Yes. The infamous "Boost" button.
For those of you who have posted something on a Facebook Business page, you know exactly what I am talking about.
For those of you who do not know of this Boost button I speak of, take a look at the screenshot below.
Facebook suggests to click the boost button so that you can "reach more people."
"Boosting a post from your business Page is a quick and easy way to show your content to people who might be interested," explains Facebook.
The unfortunate reality is that although more people may see a particular post as a result of boosting it, you are extremely limited to actually reaching the people you want. This is largely due to Facebook capping your targeting abilities when going through the Boost route.
What do I mean? And what is the alternative route?
Well, to understand just how limited you are with boosting, you have to understand how much more you can do with the alternative: Running ads from Business Manager.
Business Manager is the platform Facebook created for advertisers and marketers to create much more targeted, powerful and in-depth advertisements.
Without going into too much depth, let me provide an example to illustrate the differences:
Let's say that a local legal practice wants to get about ten more patients per month by running a "free legal advice" advertisement.
The goal would be to have people who need legal services to click on this ad and have them fill out a form with their name, phone number, and email address.
Now, running this ad by clicking the Boost button will only allow you to optimise for engagement.
Translation: It means that Facebook will only show this particular ad to people who are likely to engage with the ad.
Now, what is Facebook's definition of engagement?
Great question. Engagement is defined by Facebook as "...post engagements [comments, shares, reactions], Page likes, event responses or offer claims."
So you may be thinking, "okay, so what's your point?"
Well, as we explained in the scenario above, the goal of the legal advertisement was to capture someone's information, NOT to have them engage (like, comment, share, etc.) with the post.
So basically you would be spending your money on people who are unqualified to see your post.
Now, alternatively, using Business Manager to run ads allows you to select the option to optimize for generating leads (have people fill out a form with their name, email & phone number).
Exactly what we need.
Basically, it will only show your ad to people who would be most likely to fill out your form. More qualified audience.
So, although this may seem insignificant, in reality, it is the difference between spending $1,000 and getting no one to actually come into the dental practice; versus, spending $100 and getting ten new patients into the practice...
Does that make things a bit clearer?
If it does not, don't worry! just book a meeting with us and we can explain it in detail.
Thanks for reading.
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