Why Your Boosted Facebook Post Reaches the Wrong People...
Introduction:
Local service businesses are often asking, why their Facebook ad is showing up in the wrong city, state, or even country.
If you've posted on Facebook or Instagram, you have most likely seen the blue "boost post" button, and you know how tempting it can be. It's the fastest way to start spending money on Facebook "ads".
The problem with boosted posts, is that the results often reflect the effort. Without putting the proper guidelines in place, they will reach the wrong people, in the wrong places, with the wrong intentions. Let's get into why that happens and how to do it yourself.
Boosted Posts vs. Facebook Ads: What’s the Difference?
What is a Boosted Post?
A boosted post is just a regular post on your page that you pay to show to more people.
Facebook makes it super simple: pick a budget, a time frame, and hit “Boost.”
The problem is that boosted posts focus mainly on engagement. Likes, comments, and shares, not on real business goals like leads or sales.
What is a Facebook Ad?
A Facebook ad is created in Meta Ads Manager, which is a separate platform with much more control.
With ads, you can choose real objectives: website visits, lead forms, purchases, messages, and more.
Ads Manager also gives you full control over audiences, placements, and budget optimization. Things you don’t get with a boosted post.
With that said, here are 4 things to take into consideration as you start your paid social media strategy! 👊
1. Why Boosted Posts Usually Are Usually Not Your Best Option
Limited targeting
Boosted posts don't give you the same precision. Instead of reaching a potential customer, your ad will most likely show to a random person, who you normally would not target. Meta (Facebook) even defaults to a setting that includes users who were "recently" in your area. This means that travelers will also see your ad, even after they return home.
Wasted Budget
The boosted posts feature doesn't include the ability to add objectives such as lead generation, phone calls or website visits. The main goal of boosted posts is to get that specific more likes, which generally doesn't translate to results. Especially for local businesses. You end up paying for attention, rather than real results.
Radius problem
Even if you attempt to target your hometown, The minimum radius allowed is 10-25 miles. Much less specific compared to city, or even zip code targeting in Facebook ads.
2. What You Can Do Yourself
The good news is that you don’t need a marketing degree to run better ads. Facebook’s Ads Manager gives you full control over targeting, goals, and reporting.
Here’s how you can DIY better ads:
Pick the right objective: Want leads? Use the “Leads” or “Conversions” campaign type instead of “Engagement.”
Tighten targeting: Ads Manager lets you refine by zip codes, demographics, and interests... rather than just a giant circle.
Watch performance: Unlike boosted posts, Ads Manager shows detailed breakdowns so you can turn off what doesn’t work.
3. When It’s Best to Outsource
Sometimes DIY isn’t the smartest move. Here’s when it might make sense to hand it off:
Time costs more than money. Learning Ads Manager can eat up hours that you could spend running your business, outsourcing saves stress, and often times returns better results.
You want consistent growth. Agencies and freelancers live inside Ads Manager daily, which means they catch trends and changes quicker.
The point isn’t that you have to outsource, it’s that you should choose based on where your time and skills are most valuable.
