Using a Megaphone at a Party: Facebook Boosting and Ads Manager

If you want to cut through the noise on Facebook, you need a marketing megaphone!

Facebook is a party. A loud, crowded party.

But you want to talk to people at this party. You want to make yourself known, to introduce yourself, to network, to share information about your newest listings. So how do you rise above the noise and clutter and make yourself heard?

A Note on Organic Posting

An organic post on Facebook is like whispering in the corner of the party. Few people - if anyone - will hear you.

Over the years, Facebook has realized that the fewer people they show your organic posts to, the more you’ll rely on their advertising products (ka-ching). Also, the more brand/business pages there are, the more competition there is to show up in a person’s news feed.

As a result, organic reach has dipped to 2% or lower. That means that on average, less than 2% of your own page followers will see any given post. And the people who engage with your post are more likely to be in that 2% again and again - so if your mom likes all of your posts, she’s more likely to see them than your actual clients (sorry mom).

BUT do not give up on organic posting just yet. Here’s why:

• It’s free.
• It shows that your office is active.
• Potential agents might browse your feed to see your marketing support.
• Organic posts do reach some people (even if it’s a small audience).
• You never know when an organic post will gain traction and get lots of engagement.
• You can test different posts/creatives to see which gets more traction, and boost the one that performs best.
• Not every post is worth spending money on.

We tend to suggest 2 organic posts per week - but that’s completely subjective. Post at a rate that feels comfortable for you. Post things that are valuable and interesting. Never post just because you feel like you have to get something up - no one wants that, and it won’t do you any favors.

Paying to Play

So how do you make yourself heard beyond your immediate network? The answer: boosting your posts or running an ad. It’s like using a megaphone at the party and making yourself known!

All you need is a business page and a credit card. 

There are two ways to go about this…

Boosting a Post

This is the simplest way to get your message out there. Boosting a post allows you to reach beyond your followers and show your ad to people who may not have heard of you before.

Here’s how to boost a post:

• Create a post: ad+photo(s), ad+video, or ad+link.
• While you’re working on the post, or after you post it, look for a blue button that says “Boost Post.”
• Choose your objective: engagements, messages, clicks, etc.
• Choose your audience. This is the hardest part. Think carefully about the geography, demographics, behaviors, and interests of people who should receive your ad. Remember NOT to use any discriminatory categories like gender, age, religion, familial status, national origin, or race.
• Set your duration and budget. It’s fine to start with as little as $1/day (Facebook’s minimum) for a week and see how it goes.
• Turn on your tracking pixel (here’s how to create and install a Facebook Pixel).
• Add your credit card info (if you don’t have it set up already).
• Click “Boost!”

Away you go! After a brief review period, your ad will begin serving to people in your target audience.

To see how your ads are performing, or to make edits, click “Manage Promotions” on the left-hand side of your Business page.

Running an Ad with Ads Manager

This is by far the more sophisticated method. Facebook Ads Manager allows for fine-tuned control of your ads, like:

• Creating ads that don’t get published on your page (dark posts)
• Choosing different marketing objectives
• A/B testing
• Budget optimizations
• Editing link text
• Creating campaigns with multiple ads
• Testing different button text
• Adding tracking parameters
• Control over ad placement
• Connecting your ads to your Instagram account

And much, much more. But with these options comes a steep learning curve. 

If you’re up for the challenge (or have a marketer on staff), Facebook provides great resources for setting up an Ads Manager account. There’s a lot of information to unpack, so I’ll defer to Facebook on this one!

Any marketer will tell you that Ads Manager is superior. But boosting an ad can get the job done. If you’re doing all of your own marketing and just want simplicity, there’s nothing wrong with boosting.

Bottom Line

The only way to make yourself heard on Facebook - at least beyond your immediate audience - is by paying up. Whether you boost or advertise, you’ll have the opportunity to send targeted, trackable ads to your ideal audience(s). Start small while learning the platform, then capitalize on what you discover works best.