Social Media
Social Media Boosting Best Practices
There is an inherent problem with the social media strategies of many businesses. They spend lots of time (and money!) developing content for their social media, but then immediately realize that very...
Jay Owen,CEO & Founder
25+ years in digital marketing | StoryBrand Certified Guide | HubSpot Platinum Partner | Author of 'Building a Business That Lasts'
TL;DR
There is an inherent problem with the social media strategies of many businesses. They spend lots of time (and money!) developing content for their social media, but then immediately realize that very...
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There is an inherent problem with the social media strategies of many businesses. They spend lots of time (and money!) developing content for their social media, but then immediately realize that very few people actually see or interact with that content. Organic reach is an industry term that defines how many people naturally, or “organically,” see your content on platforms like Facebook once you post it. The problem is that fewer people are seeing that content as time goes on, and it’s easy to feel like you’re creating content, and posting it, and seeing no engagement or return on that effort.
A Solution
Your social content doesn’t have to fall flat when it comes to being seen. In fact, all major social platforms allow you to promote or “boost” that content via paid promotion to increase its reach, both to your current fan base or a targeted audience. Platforms like Facebook make it incredibly easy to do. You more than likely have already seen the “Boost” button on your page’s posts. With a couple of clicks, you can instantly reach more people. But is it really that easy to get more engagement? No.The Dos and Don'ts of Boosting
Let’s outline some of the best practices when it comes to social post boosting.Dos
- Establish a budget. This may seem like a no-brainer, but many jump in and out of boosting. This can lead to inconsistent results and no way to measure effectiveness.
- Decide on a strategy. Some like to boost every single post with a small dollar amount and then add more budget if a post takes off. Others like to selectively boost important posts or ones that show better organic results. We prefer being more selective on what posts to boost, but you may want to increase the reach of every post if you are.
- Build custom audiences. Don’t spend money on extra reach to a random mass of people. At the very least, target your current followers (you’ve earned them, right?!). Build other audiences based on people who have visited your website, or whether or not they’ve engaged with your page and posts previously.
- Monitor post performance. Monitor the performance of your normal and boosted posts under the “Insights” area of your Facebook page.
Don’ts
- Have unrealistic expectations. Have goals and objectives that can be measured so you can make clear decisions on whether or not posts are performing well.
- Boost posts that violate Facebook Ads Terms of Service. You can post almost anything you want. That doesn’t mean that every post you try to boost will be approved. When a post is boosted, it technically becomes an ad. Therefore, it has to follow Facebook’s very strict — and sometimes not very clear — advertising guidelines. When in doubt, check it out. Here is a direct link to Facebook’s advertising policies.
- Don’t fall asleep on your boosts. Don’t boost posts and then never look at them. You’ll see some posts fizzle (I wish they could all be winners), but you might see one take off. If it does, you may want to add some additional budget to keep the fire going.
- Have a lot of text in your images. Because the posts become ads, you’ll be restricted by Facebook’s ad policies, which means that your images can’t contain more than 20% text. I know that may be hard to tell, so Facebook built a tool for you to check your images and see if they violate that rule. That tool is here: Facebook text overlay tool.
Put Your Knowledge into Action!
Now that you know social media boosting best practices, it’s time to put your knowledge into action. Understand the “Dos and Don’ts'' when it comes to boosting your posts on Facebook. These tips are by no means all-encompassing, and I would suggest that if you aren’t familiar with it, seek the advice of an agency with experience in that area to, at minimum, help you develop a plan.Ready to Grow Your Business?
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