The new Facebook promoted posts are gaining in popularity, so today I thought we’d dive in head first to uncover and define what really makes this new feature a winner. If your Facebook page has more than 400 fans, then you have access to this feature – that’s great news! Let’s discover how to make the most out of it here.
Courtesy of monoamarketing.com
What Are Facebook Promoted Posts?
A promoted post is quite simply a regular post that you’ve made on your timeline page, that now includes an additional advertising feature, courtesy of Facebook.
If you look at the bottom of your post, you’ll see a little button that says ‘promote.’ Click this button, and you’ll have
instant access to a paid promotional advertising window – where you can ‘promote’ your post to more fans, so that they can interact more with your post.
There will be two options – where you can select your intended audience, and set your scalable budget. It’s like a really efficient prepaid advertising system that is targeted to specific posts that have already proved to be popular among your fans.
Tip! Promote your post early, or you won’t be able to promote it at all – old posts can’t be promoted. There is a 3 day time limit on your ‘tests!’
3 Useful Things To Know About Using Promoted Posts
• Set a budget and let your promoted post get more exposure. When you feel it’s reached enough people, you can reduce the budget, or cancel the promotion at the click of a button. It’s all very convenient.
• I use promoted posts to increase the overall engagement on a post. This is especially useful for download posts, free giveaways that drive traffic, competitions, sign up prompts or other important posts that rely on exposure and engagement.
• Promoted posts are tracked by Facebook, so you can check out the stats when you’re done. This is great for gathering data on your next promo campaign! There will also be extra data in the usual analytics spaces.
The main thing you need to know about promoted posts is that they are strictly for finding more views, and getting more responses. I wouldn’t waste time using them for the average post. Instead stick to ‘action-orientated’ posts. Every post should be part of a test. Test it on your audience for 3 days, then if it works – promote it.
But try using two similar posts and promoting them – for an even greater split test diagnostic. These can let you into all kinds of valuable fan engagement secrets in your niche. For example, posts with the word ‘get’ in them convert 16% more than posts with other language. It’s all down to split testing!
Start with a small budget and play around, so that you can get the hang of promoted posts. Small businesses can extend their reach by breaking their campaigns into $20.00 promos for example. Do the tests, then invest in a post that you KNOW will convert.
Do you think promoted posts are a great new Facebook feature, or just another way for the now public ‘Facebook’ to earn more ad dollars? We want to know your opinion!