Although it was reported earlier this month that Facebook was testing a “highlighted posts” feature, the company has now made it official with a page that explains how the promoted posts will work.
“When you post on your page, it currently may only reach a limited amount of the people that Like your page each week,” a Facebook staffer says via a video posted on the social network.
“Promoted posts help increase the people you reach for any eligible post. It’s an easy and fast way to reach more of the people that Like your page and your friends.”
If a coffee shop wants to let its Facebook fans know that it’s having a 20% discount special, for example, the merchant can promote that post so it gets better placement in its Facebook fans news feeds.
Businesses can also target posts based on specific location or language, and will be able to keep track of how many people saw the post. Any post that is less than three days old can be promoted.
To do so, visit the sharing tool to create a post and located next to the “Post” and “Public” buttons will be a “Promote” tab. Clicking on the “Promote” drop-down menu will allow you to set your budget of how much you want to spend (such as $5 or $10) to highlight the post throughout the duration of the promotion.
“Your promoted posts will be seen by a larger percentage of the people who like your Page than would normally see it,” Facebook noted on its site. “It will also be seen by a larger percentage of the friends of people who interact with your post.”
People will see promoted posts labeled with “Sponsored” in their news feed (not with other ads located in the right column of Facebook), whether they are accessing Facebook on a PC or mobile device. When they Like the post, comment or share, their friends will see it as well.
Similar with ads, you will be billed to the primary funding source designated in the Ads Manager section of your account, Facebook noted on the site.
