How to Promote a Post on Facebook

Wondering why some of your best Facebook posts barely seem to reach anyone? It’s a common frustration, but the fix is often a strategic promotion. Running a promotion lets you bypass the algorithm and put your content directly in front of the people who need to see it. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know, from picking the right post and setting a goal to dialing in your audience and budget so you get real results from every dollar spent.

Why Bother Promoting a Post?

In a perfect world, all your incredible content would get the massive organic reach it deserves. In reality, Facebook’s feed is a crowded place. Promoting a post - often called "boosting" - is your way of buying a ticket to the front of the line. It's essentially the simplest form of advertising on the platform, designed to be quick and effective.

Here’s why it’s so powerful:

• Defeat the Algorithm: Organic reach for business pages has been on a downward trend for years. "Paying to play" is no longer an option for serious growth, it's a necessity. Promoting a post guarantees visibility that you simply can't get organically anymore.
• Reach a Wider, Targeted Audience: Your posts typically only reach a small fraction of your followers. Promotions let you break out of that bubble and connect with entirely new audiences based on their interests, location, demographics, and even their online behavior.
• Drive Specific Actions: A successful promotion isn't just about getting seen. It's about driving a specific outcome. Whether you want more website visitors, more messages in your inbox, or more direct leads for your business, you can tailor your promotion to achieve that exact goal.
• Gather Valuable Data: Every promotion is a learning opportunity. You can test different types of content, CTAs, and audiences to see what resonates. This data is gold, helping you refine your content strategy and make future campaigns even more effective.

Step 1: Laying the Groundwork for a Winning Promotion

Before you even think about clicking that blue "Promote Post" button, you need to make sure you’re setting yourself up for success. Boosting a poor post is like putting premium fuel in a broken car - it’s just a waste of money. Spend a few minutes preparing, and you'll see a much better return on your investment.

Choose the Right Post to Promote

Not every post is a candidate for promotion. You’re looking for your "greatest hits" - the content that already shows promise. Scroll through your page's feed and look for posts that have:

• Strong Organic Engagement: If a post is already earning likes, comments, and shares on its own, that's a signal that people find it valuable. Adding a budget behind it will amplify that existing momentum.
• A Clear Call-to-Action (CTA): The post should tell people exactly what you want them to do next. Is it "Click the link to read our new blog post," "Comment below with your favorite tip," or "Send us a message to book your appointment"? An ambiguous post will get ambiguous results.
• High-Quality Visuals: People scroll fast. Your post needs a thumb-stopping image or, even better, a video to grab their attention. Grainy photos or poorly edited videos won't cut it. Short-form video content, like Reels, often performs exceptionally well when promoted.
• Evergreen Value: While it's fine to boost timely announcements, the best promotions often focus on evergreen content - posts that will still be relevant and valuable weeks or months from now. This could be a helpful tutorial, a client testimonial, or an introduction to your cornerstone product or service.

Define Your Goal (This is the Most Important Step)

What do you really want this promotion to achieve? Clicks? Conversations? Awareness? Answering this question directs every other decision you'll make in the promotion setup. Facebook's Ad Manager makes this very clear, asking you to choose an objective.

Here are the common goals and what they mean:

• Get more engagement: Best for building brand awareness, social proof, and community. The goal is to maximize reactions, comments, and shares. Use this when you want to get your name out there or if the post itself is the main attraction.
• Get more messages: Perfect for service-based businesses, coaches, or anyone looking to start one-on-one conversations. This goal optimizes your ad to be shown to people who are likely to click the "Send Message" button and actually start a dialogue with you on Messenger.
• Get more website visitors: If your post links to a blog, product page, or landing page, this is your goal. Facebook will show your post to people who have a history of clicking external links. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly, as that's where most of this traffic will be coming from.
• Get more leads: This option uses an on-Facebook form to collect contact information like names, emails, and phone numbers directly from the ad. It’s fantastic for building your email list or generating leads without making people leave the Facebook app.

Step 2: A Practical Guide to the "Promote Post" Button

Once you’ve picked your star post and defined your goal, you’re ready for the technical side. Here’s a walkthrough of the promotion setup process.

1. Start the Promotion

On your published Facebook post, you'll see a blue "Promote Post" (or sometimes "Boost Post") button. Click it. This will open up the settings window where you'll configure your promotion.

2. Confirm Your Goal

The first thing Facebook will ask is what result you want. It might default to "Automatic," but it’s always better to take control and select the specific goal you identified earlier (engagement, messages, traffic, etc.). This ensures the algorithm is working toward the outcome you actually care about.

3. Add a Call-to-Action Button

If your goal is anything other than just engagement, you'll need a CTA button. This is the clickable button that appears at the bottom of your post. Your options include:

• Shop Now
• Learn More
• Sign Up
• Book Now
• Send Message

Pick the one that most accurately reflects the action you want users to take. If you’re sending them to a blog post, use "Learn More." If you're selling a product, use "Shop Now." Mismatched CTAs can confuse people and hurt your results.

4. Define Your Audience (The Secret Sauce)

This is where the magic happens. A great ad shown to the wrong people will fail every time. You have several options for targeting:

People you choose through targeting

This is where you build an audience from scratch and where most of your focus should be. You can create a highly specific group of people based on:

• Location: Target by country, state, city, or even a specific radius around your business address. A local cafe would target a few miles around their shop, while an e-commerce brand might target entire countries.
• Age &, Gender: Set the age range and gender that best matches your ideal customer.
• Detailed Targeting: This is the most powerful part. You can add interests, behaviors, and demographics. For example, a marketing agency could target people with job titles like "Marketing Manager" who are also interested in "social media marketing" and "content strategy." A wedding photographer could target recently engaged women interested in "wedding planning" and "Bridal Magazines." Get specific!

People who like your page (and their friends)

These options are great for building loyalty and leveraging your existing community. "People who like your page" guarantees your followers see an important update. "People who like your page and their friends" helps you expand your reach to new people who are already socially connected to your fans, which can be an effective way to find similar customers.

5. Set Your Budget and Duration

• Duration: How long do you want the promotion to run? A good rule of thumb is to run a campaign for at least 4-5 days. This gives Facebook’s algorithm enough time to learn who responds best to your ad and optimize delivery.
• Total Budget: This is the maximum amount you'll spend over the entire duration of the campaign. You can start small - even a $25 budget ($5/day for 5 days) is enough to gather initial data and see what works.

Your "Estimated daily results" will update as you adjust these settings, giving you a rough idea of the reach and clicks you might expect.

6. Review and Submit

The final step is a review. Double-check your goal, audience, budget, duration, and payment method. If everything looks correct, hit the "Promote Post Now" button. Your promotion will go into a quick review process with Facebook (usually taking anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours) and then go live.

Step 3: What Happens After You Go Live?

Your work isn't done once the promotion starts. Neglecting your campaign after it launches is a common mistake. Here’s what to focus on once you're live.

Monitor Your Performance

Keep an eye on the results as they come in. You don’t need to be an expert data scientist. After your post is boosted, the button on your post will change to "View Results." Clicking it brings up a straightforward panel showing key metrics like reach, link clicks, and cost per result. Check in at least once a day.

Understand the Metrics That Matter

Avoid getting distracted by "vanity metrics" like reach or impressions alone. Focus on the metric that’s tied to your goal:

• If your goal was Traffic: Look at Link Clicks and Cost Per Link Click (CPC). A low CPC means you're efficiently driving people to your site.
• If your goal was Engagement: Track the Cost Per Engagement. Are you getting likes, shares, and comments at a reasonable price?
• If your goal was Messages: The key metric is Messaging Conversations Started. How many people actually opened up a chat with you?

Engage with the Engagement

As people start commenting on your promoted post, make sure to respond! Answering questions, thanking people for their feedback, and participating in the conversation adds a human element and amplifies the impact of your ad spend. Nothing kills momentum faster than an ad full of unanswered questions from potential customers.

Final Thoughts

Promoting a post on Facebook is an incredibly effective way to cut through the noise and get your message in front of a targeted audience. By focusing on your goal, carefully selecting your content and audience, and actively monitoring the results, you can turn a small budget into meaningful action for your business.

Here at Postbase, we’ve found that the best promotions always start with consistently great organic content. Our entire platform is built to make that part easier, with a visual calendar to plan your week, simple multi-platform scheduling that works reliably for modern formats like Reels, and a unified inbox to manage every comment and DM. Instead of feeling like they’re fighting you, our tools are designed to help you focus on creating - so when you find that perfect post to promote, you know it's built on a solid foundation. You can check out Postbase to see how we simplify the whole content process.