A student in my Smart Social course raised this question, and I want to clear it up once and for all…
“Is boosting a Facebook post the same as creating an ad?”
No. A Facebook ad and a boosted post are definitely NOT the same. And I strongly recommend you stop “boosting” Facebook posts. Here’s why…
Even though a boosted Facebook post is technically an ad, it’s an ad with far fewer targeting options for you to leverage.
Relying on these boosted posts can hurt your campaign performance in both the short term and the long term.
Two reasons why I don’t recommend boosting Facebook posts:
- In the short term, a boosted post has far fewer targeting options, and you can’t select your conversion objectives or set a proper budget. In effect, you can’t properly plan a campaign or scale it if it’s successful.
- In the long term, you don’t learn anything about the skill of advertising like how to build profitable sales funnels, find new audiences or measure performance. In effect, you can’t develop a profitable ads strategy for your brand.
The whole reason Facebook ads are so successful for small businesses is because they allow you to take a more nuanced approach to advertising than blanket bidding.
So you might be wondering, “Why do boosted posts even exist?”
Well, Facebook added this feature for people who were overwhelmed by the Ads Manager and who don’t want to take the time to learn how to advertise.
But if you sell online then advertising is the lifeblood of your business, and it’s the only consistent way to find new customers.
In other words, it’s not a skill set you can afford to give up on, no matter how scary it is (and trust me, it’s not that bad).
So next time you want to smash that “Boost Post” button instead of launching a real Facebook ad, just remember…
You’re giving up the exact features that make Facebook ads so profitable, and your ad performance will eventually suffer for it.
New to Facebook Ads? Try this…
If you’re new to Facebook ads or just feeling overwhelmed with how to get started…
I recommend you start with this brand new (and free) course I did for Shopify Academy called Facebook Ads for Beginners.
I show you the winning video ads strategy I’m using in my 8-figure Shopify store to sell millions of dollars in physical products and grow a meaningful brand.
So stop “boosting” posts, and learn how to create an advertising strategy for your business instead!
