Performance: boosted posts vs. Ads Manager

If I hear this one more time I might start throwing things 😬

"We’re just going to boost a few posts!"

or

"We've spent thousands on advertising, but I just do it quickly on my phone"

Please stop it.

That's like saying "just microwave everything" to a Michelin-star chef. Sure, it works. Kind of. Sometimes.

But here's what you're missing:

Post A → Boosted for 10 euros a day for 5 days:

• 4,000 views

• 109 IG profile visits

• 48 cents per visit

• 48 euros spend

Post B → Run through Ads Manager with different creative options for testing and running on a lower budget over more time:

• 5,100 views

• 265 IG profile views

• 9 cents per visit

• 25 euros spend (stats based on 5 days of data)

The difference? Significant.

Boosting is like fishing with a net full of holes.

Ads Manager is your full tackle box:

• Custom audience building

• Detailed targeting combinations

• Specific conversion tracking

• Split testing capabilities

• Advanced placement control

If you want to target a really specific group (and if not, let's chat about narrowing down who your ideal customer is!), like potential donors who've visited your 'how to get involved' page but haven't donated...

...good luck doing that with a boost button 🫣

Think of it this way: boosting is like having a megaphone in a crowd. Proper targeting is like having a private conversation with exactly the right person.

Your marketing budget deserves better than "hope for the best".

Stop gambling with boosts. Start engineering results. And if you need help, drop me a DM. I promise I won't scold you for boosting 🙌

Your social following isn't really yours

"But I have 10,000 followers on social media!"

Yeah, and Meta just changed their content policies again.

(If you haven't heard, Zuck is reducing the restrictions on what you can say on his platforms in the name of free speech, meaning there will be even fewer consequences for people spouting hateful opinions.)

Times like these remind us of a scary truth: your social media following isn't really yours, it belongs to the platform you focus on.

One platform change. One algorithm update. One policy shift. That's all it takes to lose access to your audience. Remember the Twitter exodus?

So how can you make sure you're safe from a platform collapse?

Smart businesses aren't building houses on rented land. Here's what they're doing instead:

• Building email lists religiously

• Creating simple, valuable digital assets they can use to drive subscriptions

• Automating their list-building systems

• Converting social followers into subscribers

• Owning their audience data

The best part? Developing that digital asset doesn't need to be complicated (you can use Canva for most of the below).

Quick wins that work:

• Checklists

• Templates

• Short guides

• Simple tools

• Mini-courses

For instance, a nutritionist might offer a meal planning tool for busy parents. A social media manager might offer content prompts for those days when you can't think what to post.

Key things to remember

Your expertise makes simple things feel too obvious to you. But those simple things are gold to others.

Only a tiny fraction of your followers will see any piece of content where you talk about your asset (which you must, loudly and often!). You're not boring people with repetition, you're giving different people the opportunity to grab your valuable thing each time you talk about it.

Start small. Start now. Start owning your audience. So when platforms change (and they will), your email list stays yours.

What could you share with your audience to bring them on to your list?

My second best piece of advice

Every social media strategist will tell you this:

Don't try to be everywhere at once on social media or you'll burn out.

But today, I want to go a little off piste and give you my second best piece of advice:

Your customer doesn't care about the same things as you.

What I mean by that is - you're very unlikely to be your own ideal customer. The things about your business that you love aren't necessarily the things about your business that will make your ideal customer pay attention. So if you want to convert that customer, your marketing needs to speak to their needs and frustrations, not the things that drive you.

Why is this important?

Because we're all time-poor and have the attention spans of small children doing homework. If something doesn't feel like it speaks directly to us, and can improve our situation, we'll scroll on by to find something that does.

Let me give you an example. A while back, I ran ads for a new grocery delivery business in my area. The founder was amazing - very eco-conscious, very driven, all about giving customers a sustainable option.

We tested different messages to see what his audience would respond to. And you know what? No-one cared about sustainability. Customers cared that they could get a freshly baked croissant delivered to their door on a Sunday morning. A little luxury trumped zero-waste by a mile. If we'd pushed the sustainability message rather than embracing what the customer cared about, sales wouldn't have been nearly as good.

So I'd highly recommend reviewing your messaging to make sure its focused on that ideal customer and what they really care about.

That, my friend, will make all the difference in engaging the 'right' people for you.

Okay. That’s my second biggest tip for lead generation via social media. Hope it helps you fill your pipeline with interesting leads.

See you on the socials,

Alex

P.S. Really want to take this advice and run with it? In my nurture package we deep dive together into exactly who your customers are and what they need to hear from you to want to engage. And then craft messaging that speaks their language.

Add to that bespoke training on how to find and engage with your ideal customers on LinkedIn and a profile overhaul and you'll be ready to stop wondering what to post and start bringing in those new opportunities with ease. My package costs £1,197, takes just 5 hours of your time, and I have two spots available for February. DM me to grab yours now!