When advertising on Facebook, business owners have the option to either "boost" a post on their page's timeline to increase visibility with a specific audience, or to run a more targeted advertising campaign using Facebook ads.

What's a Boosted Post?

A boosted post is an ad that is pushed out to a certain group of people at a set budget. These posts are displayed on your timeline and are a beneficial tool for garnering increased engagement in the form of likes, comments, and shares.

Boosted posts are commonly used to promote shorter sales and events, and is the preferred method of advertising for business owners that are looking to showcase something to their existing clientele. The targeting for these types of posts is a bit limited, but you are still able to reach people based on age, gender, and interest, and the process for boosting a post is typically simpler than creating a Facebook ads campaign.

What are Facebook Ads?

Facebook ads differ from boosted posts in a few ways. For starters, Facebook ads have advanced targeting capabilities such as look-a-like audiences and overlapping audience types. These targeting options are useful for owners that are looking to zero in on the most beneficial demographics in order to bring in qualified leads at the lowest cost.

In addition to this, Facebook ads also lend more creative control to managers and give owners options as to where they want their ad to display within the platform (Messenger ads, News Feed side ads etc.).

The final difference is that delivering Facebook ads through ads manager allows for the utilization of the Pixel tracking, which reports on events, actions, leads, and conversions. This data is critical to business owners to verify business results from the advertising campaigns, and can help inform business models and future marketing efforts.

More Details

If you would like additional information on this topic, here are some great articles that summarize the differences between the two service offerings and give you insight into what it all means in the scope of modern marketing: 

• "The Difference Between Boosted Posts and Facebook Ads." Link
• "Facebook Ads vs. Boosted Posts." Link
• "What You Need To Know About Facebook's News Feed Changes." Link

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