Boosting Posts on Facebook vs. Using Facebook Ads

When you’re running a law firm you want to make the most of your advertising budget by reaching the right audience. With so many options available on Facebook, it can be difficult to decide whether to boost posts or create paid advertisements. Both can be good options, but it’s important to know that neither are perfect. We’ll discuss the benefits of boosting posts, such as targeting a specific audience and reaching a larger number of people at a low cost, as well as the limitations, such as the lack of analytics and the inability to target specific demographics. We’ll also examine the pros and cons of paid advertisements, including the ability to target specific demographics, access to analytics and tracking, and the ability to create multiple ad campaigns, as well as the cost and the need for ongoing management and optimization.

Understanding the Difference Between Boosted Posts and Ads on Facebook

Boosted posts and paid advertisements on Facebook both allow you to promote your content to a larger audience, but they are different in terms of functionality and targeting options. A boosted post is a regular post that has been promoted to a wider audience, either by targeting a specific group of people or by increasing the post’s visibility in the news feed. Boosted posts are a simple and cost-effective way to reach more people and are fairly easy to setup with no continued management needed. However, they do not offer the same level of targeting and analytics that paid advertisements do. On Facebook, paid advertisements allow you to create multiple ad campaigns, target specific demographics and interests, and access analytics and tracking features, but they require a greater budget and ongoing management. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of each option:

Pros of Boosting Posts

• Cost-effective: Boosting a post is a cost-effective way to reach a wider audience, it requires a smaller budget compared to creating a paid advertisement.
• Targeted reach: You can target a specific audience based on factors such as age, gender, location, and limited detailed targeting. 
• Increase visibility: Boosting a post increases its visibility on the social media platform, which can help to increase brand awareness and reach new customers.
• Easy to use: Boosting a post is a simple process that can be done quickly and easily. It doesn’t require the same level of technical knowledge or ongoing management as creating a paid advertisement.
• Works well for small businesses: Boosting a post is a great option for small businesses that have a limited budget for advertising. It can help to increase visibility and reach a wider audience without incurring large costs.
• Good for promoting content: Boosting a post can be a good way to promote specific content such as a blog post, a new attorney joining the team, or firm highlights.
• Cost-effective way to test audiences: Boosting a post is a cost-effective way to test the interest of an audience in your content and services before investing in a more complex and expensive ad campaign.

Cons of Boosting Posts

• Limited targeting options: When you boost a post, you can only target based on age, gender, location, and limited detailed targeting options. This means you can’t target the same amount of specific interests or behaviors that you can with a paid advertisement, which can limit the effectiveness of your ad.
• Lack of analytics and tracking: Boosted posts do not provide the same level of analytics and tracking as paid advertisements. This makes it difficult to measure the success of your ad and optimize it for better results.
• Limited ad format: Boosted posts are limited to the format of a regular post, which means you can’t use other ad formats such as carousel, collection, or videos over 60 seconds, which can be more engaging for users.
• Lack of control over ad placement: When you boost a post, you have little control over where the ad will appear on Facebook, whether it’s on the news feed, stories, or the right-hand column.
• Hard to track conversion: Boosted posts do not provide conversion tracking, which makes it difficult to measure the ROI of your ad campaigns.
• Limited budget: Facebook allows you to boost posts with a small budget, which can be beneficial for small businesses, but can limit the reach of your ad and its overall impact.
• Exclusions: Unlike using a paid advertisement, you can’t use any exclusions when boosting a post. 

Pros of Facebook Ads:

• Targeting specific demographics: Facebook ads allow you to target specific demographics, such as age, gender, location, interests, behaviors, audience lists, and more. This allows you to reach the right audience and increase the chances of conversions. 
• Multiple ad formats: Facebook offers a variety of ad formats, such as carousel, collection, video, and more, which allows you to create more engaging and interactive ads that can increase user engagement.
• Detailed analytics and tracking: Facebook provides a range of analytics and tracking features that allow you to measure the performance of your ads and optimize them for better results. You can track metrics such as click-through rate, conversion rate, and return on investment (ROI).
• Increased reach: Paid advertisements on Facebook can reach a much larger audience than boosting posts, which can increase the visibility of your business and boost brand awareness.
• Ability to create multiple ad campaigns: Facebook allows you to create multiple ad campaigns and test different targeting options and ad formats, which can help you find the best strategies for your business.
• Ad placement control: With Facebook ads, you have more control over where your ad appears, whether it’s on the news feed, stories, messenger, or the right-hand column. This can help you reach your desired audience and increase engagement.
• Cost-effective: Facebook ads can be cost-effective, especially when compared to traditional forms of advertising. You can set a budget that works for your business and only pay when someone clicks on your ad or takes a specific action.

Cons of Facebook Ads:

• Cost: While Facebook ads can be cost-effective, they can also become expensive if not managed properly. You’ll need to set a budget and monitor your spending, and you may need to invest in ongoing management and optimization.
• Time-consuming: Creating and managing Facebook ad campaigns can be time-consuming, especially if you have multiple campaigns running at once. It requires ongoing management and optimization to get the best results.
• Ad fatigue: If your ads are shown too frequently to the same audience, they may become less effective over time, this is known as ad fatigue. It’s important to regularly refresh your ad creative and targeting to avoid this.
• Ad Rejection: Facebook has strict guidelines for ad content, and your ad may be rejected if it doesn’t comply with their policies. This can cause delays and additional work in getting your ad approved.
• Algorithm changes: Facebook’s algorithm is constantly evolving, and changes to the way ads are ranked and delivered can affect the performance of your campaigns. This requires ongoing monitoring and optimization to ensure your ads are reaching the right audience.
• Dependence on Facebook: Facebook is a powerful platform, but it’s not the only one out there. By relying too heavily on Facebook ads, you may miss out on opportunities to reach customers through other channels.
• Lack of control over audience engagement: Even if your ad is well-targeted and well-designed, you can’t control how users will interact with it. They may not engage with it or may not be ready to convert.

Should Your Law Firm Boost Posts or Use Paid Advertisements?

Now that you know the pros and cons of boosting posts versus using paid ads it is up to you to decide what option makes the most sense for your firm. Both have value and it doesn’t hurt to use a mix of boosting posts and running paid ads simultaneously. Boosting posts can be great for announcements or upcoming events, like a new attorney joining the team or announcing firm updates. Using paid advertisements are a great way to get in front of potential new clients, because you have more targeting options. Which option you choose depends on what it is that you are trying to achieve. If you are trying to expand your reach and highlight your law firm boosting is the way to go. If you are trying to attract new clients consider experimenting with different types of paid advertisements on Meta. Whenever you are spending money on advertising it’s important to have a strategy behind what you’re doing and this is no different when it comes to advertising on social media. We can help your law firm create a paid social media strategy that fits the needs of your practice, contact us today for a free strategy session.