Why Doesn't the Actual Number of People who Saw our Boosted Facebook Post Match the Original Estimate?

Facebook boosted posts definitely have a place in business depending on what your goal is.
Are you trying to increase the number of likes on your Facebook page? These posts can help. Trying to get visits to your website? Facebook can help. Trying to sell a product? Facebook MAY be able to help depending on how you handle it.

We will discuss how and when to use Facebook post boosting in another article.

Today we are addressing my number one client question of the week. Why doesn't the actual number of people who saw our boosted Facebook Boosted Post match the original estimate Facebook gave me when I created the boost?

Well, this number almost never matches exactly. You should not boost posts if the exact number is necessary. The fact is that when you are engaging in the boosting of a Facebook post, they are giving you a rough estimate of what you could achieve if all the stars are lined up correctly. What you will actually pay to reach each person is very similar to Ebay, the stock market or Google PPC campaigns. Extraneous consumption can drive up your numbers.

So if you put an antique shoe tree for sale on Ebay, you can see what other antique shoes trees have sold for, but it's not a guarantee of pricing. Maybe no one needs your antique shoe tree this month. The amount you get could be low. Maybe everyone suddenly needs antique shoe trees. You could sell it for many times the average. The same happens for Facebook boosted posts. If multiple businesses are bidding to reach the same audience, the price per person reached can go up. Fortunately on FB boosted posts we are usually talking a few cents to a dollar or two up. 

What I also tell my clients is, it's ok. You shouldn't be measuring the success of your campaign by people reached. You should measure based on the actions that the people took.

Did you want page likes? Did you get what you expected? How much is each "like" worth to you? This information is more valuable than a number of people seeing your posts.