad Account.
Our dedicated account offers an AI-powered algorithm to supercharge visibility and engagement of your posts, and ensure speedy technical support. Get in touch with our team to learn more.
