Amplifying your Social Media Presence: Boosted Posts vs Meta Ads
In the realm of social media marketing on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, you've likely encountered the terms 'boosted posts' and 'Meta ads'. These two strategies may seem similar, but they serve distinct purposes and provide different levels of customisation. Understanding when to use each can significantly enhance your online marketing strategy.
Exploring Boosted Posts
A boosted post is an upgrade of a regular post from your Facebook timeline or Instagram feed. By investing some budget into these posts, you can extend their reach to a larger, yet precisely targeted audience beyond your existing followers.
Setting up a boosted post is quite straightforward. You simply select the post you wish to boost, define your audience, set your budget, and determine the duration of your ad campaign. Despite their simplicity, these 'boosted' posts are officially classified as ads.
Boosted posts are particularly beneficial for brands aiming to bolster engagement with their current audience and raise broader awareness. They permit targeting based on demographics, interests, and behaviours. However, the options for targeting are more constrained compared to Meta ads. It's important to note that these posts will appear as 'sponsored' in people's feeds to maintain transparency.
Delving into Meta Ads
On the other hand, Meta ads offer a broad range of customisation options and are created via Meta Ads Manager. With Meta ads, you can select different ad placements, such as Facebook Feed side ads, Instagram stories, or Messenger, tailor your ad objectives (such as leads, app promotion, or sales), and maintain creative control. Moreover, Meta ads offer advanced targeting capabilities.
Meta ads provide a level of specificity that boosted posts can't match. In Meta Ads Manager, you can create unique ad formats like carousel, slideshow, video, and lead generation ads. They also grant you considerable control over budgeting, scheduling, optimisation, and tracking. Therefore, Meta ads are the go-to option for more advanced campaigns with specific goals. Just like boosted posts, audiences will recognise these as 'sponsored' ads.
So, which one should you choose? Both boosted posts and Meta ads offer distinct advantages, and the best choice depends on your brand's goals and your familiarity with the platforms.
For emerging brands seeking to enhance awareness and engagement, boosted posts are an excellent starting point. They offer a simple, straightforward way to dip your toes into the world of social media advertising.
If your brand is running a well-defined campaign to boost sales, Meta ads may be the preferred choice. Their advanced features and customisation options are perfect for brands that have a well-understood target audience and the time to plan and optimise their strategy.
In conclusion, both boosted posts and Meta ads are powerful tools in the arsenal of social media marketing. The choice between the two comes down to your brand's specific needs and objectives. If your aim is to increase engagement and brand awareness in a simple and straightforward manner, boosted posts are the way to go. On the other hand, if you're targeting a more specific audience with a finely tuned campaign, the customisation and advanced features of Meta ads make them the ideal choice. Ultimately, understanding the unique benefits of each strategy will enable you to make the most effective use of your social media marketing budget.
