Does boost listing work on Facebook Marketplace?

When we talk about e-commerce, Facebook Marketplace must feature in the conversation. This might come as a surprise, but boosting a listing is not worth it on the Facebook marketplace, and we will tell you why.

With over 2.7 million active users monthly, Facebook is a hotspot for sellers seeking to boost their sales. Unfortunately, your target clients might make just a tiny percentage of the people who see and view your listing. Boosting might seem like the most appropriate thing to fix this, but it’s not worth it. We have tried boosting listings on Facebook and ended up with returns that were not worth the effort. In this post, we will tell you why you should steer clear of boosting and some workable alternatives, so keep reading.

What does it mean to boost listings on the Facebook marketplace?

Boosting refers to promoting a listing on the Facebook marketplace to increase the number of people who see the post. This may help with selling your products faster since boosted listings appear as Ads. Boosted listings are given priority over other posts on the timeline. Boosting also gives you access to analytics, which gives you an overview of how well different posts are doing and gives you a general idea of what works for you. This way, you can align your strategies better when making subsequent posts.

In 2016, Facebook started prioritizing posts from friends and family, meaning the organic reach dropped to 52%. Boosting does not necessarily mean that you will increase engagement. However, it always seems like the easiest way out as it is just one click of a button away. So, is it worth it? The answer is no. Let’s see why boosting is not worth the investment.

 The audience targeting options are limited

While targeting is one of the most vital parts of an Ad campaign, showing the listing to the wrong target group drastically limits the amount of engagement in that campaign. Facebook only gives you three targeting options. These options are; people who like your page, their friends, and people you choose via targeting. The people chosen via targeting reflect a small portion of the demographic since it is impossible to specify the audience’s connection to the page.

Your Ads fall where the Facebook algorithm chooses

The Facebook algorithm, in most cases, chooses a target audience where your page will get the most clicks and likes, but does not necessarily translate the clicks into sales. This will not give you maximum returns on your investment, since you do not have any control of where the Ad appears after you have boosted the listing.

Boosting a post sets your post up as a campaign

This, in simple terms, means that when you boost a post, it is assigned the sole objective of post engagement on the Ads manager. This means that the listing will be optimized for comments and shares but not website traffic or conversion. This does not translate to value for money since the decision to boost a post comes from the need to drive sales volumes up and not necessarily push the engagement numbers up

Better alternatives to boosting listings on the Facebook marketplace

The best option is to post the listing on different platforms. This means that the business will be able to reach a diverse range of customers as opposed to being confined to the Facebook marketplace. Another valid option is using mobile Ad forms where advertisers purchase Ad spots delivered on mobile apps and websites.

Conclusion

Before investing in a boosted listing, you should first understand your objective or what you want to achieve from the Ad campaign. If, for instance, you aim to drive traffic to a page and generate more likes and engagement, boosting will be an appealing choice. However, if you are looking for a higher conversion rate, promoting will not be the best fit.

FAQs

  1. What happens when you boost your listing on Facebook Marketplace?

After boosting, the post appears as an Ad on the Facebook timeline.

  1. Why can’t I boost my post on Marketplace?

This mostly happens if the item has been marked as sold.

Last summer, I sold about 30-40 items, $70-$120 each on the Facebook marketplace within one month. I've marked all the listings as "Sold" instead of simply removing them. Then I've noticed that the "Boost Listing" buttons appeared on my listings on the FB marketplace, and Facebook obtrusively asks to pay them money to "boost my listing to reach over n buyers in your area." The number of views for my posts significantly lowered after the "Boost Listing" buttons appeared. Instead of paying, I switched to another FB account and now sell almost exclusively from that account. Now I'm removing the listings instead of marking them as "sold" to avoid that damned "Boost Listing" offer.

My question is: Will it improve selling performance if I pay Facebook to "Boost the listing" in comparison with selling from the free account?

Does boosting listing on Facebook Marketplace work?

Boosting a Marketplace listing increases the number of people who see and engage with your listing, and may help you sell your item faster. After you boost a Marketplace listing, it displays as an ad on Facebook. You can view your ad results with insights for boosted listings.

Why won't Facebook Marketplace let me boost my listing?

If your listing is marked as sold, you won't be able to boost it. If you have another item to sell, you can create a new listing and boost it instead. If your listing is an exact copy of another listing you've posted, you won't be able to boost it.