A Beginners Guide to Facebook Sponsored Posts

Social media continues to be an important tool for both brick-and-mortar and online businesses. Using social media channels can help you tap into the minds of modern consumers – it’s perfect if you want to expand the reach of your business. While there have been various major social media channels emerging in recent years, Facebook continues to be one of the most influential players in the game.

While Facebook is largely thought of as a platform for its users, the business makes its money from advertising and sponsored posts. You need to understand how its paid traffic options work if you want to gain access to more than two billion active Facebook users.

In this guide, we’ll explore why Facebook sponsored posts are important and how you can share a post. We’ll also explore some extra tips on how to create the most effective sponsored posts on Facebook!

Why Are Facebook Sponsored Posts So Important?

Many small businesses and websites spend a considerable amount of time cultivating an organic following. By offering great content and products, you can naturally build your fan base on social media and in real life. Unfortunately, Facebook has recently started to diminish the value of organic followers.

Facebook has done this by reducing your organic reach to your followers. You can no longer rest assured that your posts will reach Facebook users that have liked or followed your page. In fact, recent data suggests that Facebook posts are only likely to reach less than 3% of your followers!

If you think that’s low, that’s because it is! You can’t rely on unsponsored posts to notify your community of your latest developments.

Instead, you’ll need to pay to promote posts if you want to increase your exposure. This has been a significant revenue raiser for Facebook. While the platform has received a lot of criticism for diminishing the value of organic followings, you can still benefit significantly if you’re willing to pay for additional traffic and exposure!

How Can I Create a Sponsored Posts?

If you want to make a sponsored post on Facebook, you have two different options at your disposal. Let’s explore each one in more detail below:

Method 1: Through Traditional Posts

One of the primary benefits of sponsored posts is that they’re so easy to set up. For Facebook users that are hoping to simplify the process, you can actually set up a sponsored post in the same way that you set up an organic post. At the bottom of your post, there should be a ‘Boost Post’ button for you to click.

If you click on this button, you’ll be redirected to input various details about the intended audience – you can input geographic locations, ages, and more. These basic customizations allow you to curate a pool of people to target with your post.

Depending on how long your post runs for, you should be able to assess its metrics in the Facebook Ad Manager. This can provide insight into your post’s performance with different populations.

Once you have everything set up, you can determine the duration and budget that’s suitable for your needs. Make sure to double-check that the ad is active after selecting your duration and budget.

Method 2: Via the Facebook Ad Manager

You can also decide to sponsor posts using the Facebook Ad Manager. While this is just effective of a method for sponsored posts, it’s a little more complicated – this is best for those who already have experience using the ad manager.

If you select the ‘Use Existing Post’ tab in the Facebook Ad Manager, you can choose to sponsor posts that you’ve already made.

Sponsored Post Tips

If you’ve decided to share a sponsored post on Facebook, it’s essential to approach the process in the correct way. We’ve outlined a few tips that can help you get the most out of your sponsored posts. If a return on your investment is a priority, make sure to consider the three tips below:

Create Value

Many businesses and creators make the mistake of producing poor-quality content for their sponsored posts. If you want to ensure that your sponsored post is engaging, it’s critical to create great content. Whether you’re informing customers about a sale, or promoting your business’s brand, don’t forget the importance of being creative.

Using a professional creative can help you build captivating posts that draw in the attention of Facebook users. It’s important to remember that a sponsored post only places the post in front of users – it’s your job to get them to engage with it!

Focus on an Outcome

Before you pay for a sponsored post, it’s crucial to determine your desired outcome. For example, do you want to drive users towards a specific product? Or are you merely seeking exposure for your brand?

By determining your desired outcome, you can increase your chances of a successful campaign.

Know Your Limits

Lastly, it’s essential to understand that Facebook sponsored posts have their limit – this isn’t a marketing strategy that will suffice in isolation. If you want to promote your brand or product, you need to employ a comprehensive marketing approach that targets other Facebook advertising channels and different social media platforms.

If you want to run a highly-effective ad campaign that pinpoints particular Facebook users, you’re better off running a traditional ad. While sponsored posts certainly help you increase exposure, they don’t have the same razor-sharp effectiveness that you’ll find in Facebook ads.

Make sure to use sponsored posts as a part of your marketing strategy (not the entire solution).

Tap into Facebook’s Extensive Social Media Marketing Platform

One of Facebook’s primary successes is its advanced marketing platform. The amount of data the company collects means it’s uniquely positioned to help you pinpoint consumers that are interested in your products or services. For this reason, make sure to access the company’s traditional ad service if you’re trying to get the most out of Facebook.

Testing various types of ads and strategies can help you find the perfect solution for your small business. Just because one approach isn’t working, doesn’t mean another won’t help you reach more customers!