Boost a post with Ads

Promote a published Facebook Page, Instagram, TikTok or LinkedIn Page post, or set up a boost for a post you are scheduling, on the client's own ad account for that network.

Before you start

• The client needs an ad account in Ads on the post's network: Meta for Facebook and Instagram, TikTok, or LinkedIn. See Add a client's ad account.
• To launch, you need to be the account owner or an Admin in the client's workspace.
• The post must be on a Facebook Page, Instagram business account, TikTok account or LinkedIn Page connected to the client's workspace.
• TikTok: the TikTok account that published the post must be linked to the TikTok ad account, with permission to use its posts as ads.
• LinkedIn: the post must be on the Company Page the LinkedIn ad account belongs to.

Open the feature

Use any of these:

• Ads > Campaigns > Create campaign > Boost a post.
• Boost on a published Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or LinkedIn Page post in Calendar, Queue or an Analytics post card. Ads opens with the post already chosen. In Calendar, a post that isn't published yet is set up from the composer instead.
• In the composer, under the network's options, Boost this post > Set up boost. The boost steps open over the composer.

Steps

1. Post: choose a post. Best performing sorts by organic engagement; posts in the top 10% are marked. The side panel shows why the post stands out. For a TikTok post, choose the TikTok account the boost runs as.
2. Audience: add at least one location, then set the age range and gender. For a Facebook or Instagram post, choose where it runs: Facebook and Instagram, Facebook only or Instagram only. It starts on the network the post was published to. TikTok targets age groups, so the range is rounded to the groups that cover it.
3. Budget: choose a daily or total amount and how many days it runs, and when it starts. A start date is picked in the workspace's time zone. LinkedIn boosts use a daily amount. The bar shows how much of the ad account's monthly allowance it uses.
4. Review: check the creative check result, the amount, and every setting. Edit any step from here. If the campaign can spend more than 500 in the account's currency, type the amount to confirm.
5. Click Launch campaign. For a post that isn't published yet, click Save boost.

To finish later, click Save draft on any step. Nothing is sent, even when the post publishes later. Open the draft from Campaigns and click Launch campaign to carry on where you left off. For a post that isn't published yet, use Save boost instead of Save draft if you want the boost sent when the post publishes.

Expected result

• A published post: the boost is sent to the network and shows In review until the network approves it. It shows Live only once the network confirms it.
• A scheduled post: Save boost saves it and returns you to where you started. It shows Waiting for post in Campaigns and is sent for review the moment the post publishes. If the post is deleted or fails, the boost isn't sent and you're notified.
• From the composer: the box shows Boost ready with the budget, for example "$20 a day for 7 days. Sends to Meta when this post publishes." Click Edit to change it or Remove to drop it. When you schedule the post, the boost is saved with it and shows Waiting for post. If you then turn on Repeat Post, Publish via Mobile Notification or audience targeting, the post can't be boosted from the composer: the box says why, you're told the boost was removed, and no boost is saved when you schedule.
• On Analytics post cards, a boosted post shows Sponsored, its paid reach and spend, and View campaign.

Example

The juice bar's post about a detox box had 6.8% engagement, above the Page's average. You choose it, target the United States, ages 25 to 54, set $20 a day for 7 days and launch.

Limits and permissions

• The ad text is checked against the network's ad rules before it's sent. Review shows how many rules were checked and when they were last reviewed. A blocked rule stops the launch; a warning lets you launch.
• TikTok needs more than 20 USD a day, or the same in the ad account's currency.
• The budget must fit in the ad account's allowance left this month.
• Interest targeting and the networks' reach estimates aren't available yet. When the ad account has past boosts, the side panel shows what they reached at this budget.
• LinkedIn personal profile posts can't be boosted. X boosts use the Boost window in Publish.

Troubleshooting

• "This is more than the ad account has left this month": lower the budget, shorten the schedule, or request a higher allowance.
• "Meta isn't reachable right now. Your setup is saved": open the saved draft from the link and launch it later.
• "The sign-in for this ad account isn't valid any more": reconnect the ad account under Ad accounts.
• The post isn't listed: only Facebook Page, Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn Page posts from the last 60 days that Analytics has read appear.
• "No TikTok account can run this boost yet": link the client's TikTok account to the TikTok ad account in TikTok for Business, or authorize it in their Business Center with permission to use its posts as ads. Then check again.
• "This post needs approval first": boost it from Ads once it's approved and published.
• "This Page has no Instagram account connected in Social Champ": connect the Page's Instagram business account, or choose Facebook only.
• The post is scheduled, but the boost wasn't saved: the boost steps open on the post with the reason. Fix it and click Save boost.