Facebook can sometimes seem simple can’t it? We all spend so much time on it (the average person spends more than 40 minutes a day) that it feels familiar.  However, when it comes to advertising there’s a bit more to it; or there certainly should be.

We’ve helped plenty of clients make more from their advertising spend on Facebook, whether that’s gaining bookings for tourist businesses, selling products or promoting services.

Here’s a simple strategy for you to follow that should see you gain a little more when you boost your posts.

When not to boost a post

The first part of this is always to ask yourself if what you’re doing is worth it.  You should only boost a post if there’s a reason to do so, and that reason should never be because Facebook have provided you with a massive blue button that says BOOST on it, or that you are slightly addicted to large numbers when it comes to the number of people reached (displayed under each post).

When to boost a post

For me, if you’re spending money, more often than not you should be looking to gain more in return than the amount you’re spending.  With that in mind your post should have some sort of call to action – something you want the person to do when they see it.  If it does then it is worth boosting so more people take that action; whether it’s to buy your product or share your page (reach rather than revenue being your goal in that case) or any other strategic goal you have.

How to boost your posts and gain more

Step 1: Get to the right screen

So you’ve decided that this post is worth boosting.  The next step is to make sure you’re doing it correctly.

1. When on your page, look to the left hand menu and find the PROMOTE button.
2. Click on it and select MANAGE MY PROMOTIONS.
3. Select GO TO ADVERTS MANAGER.
4. Hit the green CREATE ADVERT button.
5. Select BOOST POSTS and give your campaign a name on the next screen.

Step 2: Understanding Facebook connections

From here you will have your normal targeting screen.  Scroll down to the option that says CONNECTION TYPE.

There are three options:

• People who already like your page
• Friends of people that already like your page
• Exclude people who like your page

We are going to run three small campaigns rather than the common approach businesses tend to take, which is to run one large campaign to an untargeted audience (particularly common if hitting that blue boost button!).

Campaign 1: People that already like your page

The first campaign you should run will always be to people that like your page.  The reason? They’ve already stated they’re interested in your products or services so they’re logically the most likely to be interested in what you will be boosting.

Remember the average post only reaches 20% of your page likes, so to reach the other 80% you will need to boost, and in doing so you are likely to gain the action you’re wanting them to take.

To carry out this initial campaign set the connections type to people that already like your page.  You shouldn’t need any demographic targeting unless your page likes need some level of segmentation; if for example you were only selling to women then you would still set your campaign to only reach females.

Campaign 2: Friends of those people

Ok so you’ve tried that campaign; did you get any sales or actions that you wanted people to take?

Next step is to reach their friends and there are two reasons for doing this.  The first is that people are friends for a reason – this can be because of age, location, family makeup, work or any number of other things.  Point is they have something in common.  When it comes to advertising they’re always the obvious targets as they are likely to be interested in the same things.

Second point is that Facebook will mention them in your advertising; ‘X likes this page’, giving your advert potentially higher credibility and therefore click through rate.

To run this campaign set the connection type to their friends.  You may wish to target demographics just to make sure you’re reaching the right people.

Campaign 3: Knowing who it is that buys from you

The third campaign, to be run after the aforementioned two, is the standard promotion that targets a certain set of people.  Do this as you normally would and by the time you’ve run this campaign you should have seen a greater cumulative return over the three we’ve suggested.  It’s been proven to work time and again.

For more information on how we help small businesses with their Facebook presence please give us a call on 01566 232323 or email hello@mihidigital.co.uk and we’ll be happy to have a chat.