Organic, Boosted, & Promoted Posts: What’s the Difference?
September 19th, 2019 by
Remember the good ‘ole days when “marketing” meant buying full-page ads in the Yellowpages? Everything was so simple then. TV commercials ruled the airwaves, and people couldn’t help but hum the jingles of Pepsi, Ringpops, and Doublemint Bubblegum commercials. Back then, a catchy jingle was all you needed to give your brand an edge over the competition. But with the dominance of social media, it isn’t as cut and dry as it used to be because marketing platforms are at our fingertips.
At their peak, YellowPages and TV commercials were industry leaders because there were fewer advertising channels. But now, social media platforms have changed the game because, for the first time, they allow communication through many different avenues. Increasing the distribution of communication yields increased opinions. Put simply by the co-founder of Intuit, Scott Cook, “A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is—it is what consumers tell each other it is.” This is why posting on social media is critical to creating awareness and loyalty around your brand.
Before you jump in and start posting like a maniac, you need to understand how to post, as well as knowing the different types of social posting options. Knowing which posts to use and the best ways to leverage them will help determine the best budgeting decisions for your business.
Social posting as a business is an effective way to encourage user engagement and increase brand awareness. One way to get your followers to engage with your posts is by catering your content to their interests. Studies have shown that the best performing content elicits emotions from readers. Do this by posting astonishing facts or posing curious questions that a reader can’t help but acknowledge. Another way to keep your followers engaged with social posts is by using different formats. Anyone can create a text post, but adding an image to your post can more than double your engagement rate. Stories and video posts are also effective ways to captivate your audience. Lastly, you can also improve engagement rates by being engaging yourself. People will remember when you engage with their content and will be more likely to return the favor. Liking a follower’s post, acknowledging them with a quick reply, or sharing their post can go a long way.
Now that you have a better idea about how to write your content, the next step is to decide what types of posts you should be using to deliver that content.
There are three types of social posts: Organic Posts, Boosted Posts, and Promoted Posts
The Organic Post
The OG of posting. Organic posts are the basic posts you create on your page that do not have any spend behind them. These posts display directly on your profile’s page and will be seen only by your followers.
The Boosted Post
A boosted post is an organic post to your profile that has been amplified to reach a larger audience outside of your current followers. With boosted posts, you set your budget and audience targeting. You can choose between two options of audience targeting for these posts: you can target “People who like your page and their friends” or “People you choose through targeting.” Keep in mind that with the first option, the “people who like your page and their friends” might not be interested in your business, so if you’re boosting something niche, it might be better to choose the second option.
The Promoted Post
The promoted post enables you to ensure that your post will appear in the News Feeds of more people. Typically, these posts are labeled as “sponsored,” so people know that it’s an ad, even though it looks like the other posts on their newsfeed. The benefit of promoting a post is that you have more options for targeting, pricing, and bidding. Promoted posts work well for giveaways, freebies, or coupon codes.
All three of these types of posts provide valuable ways to build your brand’s identity. It’s important not to limit yourself to only one type. I would recommend testing your organic posts to see how your followers respond. Then, once you have a better idea of what works well with your audience, it makes sense to add some spend behind your best performing posts! Using different types of posts will get your content out to the most diverse users, so mix it up!
If you’d like to improve your reach on social media, Search Influence can help. Since 2006, we’ve helped businesses reach their full potential with our digital marketing services. To learn more about how we can work with you, contact us online or call (504) 208-3900.
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