Regular Posts vs. Story Posts vs. Boosted Posts vs. Social Media Ads: What Does What?

Social media is tricky — you never know if your next post will earn a round of applause or get you booed off the stage. It's a fast-paced, ever-evolving world where the most effective strategies and tactics are constantly changing, sometimes on a near-daily basis.

Doesn’t it make your head spin? With so much to consider, it's easy to feel overwhelmed when approaching social media marketing.

But don’t worry — we’re here to guide you through the labyrinth of social media content. In this blog, we'll break down the different types of posts to help you decide what will give your brand the most bang for its buck.

Regular Social Media Content

First, there’s the most basic — and most essential — type of social media content: the “regular” post.

Regular social media posts are the pictures or messages that you share with your followers, friends, and family on every social media platform… and what constitutes the majority of your feed. These posts stay on your profile and can be seen by anyone who visits your page. They can be liked, commented on, saved, and even shared by other people.

The more often you post, the more potential you have to grow your business and reach new audiences.

Story Posts

On the other hand, Story posts are much different. These temporary updates appear at the top of your followers' feeds for just 24 hours before disappearing. 

Stories provide an excellent way to share off-the-cuff photos, videos, and text with your followers in a way that's more casual than posting regularly to social media. Plus, Facebook and Instagram Stories come with fun, community-building features that aren’t available on regular posts, including polls, filters, stickers, music, location check-ins, quizzes, and more. 

Boosted Content

After you’ve made a regular post to your page’s timeline, “Boosting” allows you to promote it to an audience beyond your immediate following… for a small fee.

Boosts work best when your page already has an active social media feed with an established following. To Boost, you simply pick a post you like or that you want more people to see, put money behind it, and then watch the magic happen. Boosts only last for a limited amount of time, but the more you spend, the further your post goes. 

You can go far beyond your network if you choose, but generally, these social media sites have algorithms that ensure your content is presented to people with interests similar to those who follow your page and interact with your posts. 

Pros of Boosted posts: 

• Reach more people without having to create new content
• Easy to set up with no downtime 
• Affordable 

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Cons of Boosted posts:

• Labeled as ads, so your audience will know you paid for the reach
• Costs extra
• Limited customization when it comes to who sees the Boosted post

Social Media Ads

You know those posts that pop up on your Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter labeled as "Sponsored" or "Promoted"? Those are social media ads. 

Most businesses use social media ads to get their products or services in front of people who are likely to be interested in them. That’s because unlike Boosted posts, Social Media Ads have extensive tools for targeting very specific groups of people based on their interests and demographics. 

For example, if you follow a lot of fashion accounts on Instagram, you might notice that you see a lot of ads for clothing brands. Or if you've been searching for a new laptop on Google, you might start seeing computer ads pop up on your Facebook feed.

Social media ads are the best way for companies to reach potential customers naturally in an environment where they're spending a lot of their time — on social media.

Pros of Social Media Ads: 

• Flexible with a lot of customization tools to target your exact audience 
• Provide results much more quickly than it would take to organically grow a social media following 
• Trackable and measurable results

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Cons of Social Media Ads:

• Need a learning period of 2 weeks to a month before you start seeing real results
• Challenging to set up and requires upkeep 
• Can be costly, especially in competitive markets

Boosted Posts vs. Social Media Ads

Consider Boosted Posts if you want to:

• Grow your following
• Expand brand awareness 
• Increase audience engagement on your page
• Improve visibility on your best posts
• Generate more website clicks

It’s best practice to Boost posts that are already doing well with organic reach. 

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Consider Social Media Ads if you want to:

• Convert website visitors
• Generate leads
• Drive traffic to your store
• Increase online sales
• Get more eyes on your videos

Work With Us

While navigating today’s complicated, algorithm-driven social media landscape can be challenging, each platform has individual strengths that may play to your goals. It can be incredibly rewarding to learn the ins and outs of each platform and each type of post.

Whether your business needs social media management or advertising services, Anntoine Marketing + Design provides customized packages tailored to your needs and budget. 

Ready to take your digital presence to the next level? Click here to get in touch.