Boosted vs. Paid Ads: Which is Best?

Written by Bri White

When choosing between boosted posts and paid ads on platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn, it's essential to consider your marketing goals, budget, and the level of targeting you require. Both platforms offer options for promoting content, but they cater to different needs and strategies.

Boosted Posts:

Boosted posts on Facebook are an easy and straightforward way to promote existing content from your Facebook page. They are designed to increase engagement metrics like likes, comments, and shares by extending the reach of posts that are already performing well organically. The simplicity of setting up a boosted post makes it ideal for quick promotions, like announcing events or sharing blog posts, without the need for in-depth advertising expertise. Simple enough, right? However, boosted posts come with limited targeting options, offering basic filters like interests, age, gender, and location.

LinkedIn also offers a similar feature called "Boost," which allows you to promote updates from your LinkedIn Page to increase visibility and engagement. This option is particularly useful for professional content, such as industry insights, company news, and job postings. Boosted updates on LinkedIn can target audiences based on professional attributes like job title, company size, industry, and seniority.

Paid Ads:

Paid ads on both platforms provide a comprehensive suite of tools for detailed targeting and campaign customization. Think of it as taking things a step further. On Facebook, these ads are suitable for more complex advertising needs, offering a variety of ad formats including photo ads, video ads, carousel ads, and more. Paid ads allow for advanced audience segmentation with custom audiences, lookalike audiences, and detailed demographic, behavioral, and interest-based targeting. Additionally, they are designed to achieve specific business objectives such as brand awareness, traffic, conversions, and app installs, making them ideal for campaigns focused on driving measurable actions. The ability to track performance in real-time and optimize campaigns based on detailed analytics ensures a higher return on investment, albeit with a potentially higher budget and time investment.

LinkedIn's paid advertising options, such as Sponsored Content, Sponsored InMail, and Text Ads, offer robust targeting capabilities based on professional data. These ads are particularly effective for B2B marketing, lead generation, and reaching decision-makers within specific industries. LinkedIn's detailed targeting options include criteria such as job function, company size, industry, skills, and more, making it a powerful platform for professional and business-oriented campaigns.

When to Use Each Option:

Boosted Posts:

• Use boosted posts on Facebook to increase the visibility of content that is already performing well and to engage with your current followers and their networks through quick, straightforward promotions.

• Use LinkedIn's boost feature to enhance the reach of professional updates and engage with a targeted audience based on professional criteria.

Paid Ads:

• Deploy paid ads on Facebook for launching new products or services, expanding your customer base, and running targeted, goal-oriented campaigns that require detailed performance tracking and optimization.

• Utilize LinkedIn's paid ads for B2B marketing, lead generation, and campaigns aimed at reaching professionals and decision-makers within specific industries.

Both Facebook and LinkedIn offer valuable advertising options tailored to different marketing needs. By understanding the strengths and limitations of each platform and their respective ad types, you can create a balanced advertising strategy. This strategy should leverage both boosted posts and paid ads to maximize reach and effectiveness, whether you are targeting a broad consumer audience on Facebook or a professional, business-oriented audience on LinkedIn.

The great news is Mezzo does that! Together we’ll build a comprehensive strategy to reach and exceed your business goals. Contact us today for a free consultation!