Facebook Ads Vs. Boosted Posts: What’s the Difference?

When marketing your brand, it’s important to understand what options you have for your business goals. We all see those perfectly tailored ads on our Facebook and Instagram pages. You’ve probably asked yourself how they are always so accurately targeted to your needs! Let’s take a quick look at the differences between boosted ads and running an ad campaign. Once you know the difference, you’ll be able to set up your ads to best target prospective customers.

Facebook ads allow companies to pick their target audience based on your other interests and searches. This is one of the many benefits of running an ad. It opens up a whole new window where you are able to track engagements, define specific campaign goals, set up your target audience, view click through rates, and much more!

Another benefit of running and creating an ad are the different formatting options. You can create a carousel, a video ad, and a post, for example. You can incorporate call-to-action buttons, which make it a dynamic choice for your business and its growth.

On the other hand, you can opt to solely boost a post(s). This is a simplified and easy way to spread brand awareness and engagement on specific social posts. Boosting a post helps to ensure a larger group of individuals see that post. Although it’s a more simplified option, there are a few cons that come with boosting a post. Unlike an ad, there are limited options for targeting your audience. Another disadvantage is you don’t have control over ad placement. This means that Facebook may place your post on mobile, but if your target audience primarily uses a desktop, you’ll have a harder time getting your post onto their screens.

When it comes to choosing whether to boost a post or run an ad, you first need to define what your business goals are. Boosting a post is great for smaller businesses that are looking to get a larger amount of engagement on single posts and be seen by larger audiences. But running an ad will help you achieve a more defined goal and have greater control over who sees your ad and will allow you to view your insights and analytics.