I don’t want to make it seem like it’s impossible to run a successful Facebook Ads campaign if you’re only boosting posts– perhaps you have a good system.
That being said, I think it’s hard to argue that if you’re only boosting, you’re just scratching the surface of a very powerful ad platform.
It’s kind of like visiting New York City, and only visiting the Statue of Liberty. The statue is pretty cool, but that city has soooo much more to offer.
But let’s backtrack for a second, just to make sure we’re all on the same page…
What is a boosted post?
When we’re referring to a boosted post, we’re talking about that small blue rectangular button that’s below every one of your Page’s posts (if you’re logged in as a Page manager).
Chances are, you’ve clicked on this blue button. Perhaps you’ve even spent some money on it. If so, no judgement from me. Organic reach is dismal, and you gotta do something to increase your reach.
The boost button gives you… well… a boost, plain and simple. It’s Facebook Ads Express, designed as a quick-and-painless solution to advertise your content.
Got it?
(you hopefully nodding your head)
Good. Moving on…
17 things you can’t do when you “boost”, but can do on Facebook Ads Manager
Here’s the recently updated list of things you can’t do when you boost that you can absolutely do via Facebook Ads Manager.
In no particular order…
- You can only choose a small % of available objectives
- You can’t make a new Custom Audiences
- You can only select Link Clicks for a traffic objective
- You have less ad placement options
- Less control over the ad creative
- Can’t use Dynamic Creative
- Can’t run formal split tests
- Can’t accelerate your budget
- You can’t choose how you get charged
- Say goodbye to daily budgets
- No language targeting
- Difficult to run organized campaigns
- No dayparting
- No manual bids
- No Daily Unique Reach
- You can’t select “people living in”
- You might be revealing yourself as a novice advertiser to Facebook (watch video for more on this one)
You’re going to need more context, so I also made this 2 minute audio clip that goes into some more detail.
Pro tip: There’s a really awesome blog post that I wrote on my company blog that goes into more detail. If you’re interested in reading more details, I encourage you to visit the New Content Collective post “17 Limitations of Facebook’s Boosted Posts”
Facebook changes constantly. Comment below if something in this article needs to be updated.
