The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten. - Benjamin Franklin

What is the difference between a boosted Facebook post and an ad?

I’m asked this question a regular basis, so it's clear that people are still confused about it. Below I explain the differences and why I never recommend that you pay to boost a post.

I like to make decisions about the performance of my ads based on data. When you boost a post you are limited to what data Facebook shows you, making it difficult to make decisions.

The diggest difference is the objective. With a boosted post, the objective is to increase the reach (how many people see it) and engagement (how many people like, comment, share etc). The objective of a conversion ad (the type i usually run) is to drive a specific action usually on your website, such a purchase, sign-up or download.

When you boost your post you can target people based by their age, gender and interests but it is limited compared to the options for an ad. Ads offer you advanced targeting options on demographics, behaviour and interests.

You also have limited conntrol over the placement of a boosted post. It will be placed in Facebook feeds and instagram feeds if you have an Instagram account linked. Ads offer you a myriad of options including feeds on both Facebook and Instagram, audience network, messenger and whats app, giving you more control over where your ad is shown.

A boosted post will have limited options to use as a call to action (CTA), while paid ads give you more options to choose from.

Boosted posts lack the tracking ability of paid ads, making it increasingly difficult to measure the return on investment (ROI).

While boosted post are sometimes used as part of a larger campaign, I never recommend them for smaller budgets.

If you have any questions or need further clarification, feel free to drop me a message. Additionally, if you'd like to see more content similar to this, don't hesitate to send me a connection request.