Social media has completely changed many aspects of our lives, offering us a way to share content like never before and connect with people worldwide in seconds. It has also changed how many companies market themselves globally, especially regarding brand awareness and public engagement. Social media can significantly benefit companies that use it well but garnering followers and fostering genuine engagement is a complicated feat that can take years to achieve.
One method to increase brand awareness is boosting social media posts, which helps your posts get more notice without explicitly advertising. Learn more about social media posts, social media ads, and how you can integrate them into your company's marketing strategy below.
Explaining Boosted Social Media Posts
Boosted social media posts are standard posts on a company's social media page. However, when boosting them, you pay to have them displayed as sponsored content in the timelines or newsfeeds of people who don't yet follow you. It can significantly enhance how many eyes you get on posts and increase brand awareness beyond your existing customer base. The best boosted posts feature a compelling picture that can grab viewers' attention among the organic posts they expect to see in their timelines. Usually, the best source for boosted posts is your most well-performing, regular posts.
Although boosted social media posts seem like advertisements, they still differ from social media ads. Many marketing experts differentiate boosted social media posts by thinking about them as a marketing tactic existing between the engagement received from standard, everyday posts and paid ads on social media sites.
Most users may not see your social media posts until you pay to boost them, especially if they don't already follow you. Users who visit your boosted social media posts can interact with them in the same way they can like, share, or comment on regular social media posts. Boosted social media ads also tend to have fewer customization options than social media ads, and you don't obtain the same metrics.
How They Are Distinct from Social Media Ads
On the other hand, social media ads don't sit on the timeline on social media feeds. On Facebook, sponsored content or paid ads can appear in or out of a user's timeline. Ads are usually displayed on the side of the social media page and follow the user as they scroll. Many social media sites allow you to pick where your ads are showing, whether in the app or desktop website or on different functions within the site itself.
Social media ads also give you more customization options than boosted posts, as many social media sites allow you to create ads from scratch within their ad management tools. You can create video, image, or text ads, and you can even add a call-to-action button that allows for direct purchases. Plus, social media ads provide you with more analytics, including app installs, video views, shop orders, website conversions, and even demographic information about the types of people who interacted with your ads the most.
However, one of the most important distinctions between social media ads and boosted posts is the ability to target your audience more precisely. Some social media sites give you the option to choose the gender and age of the people you want to see your boosted posts, while social media ads offer far more advanced targeting options. Unfortunately, highly targeted ads of this type tend to cost significantly more per reach than boosted posts, which is why it's essential to ensure you optimize your ads for each social media platform.
Utilize the Tools to Engage Your Audience
Both boosted posts, and social media ads have a time and place, and they work well together as part of your social media campaign. You can, for example, engage with your audience regularly by posting to your company page using a content calendar. When you narrow down which of your posts are top performers, you can try giving them a boost to engage even more people and expand their lifespan.
With social media ads, you can launch a campaign that ensures your ads reach the people most likely to be interested in them based on advanced analytics from the social media sites. The startup cost is often higher than boosted posts, and you're likely to see a positive ROI on targeted social media ads. Each tactic is a beneficial component of social media marketing, and boosting posts helps to enhance your standard posting strategy.
Consider a Media Partner for Your Social Media Strategy
Finding the right blend of boosted posts and social media ads can result in exponential growth for your company in a relatively short amount of time. Unfortunately, finding such a combination can take a tremendous amount of trial and error if you don't have much social media marketing experience. If you'd rather speed up the entire process, you could try working with a media partner.
Media partners are experts in social media marketing, and the best media partners can help you launch a successful social media campaign on the first try!
