How to Boost a Facebook Post (and Get Results): The 2023 Guide

Outside in 2013. You sit down and type a new post for your client’s Facebook page. When you rewatch NSYNC on the VMAs, you take a sip of a fat-free caramel macchiato and check out Facebook analytics. Half of your followers have seen it and it already has 100,000 views. Life is good.

Sorry friend, in 2023 social media managers will be lucky if the average engagement rate for Facebook posts is 0.07%. Womp womp.

But all is not lost, fearless marketer. You can bring back the glory—and organic reach—of the good old days by promoting your Facebook posts. Here’s how.

What is a “boost post”on Facebook?

Facebook’s “Sponsored Post”quickly turns existing organic content into paid advertising. Facebook Boost Posts are an easy and effective way to expand your reach beyond your existing Facebook Page audience.

Promoting posts on Facebook can help you:

• Attract new followers (page likes)
• Improve interaction
• Promote your brand
• Understand what content is best for your goals and audience
• Start exploring social media advertising

How to promote a post on Facebook

How to promote a post on your Facebook account

Promoting a post from Facebook is quick, but there are a few prerequisites:

• Administrator or manager access to a Facebook Page.
• Facebook Ads Manager account with current payment method.

Once you get those two things right, follow the steps below to boost your first post.

1. Go to your Facebook page.

You can promote a Facebook post from a web browser or mobile app.

2. Find the Facebook post you want to upvote.

Scroll through recent posts to find the one you want to boost, then click Promote Post at the bottom.

Is the button greyed out? You can’t promote some posts on Facebook, but 99% of the time you can.

3. Select a target.

Facebook will automatically fill in goal suggestions, audience targeting criteria, link, duration, budget, and more. You can click Boost Post Now and run your ad.

But for best results, review each section of the page to ensure accuracy. Start by clicking “Edit”in the “Goal”section to see all the options available and choose the one that suits you best.

For example, if you include a link in your promoted post, your goal should be to “get more visitors to your site.”

4. Edit the action button and URL.

Then choose what you want the action button to say. Facebook defaults to Shop Now, although I’m going to change it to Sign Up. Make sure the link URL is also accurate.

5. Target your audience.

Choose who you want to target this boosted post to, or choose one of the existing custom ad audiences (if you have one). You can also save your criteria as a new custom audience for next time.

You can set up targeting:

• Gender (Currently only male, female, or both. Hopefully in the future, Facebook will represent all gender identities.)
• Age Range
• Location (Choose from country level to individual cities.)
• Interests

Targeting is optional. If you don’t provide any of these options, Facebook will try to target your promotional post to those they think are most interested. Do you want an express course? Learn Facebook ad targeting 101.

6. Set a budget.

The default duration is 7 days, which is good for most Facebook posts. Set your overall publishing budget and you’ll see an estimate of how many people you’ll reach and how many clicks your link will get.

Click “Speed ​​up publishing now”and that’s it.

How to Boost a Facebook Post with Hootsuite

You can follow the steps above or save tons of time with Hootsuite’s automatic Facebook post promotion.

With Hootsuite you can:

• Manually promote a post on Facebook or…
• Set up automatic promotion of posts that meet certain criteria.

Please note that in order to promote posts on Facebook with Hootsuite, you first need to add your Facebook Ads Manager account to Hootsuite.

How to Manually Boost a Facebook Post in Hootsuite

Method 1: Go to the Ads section of the Hootsuite Dashboard and then Facebook Boost. Scroll through your Facebook posts and click Boost on the one you want. Follow the instructions to target and set up your sponsored post.

Method 2: You will see the Boost button on Facebook posts in other Hootsuite locations, including:

• Composer
• Scheduler
• In the Facebook stream

Clicking Boost in any of these areas will bring up the same targeting and customization menu as in the first method. If you have any active Facebook posts created with Hootsuite, they will be marked with a $ symbol in Scheduler.

How to Automatically Promote Facebook Posts in Hootsuite

Facebook auto-promoting can really boost your Page. Here’s how to set it up.

1. Go to the “Advertising”section, then to Facebook Boost. Click “Set up auto promotion”.

2. If you have multiple Facebook pages connected to Hootsuite, select the one you want. Give your auto ad campaign a name.

3. Select an interaction trigger.

You can let Hootsuite decide which Facebook posts to promote based on your average engagement rate, or set your own criteria.

You can activate boost post on Facebook based on quantity:

• Like
• Stock
• Comments
• Achieve
• Video views

You can also combine criteria. For example, only trigger auto-boost when a post has at least 100 likes and 50 comments.

Or go the extra mile and promote every Facebook post in the last 7 days. Woo! (I don’t recommend this unless you’re doing a big launch or special promotion.)

4. Edit the boost post settings.

As with the other methods, you will need to set your target audience, budget, etc. The same settings will apply to all of your promoted posts in this automatic campaign, so you only need to do this once.

Hootsuite can promote your posts on both Facebook and Instagram, or just Facebook.

Click Boost and you’re done.

Facebook Posting Cost

You can promote a Facebook post for as little as $1 per day. But if you spend more, your ad will reach more people.

You can enter a specific amount or move the slider to set a maximum total budget. This is what Facebook will spend for the duration of your promoted post. Changing your budget changes your potential reach, which Facebook estimates for you.

For example, if your budget is $50 and your duration is 7 days, Facebook will spend an average of $7.15 per day. Actual daily costs will vary slightly, but you will not be charged more than the total budget listed for the campaign.

Facebook Ads vs Promoted Post

A Facebook boost post is a very simple form of Facebook advertising. They are easy and quick to set up and are a good way to get started or experiment with social media advertising.

Here is a summary of the key differences between Facebook sponsored posts and traditional Facebook ad campaigns:

If you’re wondering how to embed Facebook sponsored posts or traditional ads into your overall social media strategy, check out our (very) comprehensive Facebook marketing guide, recently updated for 2023.

Frequently Asked Questions About Promoting a Facebook Post

How do I boost an existing post on Facebook?

On your Facebook page, click “Promote”below any existing post to turn it into a promoted post on Facebook. Or promote your Facebook posts from the Hootsuite dashboard. You can choose your own or have Hootsuite auto-promote Facebook posts along with all other social media content and ads.

How can I boost my post on Facebook for free?

You will always have to pay the actual advertising cost of your sponsored post, but you can set your own budget for as little as $1. You can promote a Facebook post from the Facebook website, so you don’t need any additional software.

Go to your Facebook page, scroll down until you see the post you want to upvote, then click the upvote button in the bottom right corner. Fill in your ad targeting, link, and budget options, and you’re done.

You can promote a Facebook post for one day for $1. However, I would recommend spending a little more for better results. Making $5 a day for 7 days is an inexpensive way to try out post promotion and gather data about who you’re working with.

Want to know how to get the best deal on Facebook Ads? Check out our complete guide to optimizing your Facebook ad spend, as well as industry benchmarks.

Does Facebook post promotion work?

Aha! Facebook ads, including sponsored posts, reach over 72% of monthly active users. And this is a lot: the number of Facebook users is approaching 3 billion, which is almost 40% of the 7.7 billion inhabitants of the planet.

The actual reach of your Facebook post depends on your targeting strategy and budget. As the most popular social network in the world, Facebook posts are very effective in expanding your audience.

Why can’t I promote my post on Facebook?

You can promote any existing post on your Facebook page as long as it has a blue “Promote Post”button in the bottom right corner. Sometimes this button is greyed out, which means you can’t promote a particular post on Facebook.

For example, only verified brands can post live video, or the payment method in your Meta Ads Manager account may need to be reviewed. Find out which types of Facebook posts can’t be promoted and troubleshooting tips if you run into this problem.

Can I boost a post on Instagram and Facebook at the same time?

Aha! To promote a post on Facebook and Instagram at the same time, you need to create it from your Meta Ads Manager dashboard, not from your Facebook page.

Or for a very simple option: Promote posts on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn directly from the Hootsuite dashboard with just a few clicks.