Facebook Boosted Posts — What You Need to Know

Facebook Boosted Posts — What You Need to Know

Have you ever been tempted to press the “boost post” button on Facebook, but refrained because you don’t know how it works or whether it is worth the investment? Well, here’s a primer on how you can use simple Facebook advertising to bring in more appointments to your eye care practice.

Promoting your Facebook page or boosting a specific post is a recommended way to advertise on Facebook affordably and easily, as long as you do it wisely. Keep in mind, I’m not talking about Facebook Ads, which are a much more complicated, pay-per-click brand of marketing which requires extensive research or professional assistance. Rather, this article will focus solely on Facebook “boosted posts.”

What are boosted posts?

Did you ever see posts that say “sponsored” in small grey letters under the profile image in your news feed? These are boosted posts. Boosted posts appear higher up in the user’s News Feed, increasing the chance that your audience will see them. Why? Because you pay for it!

How do you boost a post?

After you’ve created a suitable post you will see a Boost Post button in the lower-right corner of the post. Click this button and then you will be asked to select an audience and a budget, based on the number of potential fans you want to reach and how long you wish the post to run.  You will have to enter payment information if you have not already.

Here are a couple of tips.  Select an audience within a very narrow location. Stay focused on your immediate town (don’t start targeting the next town over) or if you are in a big city, narrow it down to the closest neighborhood. Run the boost from Monday through Thursday. Typically, the weekends (including Fridays) are not a good time because people that see the ad won’t act on it and it will be a waste of an impression.

How much does it cost to boost a post?

The price of boosting a post depends on the target audience you select. The higher your budget, the larger the audience you will reach. The nice thing is that you can target the audience that is most relevant for your post and not waste money paying to boost it for everyone.  You can play around with the parameters to maximize your audience for the price you are willing to pay.  Start off slow by putting in $20 each week and see how it goes.

Remember, you are charged based on the impressions on the post (likes, shares etc.) during the duration of the campaign, so you may not end up reaching your budget.


Subscribe to eNewsletters
Get the latest ophthalmic industry news and
technology updates related to your interests.

What kind of posts should I boost?

The best way to get a return on investment (ROI) for a boosted post is to boost something that is measurable — a post that promotes a clear action for your audience to take. A post for an event such as a trunk show or an information session are great examples. The call-to-action (CTA) could be clicking a registration link, a landing page set up for the promotion, or an appointment scheduling form. You can also attach a phone number for calling the office to register or schedule an appointment. The CTA should be something that can be done immediately so you are converting impressions into profitable actions.

How do I know if my boost was worth it — that I’m getting a positive ROI?

First of all, as with any marketing strategy, you want to set your goal. The goal of your Facebook boosts should be to get appointments or new patients in the door and this should be the ultimate measure of success.  New appointments are a valuable key performance indicator (KPI) as opposed to a vanity KPI such as the number of likes a post gets or new likes to your page. While these results do show social engagement, which is valuable for brand recognition, they ultimately do not bring in revenue. When it comes to marketing ROI, this is what determines whether a strategy is profitable.

So, how can I measure new appointments?

If you have a link on the post, it is easy to check where your clicks are coming from in the page analytics.  For call-in appointments or event attendance you can survey to see where these leads came from.  This may not be an exact science, but you can definitely get an idea of whether your post was seen.  For example, if you are running a post offering a special exam for dry eyes and you see that you get more inquiries for dry eye appointments booked during that time, you know it’s working!

Facebook boosts can be a low-risk and highly effective way to reach your audience and bring patients in the door.  So, the next time you are tempted to press the boost post button, go for it! There’s not much to lose, but there could be a lot to gain.

  • <<
  • >>

Comments