Facebook knows you want to reach its 1.26 billion users, so it’s giving you a few ways to make that happen. You can just schedule a post on your Facebook business page and hope your fans spread the news. However, you need to realize pages organically reach only about 16 percent of their fans on average. (Up your odds by posting photos, which get more reaction.) Or you can better target your message by paying for Facebook posts and ads.
What’s the difference between a paid ad and a paid post? A Facebook Ad is a way to get your message out to a targeted audience based on your choices for location, gender, age, hobbies and more. Businesses use Facebook ads mostly to attract more fans to their pages.
A Boosted Post goes to followers you already have and appears in their news feeds, higher up and with bigger pictures to capture their attention. You might do a sponsored post if you’re trying to promote a specific message, product, event or sale.
You can also have a Boosted Post show up in the feeds of your followers’ friends (meaning the friends aren’t necessarily your fans . . . yet). Since both options are relatively inexpensive, you should try both methods and see what works better for your business. Use the Facebook Ad Manager to track activity on your ads and Boosted Posts.
For more help, visit the Facebook for Business page, where you can see examples of both types of successful campaigns. Also, check the information for Boosted Posts.