Case Study: Facebook Boost Post
This site utilizes Google Analytics, Google AdSense, as well as participates in affiliate partnerships with various companies including Amazon. Please view the privacy policy for more details.
I’ve run a few Facebook ads before, never spending more than a couple bucks and never with much success - either in terms of views, likes, or clicks. Inspired by this blog post on MerchInformer.com, I decided to expand my audience beyond the United States.
The Boosted Post
Keep in mind the product I’m advertising is one of my Merch by Amazon shirts. These shirts are currently available only in the United States, so someone from outside the US is unlikely to actually buy my product.
The Audience
Since my product is an HTML parody t-shirt, selecting HTML, web design, and t-shirts seemed natural. I also selected “online shopping” because - although my audience probably can’t buy my shirt - my shirt is for sale online.
The age range (18 - 65+) is Facebook’s maximum age range.
Now, here’s where things get interesting. Why did I choose India, and why males? I chose males because I used a female model in my mockup I created on PlaceIt.net, and I chose India because I have a hunch there is a large population of freelance web designers there.
The Results
I boosted this post on July 21st for two days. The boost made the post visible to 608 people with 320 “engagements” (mostly likes). The single share is actually from me sharing to post to my personal wall.
Almost a week later, the post has the following statistics:
An additional 193 people reached with 24 likes.
In addition to these results, I was able to get two people to like my page.
Any sales?
Possibly, but I doubt it. During the boost, I sold a black text / white shirt version of the HTML shirt (and it was a women’s shirt to boot!). However, I used my Amazon Associates tracking id in the boosted post and saw no purchases of any kind.
Conclusion
I’m always nervous when it comes to doing any sort of paid advertising, partly because I don’t want to spend the money, and partly because I don’t really know what I’m doing. Two bucks isn’t much money and was worth the learning experience.