The Ultimate Guide to Boosting a Post on Facebook

by Lina Thorne • Updated 9/10/2025 · Posted in Marketing

Today, it’s not uncommon for a great Facebook post to get buried under the endless stream of content in the news feed without ever reaching its full potential.

Sadly, organic reach on Facebook has been declining for years. The algorithm prioritizes content from friends and family, which means businesses have to fight harder for attention. Of course, the Boost Post button can make this fight easier. You do need to pay to use it. Yet it can be quite effective in cutting through the noise and getting your best content seen by the right people.

But is it the right move for your business? How does boosting differ from the more complex Ads Manager? And is it still possible to grow organically on Facebook in 2025? This comprehensive guide will answer all these questions.

Here, you’ll learn:

• The difference between boosting and using the Ads Manager
• When you should consider boosting a post
• What content should be promoted
• The step-by-step instructions for boosting a post on a desktop
• How to increase your reach on Facebook organically in 2025.

Boost Vs. Ads Manager: What’s the Difference?

To sum up, it’s a good idea to use Boost if your main goal is to draw more attention to your posts and business page. It’s great for quick and simple campaigns. Meanwhile, you should go for Ads Manager for more sophisticated, data-driven marketing campaigns with specific conversion goals and advanced targeting.

Is Boosting Worth It In 2025?

Yes, it is, but not in all cases.

It’s worth it if:

• You are a beginner learning the ropes of Facebook advertising.
• You have a small budget and a simple goal.
• You want quick results without a complicated setup.

It’s not the best use of your budget if:

• Your goal is direct sales or lead generation. Ads Manager is optimized for conversions and far more effective.
• You want to use advanced creative formats like carousels or instant experiences.

What Types of Posts Should You Promote?

If you want to spend your money wisely, you need to be smart and selective when choosing a post for boosting.

Go for:

1. Posts that are performing well. It’s crucial for you to understand that boosting only helps with pushing your post to a new audience. But it’s the content that will prompt people either to interact with it or scroll past. So, before you boost a post on Facebook, check your Page Insights. If a post is already getting views, comments, or shares, boosting can surely take its reach to the next level.
2. Videos. Similar to Instagram, short-form videos are favored by Facebook’s algorithm. So, it’s a good idea to boost something like a 15-second “before-and-after” clip, a quick tutorial, or a customer reaction. Keep in mind that some people watch short videos without sound, so adding text to your video content is important.
3. Testimonials. People trust other people more than what the brand is claiming. Boosting user-generated content – posts that feature your customers using your product – can be incredibly effective for attracting new customers or clients and showing them why your brand should be chosen.
4. Announcements and promos. Hosting a workshop? Are there any new product launches, store openings, or special limited-time sales? Boosting can get the info to new people quickly and efficiently. Then urgency will prompt them to respond quickly.
5. Educational content. People love to learn something new, especially if it can make their lives easier. Posts that teach something in a short, digestible way tend to get saved and shared. And that’s exactly what you need!

Avoid boosting:

• Posts with little to no engagement. If people don’t care organically, they won’t care with money behind it.
• Brand new posts. It’s true that Facebook’s algorithm favors fresh content. But you need to wait 2 – 6 hours after publishing to see if the post gathers likes, shares, saves, or comments. Early organic engagement is a strong indicator that you’ll get good results for your money.
• Content that doesn’t clearly align with an objective. For instance, a vague status update won’t drive clicks, calls, or sales.

In addition to all of that, you also need to be strategic about choosing the time for boosting. For instance, B2C content often does better on weekends when people browse casually; B2B or professional content typically performs better on weekday mornings, especially Tuesday – Thursday. Do some research, then schedule your boosts.

How To Boost a Post on Facebook

Before we begin, please note that it’s not possible to boost posts from your personal Facebook profile. Boosting is a feature that’s available only for Facebook Pages. Thus, you have to create a Facebook Page first, publish a post on it, and only then boost it.

Also, if the button says Boost unavailable, click or tap on it to see what the issue is. If possible, fix it.

Boosting a Facebook post is actually pretty easy and very similar to boosting a post on Instagram.

Let’s see how you can do this on a desktop:

1. Go to your Facebook Page and find the post that needs to be promoted.

2. Below the post, you will see the Boost Post button. Click on it.

3. You can change the ad text if necessary.

Enable the Advantage+ creative if needed. It can show different variations of your ad automatically.

4. Enable the Special Ad Categories (credit, housing, employment), if applicable. Targeting will be restricted.

5. Define your goal. Here are your options:

• Get more messages: ideal for lead generation.
• Get more website visitors: drives traffic to your site.
• Get more engagement: increases likes, comments, and shares.
• Get more calls: great for local businesses.

It’s also possible to collect contact info from potential customers via forms, which is good for sales. Alternatively, you can go for the Automatic option, which allows Facebook to decide for you what the best goal would be.

6. Select what the action button should say. It should be a CTA like Learn more, Sign up, or Send message. If you don’t want an action button in your ad, then choose “No Button”. Also, check whether the link is accurate.

Here’s a tip. If you want to drive traffic to your website, make sure that it’s mobile-friendly and loads quickly. To achieve this, compress images that you want to fill your website with. This will make their file size smaller without sacrificing their quality.

7. Choose your audience. If you select the Advantage+ audience, the audience for your ad will be found automatically.

It’s better to target your audience manually since it’ll give you more control. So, click on Audience details.

It’s possible to target:

• Location. Target by country, state, city, or even zip code.
• Age & Gender. Select the demographics of your ideal customer.
• Detailed targeting offers to specify interests, behaviors, and demographics. For example, target people who are interested in “yoga,” “organic food,” or “small business entrepreneurship.” You need to be very specific here. Try to think of everything that your ideal customers might be into.

8. Click on Save Audience, when you’re ready.

9. Set the daily budget and the duration of your ad campaign. For instance, you can opt for $5 per day and the ad campaign to run for 7 days.

10. If you want Facebook to choose where the post performs best automatically, enable the Advantage+ placements.

Toggle this option off if you want to select the placements manually. For example, you can unselect Instagram, so your ad won’t show up on this platform.

11. Enable the Meta Pixel, if needed.

12. Add your payment method.

13. Preview your ad and check whether everything looks correct.

14. Click on Publish to boost your Facebook post.

Your ad will be submitted for review. After approval, your boosted post will go live, and you’ll be able to track the results in Ads Manager.

Do you want to boost a post using the mobile app? No worries! The steps are the same.

How to Grow on Facebook Organically

It’s no secret that if you want to succeed, you’ll have to pay. While it’s true that organic reach is lower than it was a decade ago, 2025’s algorithm has created new opportunities for organic growth, especially through recommended content. If your content is engaging, Facebook may recommend it to non-followers in their Feeds or Reels tab.

Here are the main ways to grow without paying for ads:

1. Make sure your content is optimized. Even if your content is valuable and engaging, no one will care about it if it’s blurry or pixelated. And that’s exactly what can happen, if you don’t resize your images – change their pixel dimensions so that they meet the necessary size requirements – before publishing them.

2. Master the art of the hook and story. You must capture the viewer’s attention within the first 3 seconds of your video. So, use a strong hook: ask a compelling question, show a surprising result, or tease a valuable piece of information. Then follow your hook with a story. People remember stories far better than facts. A customer success story, or a behind-the-scenes look creates an emotional connection that keeps viewers watching.

3. Consider adding text to images you want to post. This can actually have two benefits. First, add a unique quote to your Facebook cover photo, which can serve as a great conversation starter as well as show your personality. Second, you can add a watermark or a logo to your content to protect it against unauthorized use, which is a common issue on social media.

4. Become a resource. Shift your content ratio from 80% promotional and 20% value to the opposite. Your organic feed should be a go-to resource for your audience:

• Create tutorial videos, “how-to” carousels, and detailed posts explaining something related to your field of expertise.
• Share relatable memes, funny bloopers, or trending audio challenges relevant to your niche.
• Share motivational stories, customer testimonials, and posts that align with your brand’s core values.

When you lead with value, the sale becomes a byproduct of the trust you’ve built.

5. Engage in Groups. One of the best ways to get discovered by new people is via Facebook Groups. Join some relevant niche groups and contribute as much as you can. Or, better yet, create your own Facebook group. There, you can offer first access to sales, exclusive content, or live Q&A sessions, as well as encourage members to post their own questions and content.

6. Reply and interact. If you want to build a loyal community of followers, you need to interact with them. Respond to comments within the first hour. This signals relevance to Facebook and encourages more people to join in. Provide extra context or redirect to a resource in the comments. Ask questions like: “Which of these three flavors should we bring back?” or “What’s your #1 productivity challenge?” Use polls and stickers in Stories.

7. Consistency wins. Whether you like it or not, consistency is key to growing on pretty much any social media platform. You don’t need to post every day, but you do need to post regularly. Facebook favors active Pages. So, aim for a schedule that you can stick to. Say, 2 posts and 2 Reels a week.

8. Collaborate with others. You don’t have to build your audience entirely on your own. Partner with others:

• Guest Live Videos: Go Live with a complementary business (e.g., a wedding photographer with a florist). You both promote the Live to your respective audiences, effectively introducing each other to new potential customers.
• Account Takeovers: Let an influencer or customer “take over” your Stories for a day.

Organic growth is slower and requires more consistency and creativity, but it builds a loyal foundation that makes your paid boosting efforts far more effective and cheaper in the long run. Keep in mind that a follower who found you through valuable or engaging content is far more likely to convert than someone who saw an unremarkable ad.

Conclusion

Boosting a Facebook post is an accessible tool that should be a part of every business owner’s marketing strategy. It provides a simple way to increase your reach, engage a new audience, and achieve specific goals without dealing with the complexities of Ads Manager.

However, the most successful Facebook strategy in 2025 is a balanced one. Use the tips from this guide to build a connection with your audience, provide valuable and engaging content, and grow organically. This will create a “warm” audience of people who will more likely interact with your content. Then, use the Boost button to strategically push your best-performing content to a wider, targeted group. Analyze the results, learn from them, and continue to refine your approach.