Meta has updated their "Boost Post" options recently, which means we need to reassess whether our "NEVER BOOST A POST" advice still holds true in 2026.
If you’ve ever wondered whether that little “Boost Post” button is worth your money, in this episode we'll cover:
- how boosting works now in 2026 across Meta’s platforms
- what targeting options are finally available
- why call-to-action buttons and audience selection change the conversation
- when boosting a post can be a smart
We'll also get practical about the stuff most people overlook, including why Apple users should avoid boosting inside the app if they don’t want to pay extra fees.
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Chapters:
00:00 Welcome to the SOB Marketing Podcast
03:46 Why we keep revisiting marketing advice as platforms change
05:15 Chelsea's Marketing Hot Take
06:07 Defining boosting posts on Facebook and Instagram
07:39 What small business owners usually want from a boosted post
08:16 The old problem with boosted posts reaching the wrong people
10:09 Why promoting to everyone is less effective than targeting buyers
11:39 How Meta has changed boosting in 2026
13:16 New goals, CTA buttons, and targeting options
15:22 When boosting can be a helpful first step for overwhelmed business owners
17:12 Using boosting as a quick test before building a full campaign
19:33 The Apple surcharge if you boost from the app
23:01 Final verdict
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speaker-1 (00:08) Okay. She's calling you guys babies.
speaker-0 (00:11) No Hey everyone, welcome to the SOB Marketing Podcast, where we celebrate the SOB that you are and if you haven't figured it out yet, we mean small owned business, we don't mean SOB.
speaker-1 (00:25) Listen, we know that as a small business owner, you are working hard on the daily to keep your business fully operational while trying to promote it. And while some days it may feel like the business is owning you, if we're being honest with each other, I bet you would admit that you wouldn't give up the insanity for anything.
speaker-0 (00:44) Our commitment here at the SOB Marketing Podcast is to give you the real talk, what works when it comes to advertising, marketing, promoting your business, and then what doesn't really work.
speaker-1 (00:55.67) And Chelsea and I promise to always keep the conversation real. We're back. And Chelsea, I must apologize, so
speaker-0 (01:04) Yeah, yeah, you sure do. I don't know for what, but she's in the wrong.
speaker-1 (01:08) I just got back from vacation and I lost the camera that we usually record this stuff on. So we're having to improvise a little bit. So we're hoping that if you're watching us on YouTube the quality is just as good. Yeah. So I do apologize for that. I feel like being on vacation for a couple of days you come back and you're a little you know, you getting your feet back. Yeah.
speaker-0 (01:31) Yeah, it takes a second to figure things out. I'm gonna be honest, Vivian, I'm just surprised that you managed to forget that forget it. To lose the the lose the camera. I mean she's so on top of everything always. So
speaker-1 (01:46) Well and honestly it was we did a hike and I was just so exhausted by the end of it and I lost it on the very last stop that we had made, like to rest. And I thought to myself, I could go back up the mountain to get it, but that's gonna be a total of five miles. And after doing a 10 mile hike that day, I was kind of not wanting to add.
speaker-0 (02:09) No, absolut well me the first thing is I wouldn't have gone on a hike to begin with, but
speaker-1 (02:17) Well I'm just glad I didn't get eaten by a bear, so it's a win-win.
speaker-0 (02:20.76) You know, there's always next time.
speaker-1 (02:24) You guys see how she treats me? You hear this?
speaker-0 (02:28) They don't care. They wanna hear about what we're talking about today.
speaker-1 (02:31) They do, and it is a marketing topic. So we're not here to divulge our personal lives. We're here to actually talk about a marketing topic.
speaker-0 (02:35) Absolutely, we're not talking about bears.
speaker-1 (02:38) No. First of all, can we thank you guys? We are YouTube following is growing. So if you're watching us on YouTube, please go ahead and subscribe. Also, if you're streaming on any other of the podcasting platforms, you guys we have over a hundred and how many episodes?
speaker-0 (02:58.21) God, I think we're at 170 at this point. Yeah. We're pumping stuff out.
speaker-1 (03:02) So you guys go ahead and binge all day long if you are working a full time job, but you're wanting to grow your small business that you're running outside of the full time job. Just put us in your earplugs and you know, listen all day.
speaker-0 (03:17) Let's get real close. Yeah, let's get close. BFFs by the end of it.
speaker-1 (03:22) That's right. So what is the topic, Chels?
speaker-0 (03:25) Vivian, I'm actually really excited to have this conversation.
speaker-1 (03:29.23) I feel like you say that every single episode.
speaker-0 (03:31) That's not true. There are some episodes that I don't say that. And they all involve AI.
speaker-1 (03:36.43) This is not that conversation.
speaker-0 (03:39) is not that conversation. Today we are talking about Facebook and we're specifically talking about boosting posts. Yes. And if boosting posts is still a no-no, right? Because we've had the conversation in the past a couple years ago, you know, everyone online, well, every marketer, every reputable marketer online was saying the same thing, which is, you know, there's no reason to be boosting posts on Facebook.
Things have changed, so we're gonna have this conversation and see where the verdict stands. You know, is it is it okay now to boost posts on Facebook?
speaker-1 (04:16) That's right. And we hope that you can appreciate the fact that even though we have covered certain topics maybe in the past, because marketing does change so often and it has to shift with the way that people are consuming information and the way people are wanting you know, just to be able to buy their services, we have to have these recurring conversations to see if the mindset has shifted any and also because these platforms are
are utilizing AI so much nowadays and they're trying to improve on their technology, we want to be sure that if we've ever recommended to you guys not to boost a Facebook post or an Instagram post, we want to know if in twenty twenty six, we're technically in August now. So halfway through twenty twenty six, if it's still something that we're recommending.
speaker-0 (05:08) Yes, it's still not new. Yeah, yeah. All right. Okay. Vivian, I have a marketing hot take. yeah. And my marketing hot take is actually kind of the answer to this question already.
Okay.
But I wanna say it up front just because I think this will be a great like don't stop listening to this episode. Like, I want you to hear everything we have to say because
I think there are times where boosting a post is okay now.
speaker-1 (05:40.75) Ooh. Yeah. Yeah. I like this hot take because I don't necessarily agree with that. But
speaker-0 (05:47) Really look at that, we're back at it, we're we're fighting, we're back
speaker-1 (05:51) On on separate sides again. All is well with the world.
speaker-0 (05:56.34) Well this entire conversation is going to be me backing up my hot take and you trying to prove me wrong. So
speaker-1 (06:03) Yeah, let's get into it then. Where shall we start?
speaker-0 (06:07) Let's start with what boosting a post means. Okay. Vivian, what when we're saying boost a Facebook post, what are we entailing?
speaker-1 (06:16) Okay, I know you guys are gonna get tired of hearing me say this. When we refer to Meta, remember Meta owns both Facebook and Instagram. Yes. Okay, so that collectively covers both platforms.
speaker-0 (06:27.63) Real quick, before we get into this, can you boost an Instagram post?
speaker-1 (06:32) You can.
speaker-0 (06:27.63) Okay, so this is so this conversation, I know we kept saying Facebook in the beginning, but really we're talking about meta. Yeah. Okay.
speaker-1 (06:40) Yes. So boosting post in Meta is basically you deciding instead of creating an ad, you've posted something, maybe a video, maybe a reel, maybe a carousel post, and you're like, I want to get more eyeballs on it. Okay. And you all know as small business owners, because I know you have seen the option pop up on your screen. Meta definitely encourages us. They're like, hey, throw a little money at this thing, right? And so
The whole conversation today is gonna be talking about whether that is a good use of your money. And I know some of you out there, what you're thinking probably is like, hey, if I just throw twenty bucks at this and it gets me more eyeballs, then it's worth it. But the entire conversation we're gonna have is gonna be, is that really though, you know, the way to is it worth it? Yeah. Okay. And and Chelsea, tell me, when whenever you boost a post, what do you
speaker-0 (07:23) Yeah.
speaker-0 (07:30) Yeah.
speaker-1 (07:39) likely trying to do? Like as a small business owner, what are you looking to get more of
speaker-0 (07:45.42) Boosting posts is gonna be all about visibility. Yeah. You're you're looking to get more eyeballs on the post. You're hoping for more website clicks or interaction. Likes, shares, comments, that sort of thing. That's what boosting is going to be good for.
speaker-1 (07:57) Likes.
speaker-1 (08:05) All right. And so the discussion that we had a couple years ago, I think what we had said in the past is it's just not a good use of your funds. Like there's a better way to do it.
speaker-0 (08:16) So the the largest problem in the past with boosting posts is that yes, you're getting more eyeballs on that post. Those aren't quality leads most likely though. Like Facebook is not being specific in the past. They weren't being specific about who they were showing your content to. They were just showing it to anyone. Right. And so the problem with that is that, you know, these this isn't necessarily the audience that you want.
To be seeing your content. Might be Joe Schmoe when you're looking for I don't know, Chappell Roan. Uh-huh. I thought Joe Schmoe and Chappell Roan. Those were the only two names I could think of just now. But my point is with ads and when you're spending your marketing dollars, you want to be very specific and very smart about the way you're spending that money. And is it smart?
speaker-0 (09:15.81) To throw money at a post that yes is popular, yes, it's doing well, but you're not being seen by the correct target audience.
speaker-1 (09:25) Right. So it's just kind of like random people, right? Okay. So I think in the past this was this is vaguely coming back to me. I think I use this as an example. And this is, I'm gonna stand behind this, okay, and you're gonna tell me why, you know, things have changed apparently. I liken it to, you know, sometimes in this online world we disconnect because it's not like a
physical world where you're doing some type of physicality. And so it just kind of you think, what harm could be in that? Okay. But then if you were to translate this into a physical action, you're like, well, that's kind of dumb. Okay. So I liken it to if you were trying to boost a post, it would be like me walking down
A street, okay. I'm in a middle down, I'm in a busy downtown area. I'm walking down a street and I'm wanting to promote my business. And basically what I'm doing is I'm just shouting to everybody that is walking by me, whether you're on my side of the street or whether you're on the other side of the street, okay. Anybody that walks by me, I'm just shouting like, you know, she's just
speaker-0 (10:37) Yeah, she's just screaming.
speaker-1 (10:38) Yes, buy from me. This is the name of my business. This is my website. This is where you can find my product. not effective. Okay. Because first of all, what it does is like great people are hearing the name of my business, but I'm not being selective in who I'm shouting to. Okay. Now, if let's say I was selling baby strollers, okay. Okay. Why would I like I'm shouting at everybody?
I increase my probability of someone that may be interested in buying my product if I'm l only shouting to the people that have kids with them. Yes. Okay. Because then they could actually use the baby scroller, right? They get tired of holding the baby, blah, blah, blah. So I'm automatically by doing that and being selective in the group that I'm shouting to, I'm increasing my chances. Okay. So that's where I think I still stand behind that.
speaker-0 (11:35) Okay.
speaker-1 (11:36) Now tell me what did I get wrong in twenty twenty six? She was with me back in the day.
speaker-0 (11:39) Well in twenty twelve. back in the day. Absolutely correct. And the biggest problem was when boosting posts back in the day, you just hit boost post and that was it. Now, Vivian, Facebook Meta. Meta has added all of these new choices that you can make. And I kind of liken it I feel like I feel like meta boosting posts is kind of like
speaker-0 (12:10) Baby's first ad.
speaker-1 (12:12) Okay. She's calling you guys babies.
speaker-0 (12:15.95) No, what I'm saying is they have added so many new features to boosting that I feel like you can you can create an effective ad now. However, the most effective ad you can create is gonna be in Facebook Ads Manager. So let's talk about what's new when it comes to boosting. Okay
speaker-1 (12:38) This episode of the SOB Marketing Podcast is brought to you by the SOB community. If you're a small business owner that is neglecting your marketing and you feel like you've wasted money and time on marketing help that didn't deliver, or if you're just craving support from people who actually get what it's like to run and promote a small business, then our membership community is for you. Visit skool.com/SOB to sign up today.
To get instant access and weekly support, that's skool.com/SOB
speaker-0 (13:14) Okay, Vivian, let me read to you some of these changes. So now you can choose from multiple goals like engagement, website clicks, or website visits, or leads. Okay. So again, remember originally boosting posts. Yeah, you didn't have that. You didn't have any options at all. You just threw it out there into the ether. So now we can add multiple goals. you can add
speaker-0 (13:45) CTA buttons, so call to actions like sign up now, visit here, stuff like that. Okay. and this is the big one. You can now choose specific targeting.
speaker-1 (13:59) Oh, okay.
speaker-0 (13:59.87) Yeah. So now you can do location, like location targeting. You can even include interests and behavior targeting. So like I want to target people who are interested in having baby. Right, right. I mean, yeah. You can also use a custom audience. Okay. So you can build your own target audience. Now you can't do that while in like the boosting. Okay.
process you have to have already created that custom audience from like an ad or just going in there and creating one yourself and then later on you can use it.
speaker-1 (14:38.24) Yeah, so this is what's interesting. I understand what you're saying. Like they've upgraded the boosting post. Okay. And I love that however, I still just kind of wonder. I'm like, I you know, small business owners, your ultimate goal is if you're spending 20 bucks, 40 bucks, is to get the most out of that 20 and 40 bucks, right? This is yes, one step
speaker-1 (15:05) Closer to that. I'm glad that they're at least now giving you call to action capability. They're also allowing you to create or target an audience. I love that. But because it is limited, why wouldn't you just take that extra step, right? And do it in the meta ads manager.
speaker-0 (15:26) That's fair. That's understandable. This is why I wanna come back to baby's first ad, right? Let's say meta ads manager, Facebook ads manager is making you uncomfortable, it's stressing you out. If you feel like the only way you're gonna actually commit to creating an ad is by boosting a post, I would much rather you actually create something than never create anything at all.
speaker-1 (15:57) Then to not try it.
speaker-0 (15:58) Than to not try it. Also a great way to just try it, right? do a trial run of an ad. So you create the ad, you post it first, then you boost the post. If it's doing really well, then you can go into Facebook's ad ads manager and actually build out a whole campaign.
speaker-1 (16:22) Yea, that okay, that's a interesting idea.
speaker-0 (16:25.75) Test it out first. We're all about experimenting.
speaker-1 (16:30) Right. And so maybe using the boost post, if they're giving you these extra added capabilities to drill down into a target audience, select your call to action, what you're saying is test the content and if it seems to be engaging enough, then go ahead and build out the ad. Yes. Okay.
speaker-0 (16:52) Absolutely if if that's how you're gonna feel comfortable doing something, do it like that. Do I think yes, Facebook ads manager is probably your best bet and where you're gonna get the most bang for your buck? Yeah. Yes. But I don't wanna just straight up say, no, this is not worth your time.
speaker-1 (17:12) Yeah, and we are cognizant that as small business owners we all have I mean Chelsea was just earlier telling me she's taken on another client and she's like, I am I got a million things going on right now, okay? Thank you. And so we understand because we feel those constraints as well for time. Like all of us are just are busy and if you're running the business promoting, you have allocated
You only have so much time that you can dedicate to marketing, right? You're you're not gonna be marketing the whole time unless you're ha getting someone to help you with that. So I do agree that this could be a good way to dip a toe or to see like, hey, is this content engaging enough that I want to put more money behind it? Now, I will say in meta ads manager, if you're running t if you're wanting to run whether Facebook ads or Instagram ads,
You can actually set up different ads to do the same thing and just, you know, put five dollars on on each little ad and see which one performs the best and then put more money towards that ad. However, I do know that that could take a little longer, right? So maybe it it does take a little more time to set that up. So I will I will agree with you to some extent that if you're wanting to
Find a quick way to flush, flesh, flush
speaker-0 (18:41) Flash, flush. Flush, flush, it's flash.
speaker-1 (18:55) flash. your ideas out.. this might be a good place for that
speaker-0 (18:47.34) Yeah, and I I want to emphasize that the reason I have changed my mind has everything to do with the targeting now. Okay. that you can be s you know, a little more specific. Is it as intense as the regular ads manager? No. But it still helps you get in front of the right people. And that's the important part.
So yeah, in the past, absolutely no boosting was not worth it because it wasn't showing you to specific people. But now that you can specify who you want to see your content.
speaker-1 (19:26) Yeah. And can we throw something in there? you guys, you there's this little thing that happens when you boost a post an Apple on your app, isn't there?
speaker-0 (19:39) I'm so glad you're bringing this up. If you are going to boost an app boost a post, do not do it on your app. Do it on a desktop user. If you're an Apple user. Because Apple, I don't we did an episode on this. So go listen to that. But how many years ago was that?
speaker-1 (19:59) That was maybe like two no, maybe like last year I think they started implementing fees
speaker-0 (20:06.22) Yes. Yeah. So now what Apple does is if you're creating ads, boosting posts, all that stuff within the app on your Apple phone, they're gonna charge you a surcharge.
speaker-1 (20:19) Yes. And and if I remember correctly, it is a I don't want to say substantial, I mean it's not like super crazy, but it does kind of eat away. I I mean, why you why do you want to pay extra fees on something when you can easily just go to your desktop instead and do it? And th that had nothing to do with Meta. That had everything to do with Apple deciding to do that. Yeah.
speaker-0 (20:42) Yes, Apple specifically did that.
speaker-1 (20:44) If you have a Android like I do, you're in the clear but Chelsea does Apple, so
speaker-0 (20:49) I do. I have Apple. It I'm already embedded in. It's too late to change. Vivian, I feel like this was a very straightforward episode because we kinda just said, you know what, things have changed.
speaker-1 (21:04) They have and reminder that it's okay to change your mind on stuff, okay? I I still am going to tell you guys that if you're gonna spend, you know, any amount of money, I want you to get the most bang for your buck. And I would recommend that you go in and do ads manager. Absolutely. If and if you haven't done it in some time because it was it did take you so much time, maybe like last year to create an ad.
They're using a lot more of the AI capabilities. And so what you may find is that it's a little easier to put an ad together, take up less time simply because they're trying to streamline it. And they are they do have a lot of AI capabilities that help you kind of go through those steps quicker.
speaker-0 (21:50.99) Can I just say, Vivian? I know I just spent this entire conversation saying, you know what, boosting post isn't that bad anymore. If you have the time, if you have the bandwidth, the capability, create a legitimate ad. I don't want you guys to stunt yourself because I'm saying, okay, boosting post is okay now. Our stance, right? Okay. I'm I'm saying what our stance is. Our stance is that.
speaker-1 (22:20) I like how she looked at me, she's like, Right, right.
speaker-0 (22:21) Right? Yeah, I can say it. Okay. Our stance is that your ads manager is gonna be the best option and the thing that you are doing. Yes. But if you have to boost a post, if you wanna play around with it, if you wanna experiment, that's okay now too.
speaker-1 (22:38) Absolutely. And you know, as always, the content is the most important part of it. tell us in the comments if you guys disagree with us, if you have actually grown you know, and gotten really great sales. That's the the key part that I'm always a stickler for is that is ultimately
You know, if your goal in social media is just to get a bunch of likes, likes don't pay y'all's bills, okay? What does pay the bills is sales, okay? So you're always talking about what is gonna give you the highest rate of conversion to a sale. And that's the only part with boosting posts that I still don't, you know, I still feel like ads manager is the best bet because at least then you could get really granular. You know, if at the end of the day you're like, I really don't care how many sales.
I make, I just want to be popular on this platform, then more power to you. Then maybe boosting post all day long is gonna be your best bet. but I don't think most small business owners are in that boat. Most of us wanna go out there and what we're looking for are customers. Yeah. People that are gonna make that first initial purchase and people that are gonna continue to come back and keep making purchases from us.
And so finding your people, your target audience, getting your message, your ads in front of those people is the most important thing. And ads manager is king or queen for that.
speaker-0 (24:10.24) It's Queen. It's Queen. Okay, well, Vivian, I think this was a nice conversation. I'm glad we revisited this. I think it was definitely relevant to have this conversation. Please remember to subscribe and follow. if you aren't watching, you can watch on YouTube or Spotify. And you know what? Go be the best SOB you can be.