There was a time when your Facebook posts were seen by a majority of your followers, but recent changes have reduced your post visibility to about 30% of your audience – if you’re lucky. It’s even worse according to Facebook, “[Brand] Pages reach about 16 percent of their fans on average.”

As Facebook grows, they’re continually looking for new ways to monetize the platform. Love it or hate it, Facebook Ads and Boosted posts are the tactics they’re using do that. If you’ve never ‘boosted’ a post, it’s an option you’ll find in the bottom right of your page posts.

You might be wondering if Boosted Posts are some new advertising gimmick. They’re not new, just recently renamed. The previous term was Promoted Posts. The two terms are interchangeable and used quite often to refer to the same thing. For the sake of minimizing confusion, we’ll use the term Boosted Posts, as this appears to be the new direction Facebook is headed.

How can I use Post Boosting to Promote Messages to My Followers?

Brands with advertising budgets may shy away from Facebook Ads and focus their spending elsewhere, such as their website content, Google AdWords, or more traditional advertising avenues like radio, TV and print. One of the challenges with any kind of advertising is that it’s often difficult to know what you’re going to get until you’ve spent the money. Even with Adwords, the quality of your clicks can vary – requiring significant optimization as you watch your spend. The great thing about Boosted Posts is that you’re not consistently spending, you pick and choose a specific post at a given time, and your budget will determine the audience reach. Boosted posts are effective for announcing a new product, a promotion, or event, and especially for giving the well performing (or poor performing) post that extra push.

But before you go boosting all of your posts, it’ll help to understand the reasons and benefits for boosting a post and how Facebook has tweaked their Edgerank algorithm in their favour, and at your expense.

You’ll remember we started by stating that not all of your Facebook followers see your posts. Who does see what, is dependent on previous interactions with your page and the quality of your content. One, or a combination of these interactions would have had to have happened in order for you to be on your followers radar:

• Liked a post
• Commented on a post
• Shared a post

Have a careful look at your current followers liking, sharing and commenting. Do you notice the same people who are consistently interacting with your page? That’s because at some point they interacted with the content you posted. Those who followed but never interacted with your posts are less likely to see your posts. Again, chalk that up to Facebook’s Edgerank.

Boosting at Work

One of our startup clients recently ran a Facebook contest to kickstart their new feed, for which we added a pinned post to their Facebook timeline. We reviewed its effectiveness after a week and saw organic reach of around 8%, a total of 189 people saw the post on their news feeds.

Sensing that the post was resonating with the initially small audience, we convinced the client to try boosting the post with a fifteen dollar budget to ‘test the waters’.

The results were surprising. If we had left the post as is, without paying to boost it, the total organic reach would have been 191 people, or 8%. With small budget of $15 we increased the number of people who saw it by 2,407. By paying to boost the ad, we increased the number of people who saw it on their news feed to 92 percent.

How To Boost Your Posts

Now that you know what Boosting is, and how it can help to promote posts. It’s time to try it out on your own page. Here are some quick pointers.

At the bottom right of every post you’ll see the option to Boost a Post. Here are the particulars that will require attention:

Audience: You have two options for selecting your audience:

People who like your page and their friends: These are the people following your brand page, including their friends, who may or may not happen to be following your brand page as well. This option, while being a narrower audience reach is targeted at your followers and likely very effective since they already have a particular interest in your brand.

Everyone on Facebook: This includes all your followers and non-followers alike. While this option seems to make the most sense, why wouldn’t anyone want to reach a wider audience…everyone, keep in mind that by doing so you increase the likelihood of promoting a message to people with no interest in your brand. Wider reach equals a more diluted interest and larger target focus.

Maximum Budget: This is where you set your spending limit. For our test, we set it to $15.

Target By Location: We selected Ontario, since it was the only Province in Canada where the product was available.

That’s it. Click the Boost Post button, and let Facebook take care of the rest.

Posting on Facebook is a fine balance of frequency, repetition, and content. While posting more frequently increases your chances of having your followers see your posts, it also means that those followers with previous interactions will also see an influx of your brand’s posts in their news feeds. Boosting Facebook posts with a modest budget is a great way to increase the number of eyes that see your posts, without inundating your hardcore fans with repetitive messaging.

If there’s any doubt about Facebook’s global reach, recent statistics will quell them. Social media analyst, Vincenzo Cosenza claims that it’s the leader in 127 of the 137 countries they looked at, with Asia accounting for a recent growth spurt. 128 million users and counting. For global brands looking to advertise on a platform with an ever-growing audience, and utilizing Facebook’s mechanics for customer interactivity (Likes, Comments, Shares), these numbers should be cause for serious consideration. The famous quote, “Fish where the fish are”, is true. Now, you can advertise where the fish are too.

Facebook Search: Answering Your Questions

Facebook unveiled its much anticipated Search Graph this week. If you’ve ever wondered what the search bar at the top of the Facebook page is for, or found it useless, those perceptions might soon change. In an effort to take a bite out of Google’s reign on search, Facebook wants to make searching your Facebook network as easy as possible. In the way that Google allows users to ask questions in natural language like “Where can I find a cat hotel in Toronto?”, Facebook will soon offer its users the same ability within their network of friends. Now you can ask, “Which of my friends have been to a cat hotel in Toronto?”, and thus begin initiate long series of jokes about it. Take note, cat hotels…you may want to bump up your Facebook ads.

Social Marketer’s Tool of the Week

Tweets are short, sweet, and when used correctly, effective. Twitter has parlayed this into its desktop and web app, TweetDeck. Along with performance upgrades and bug fixes, users now have the ability to embed Tweets into their web pages. Want to know why and how they would be useful? Check out 8 Creative Ways to Use Embeddable Tweets.

According to Paul Boutin of The New York Times, for many of the 600 million Facebook users, mobile access is their primary way to into the social media service. Recognizing this, Facebook has updated its mobile website and stand-alone apps. These updates include:

• Improved sharing options
• More user-friendly news feed
• Real-time chat function enhancements
• Improved photo upload capabilities
• Friend tagging in status updates
• Facebook Gifts purchases

It will be interesting to see how small businesses will take advantage of these new features, namely through sponsored stories. According to a Tech Crunch article last year, Facebook mobile ads are clicked thirteen times more, and on average earn eleven times more money than desktop ads. Marry this with location-based features, and you have a powerful tool for real-time audience targeting.

Social Marketer’s Tool of the Week

While Facebook has the largest share of audience and therefore marketing potential, Twitter has something that Facebook doesn’t for reaching a wider audience; hashtags. With them it’s easier and cheaper to broadcast to a wider audience. But, you have to research the right hashtags and use them effectively and efficiently, especially when it comes to trending ones.

Hashtags.org is a great free research tool that allows you to also view viewing trending ones. You can search by a specific hashtag, or any number of topics like business, entertainment and government. Hashtags.org is also a great source of current news and discussions pertaining to all things Twitter.

The KPDi SoLo Notes Week in Review recaps Social-Local news that matter to your brand. We hand-pick these articles in hopes that they’ll help you to promote your business through social media. Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned marketer, we want to inform, and inspire you through a successful social media strategy.

Show Me The Stats

43% of Small Businesses Spend 6+ Hours Per Week in Social Media: These stats show that social media takes effort, but it does come with rewards.

Twitter Hits Half a Billion Tweets a Day: With these stats in mind, remember, content is king. People want great content. Great content gets Likes, Comments, Shares, Re-Tweets and Mentions.

Going SoLo (What it takes to get into social)

Why You Can’t Sell Social Media: A great article that explains the 3 things social marketers should do instead: Awareness, Trust, Purchasing.

What’s Happening at KPDi

Pachuco ModMex Restaurant Launches a Facebook Contest: We just launched another Facebook contest. This one is for Pachuco, a ModMex restaurant on the Danforth in Toronto. Enter ‘The Mexican Connection’ for dinner at exclusive passes to the AGO’s exhibit of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera’s “Passion, Politics and Painting”.

The KPDi SoLo Notes Week in Review recaps Social-Local news that matter to your brand. We hand-pick these articles in hopes that they’ll help you to promote your business through social media. Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned marketer, we want to inform, and inspire you through a successful social media strategy.

Social. Local. Smart

Local SEO and Micro Local Social Media: Now, more than ever, local businesses have the ability to market themselves. Social and SEO are the key.

Social, Mobile, Local Media: How Retailers Can Formulate the Best SoMoLo Concoction: Social and mobile are the keys to marketing a local business. This article provides some tips and tricks to get you started.

Show Me The Stats

8 Social Media Numbers that Will Rock Your Business: From Facebook, to Twitter, to social commerce, to online gaming, here are some staggering stats to mull over.

Pinterest Pierces Top 50 Most-Visited Sites List: The virtual pin-board platform keeps growing. If you’re not already on it, it’s time to consider adding it to your social media strategy.

The KPDi SoLo Notes Week in Review recaps Social-Local news that matter to your brand. We hand-pick these articles in hopes that they’ll help you to promote your business through social media. Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned marketer, we want to inform, and inspire you through a successful social media strategy.

This Week in Social News

Why You Should Replace Your Sales Reps With Ambassadors: Ambassadors where many hats: marketing, sales, support, project management. It’s a much more holistic approach to social media marketing.

Social. Local. Smart

Dealerships ‘Like’ Social Media: How an Ottawa-based car dealership uses social media to connect with its customers.

Healthcare Recruiters Use Social Media to Fill Positions: How a U.S. hospital finds talent…through social media, of course.

Show Me The Stats

Facebook Offers Are a Viral Hit: Facebook offers are a hit, but not with the directly targeted customer. Stats show that three-fourths of claims came from shares.

Social Media Tips & Tricks

5 Tips for Using Google+ to Boost Your Marketing: Google+ might be the underdog as a social media platform, but don’t forget, it’s also the most popular search engine. These tips will get you started on your road to social media marketing.

This Week in Social News

Facebook ‘Wants’ You: The rumour mill is abuzz with word that Facebook will introduce a Want button. How’s it different? When someone wants something, a text box pops-up asking why they want it. Seems trivial, but it will surely help brands understand why customers like their products. In another news story, they talk about ‘Collections.’ Looks like their testing the verbs to see which is more effective.

Twitter Buys Video Startup: They’ve been wanting their own video service for some time now. It’s another stab at the competition…and…action!

Going SoLo (What it takes to get into social)

Indie Brewery Goes Social, Beer Lovers Rejoice: The Black Lotus Brewing Company is a great example of a Facebook page done right. It all comes down to fresh content. People love that stuff…and beer, of course.

What’s Happening @KPDi

Embrujo Flamenco Launches Facebook Contest: Embrujo Flamenco tapas restaurant on the Danforth just launched ‘A Night of Flamenco‘ Facebook contest. The lucky winner gets treated to dinner at Embrujo, and tickets to watch Rafaela Carrasco perform at 6th Annual Toronto International Flamenco Festival at the Sony Centre For The Performing Arts.

The KPDi SoLo Notes Week in Review recaps Social-Local news that matter to your brand. We hand-pick these articles in hopes that they’ll help you to promote your business through social media. Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned marketer, we want to inform, and inspire you through a successful social media strategy.

Give Me The Stats

Facebook Hits 1 Billion User Mark: Facebook’s stock value may be plummeting, but their user base keeps growing.

What’s Happening @KPDi

It’s been a very busy week here at KPDi. Here’s what happened:

STLTO Wine Launches Facebook Product Finder App: Freshly pressed: The STLTO Wine product finder. STLTO fans can easily find their favourite STLTO wine at their local LCBO. Features include, an interactive map, stock level indicator, and product request form.

Quesada Website Launches: The all-new Quesada website. Dare we say it’s THE place for burritos?

MyMio Global: MIO Global created the world’s first strapless heart rate monitor sports watch. The all-new MyMio allows fitness buffs to upload MIO data, track goals, and share results with an online community. Fun, social, fit.

Global Knowledge Canada Facebook Contest: Canada’s leader in IT, business, and enterprise training has launched a Facebook contest. Share your story, you could win an iPad.

The KPDi SoLo Notes Week in Review recaps Social-Local news that matter to your brand. We hand-pick these articles in hopes that they’ll help you to promote your business through social media. Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned marketer, we want to inform, and inspire you through a successful social media strategy.

This Week In Social Media News

Just Another Pinterest-Like Service?: LoveIt is another image-based  social media service. Like Pinterest, it allows you to bookmark all the eye-candy that you find relevant in your life.

Local Businesses Can Now Sell Gift Certificates on Yelp: Yelp’s Deals service has introduced the ability for local businesses to sell gift certificates directly to their customers. Now it’s even easier to get someone that “I don’t know what to get them so I’ll get them a gift certificate” gift for the holidays.

Want to Become a Fan of Grey poupon on Facebook?: The question is, are you good enough? Grey Poupon’s marketing campaign, called The Society of Good Taste, requires wannabe fans to apply. Only those that ‘cut the mustard’ are accepted. Anyone attempting to Like the page without first applying gets the boot. Interesting? Yes. Counter-intuitive? Definitely. Successful? Only time will tell.

Social Media Tips & Tricks

5 Ways Small Businesses Can Boost Their Customer Service: These quick tips require effort and action. After all, good customer service is a human interaction.

Social Media Marketing: Lessons from the Thank You Economy: At no other time in history have consumers had the power to influence a brand. Social media has provided the platform on which to create this change, making their voices heard to a global audience.

Give Me the Stats

Less Than 20% Of SMBs Are Using Twitter, Says Survey: According to a recent study by eMarketer, most small to medium businesses aren’t using Twitter. Many are struggling with the idea of creating a strategy, or even having the resources or know-how to manage a social media presence.

Want to Engage Consumers? Show Them Food: Restaurateurs can’t hide from social media, nor should they. Online communities of food bloggers, critics, and general foodies have created indelible conversations that have changed local marketing. A recent eMarketer study provides statistics to this claim.

What They Said

According to a Recent Wildfire Whitepaper: ”Brand advocates are highly valuable for a successful social media marketing program: pages with high populations of advocates enable brands to reach 234% more earned media impressions than communities of average fans. Over the course of a year, brands with high advocate engagement grow thirteen times faster than brands with an average fan base. Advocates also create three times as much engagement as typical fan bases.”

Ease of sharing is what creates the network effect that can lead to viral distribution of information and entertainment.

So it makes sense to make it easy for your customer to share your content no matter where they are.

Share From Here, Share From There

Are you making it easy for customers’ voices to be heard? Not just a Twitter account or a Facebook wall for customers to post Comments – that’s table stakes.

No, we’re wondering if you’re giving your email subscribers a chance to tell their friends about your upcoming sale or that hot new product coming out next week?

Adding a “Share With Your Network” (SWYN) link on every email gives your customers the opportunity to be truly “heard” in a way that actively promotes your business.

SWYN is where you can tap into the most powerful force in marketing. Referrals.

SWYN is a chance for your email subscribers to tell their friends what is important to them, with a few clicks of the mouse. Anecdotally, it has been said that sharing from email is on average the same as forwarding an email 10 times!

Spread The Word And Collect The Data

The SWYN links engage consumers differently than simple click-throughs because it becomes a public display of affection toward your brand, rather than the “one screen only” audience of a regular email click.

Moreover, when readers post personalized URLs to their networks you automatically learn who your best influencers are as that link gets click after click via the user’s social network. With this information a marketer can micro-target those email recipients who are the highest influencers and reward them accordingly.

Simple, Effective and Affordable

Your fans love to share, and including SWYN links is your opportunity to learn what your customers are saying, and how loud their voice is.

Inserting “Share With Your Network” links in email is a simple way to encourage more engagement with your email program, and most email tools have this feature integrated into the platform.

With a few simple additions you can drive greater brand engagement from your emails and it costs you nothing to implement and everything to gain.

This post comes to us from guest blogger George Adamidis, Principal with Real Email. With more than twelve years of Email and Online Marketing Experience, George has watched the space grow in both size and sophistication. George has helped dozens of marketers grow their online revenue and increase customer engagement while reducing their costs, production timelines and unsubscribe / abandonment rates.