How to Boost a Post on Facebook and Instagram, and Whether It's Worth It

To boost a post on Facebook, open your Page's Ad Center, click Advertise, select Boost Facebook content, click Boost post on the post you want, set your goal, audience, end date and budget, then click Publish (Meta's boost guide). On Instagram, select the post on your profile, tap or click Boost, set your goal, audience, budget and duration, then choose Boost post (Instagram's boost guide).

Either way, a boost turns a post you've already published into a paid ad. Whether that's worth it depends on what you want the post to do.

Is boosting a post worth it?

Sometimes. A boost is worth a small test when you want more people to see and answer a post that already works. It's a weaker choice for leads (inquiries from likely customers) or website sales. That's Corren's judgment from Meta's help pages, not a Meta rule or a study.

Boost if all four are true:

1. You'd pay to show the post exactly as written. Neither app lets you change a boost's words or images later.
2. You want attention on that post: people seeing it, reacting, messaging you or turning up to something soon.
3. Someone can respond. The link, phone number or inbox works and gets answered.
4. You can name the result that would make you boost again, and you can afford to lose the budget.

Choose Promote or Ads Manager instead if leads or website sales are the main goal. Promote is a button on your Facebook Page that builds an ad from a goal you choose. Ads Manager is Meta's full ad tool. Meta's guide to ways to promote your business lists what Ads Manager adds: custom audiences (people you define yourself), the Meta Pixel (website code that reports visits and purchases to Meta) and tests. A boost can still bring leads and calls, as Meta's overview of boosted posts notes, but it's not the tool built for them.

Skip spending for now if the post has no clear next step, you don't know what a customer is worth to you, or the offer ends before ad review could finish.

What you need before you boost

On Facebook, you need a published Page and permission to advertise for it, which Meta calls Facebook access or task access to Ads.

On Instagram, you need a professional account (business or creator) and must be over 16 (Instagram). You can switch under Account type and tools in your settings, as Instagram's account guide shows. A private account becomes public when you switch.

Your first Instagram boost asks whether to use a Facebook ad account, the Meta account that holds your ad billing. Instagram recommends using one. Skipping it is only for first-time boosters, loses features such as saved audiences, and keeps the ad's tracking inside Instagram. If you add an ad account later, you lose access to the old ads, so pause them first (Instagram).

A way to pay: a card, PayPal or available funds, a balance you prepay (Instagram).

How to boost a post on Facebook

1. Open the boost on Facebook

On facebook.com, click your profile picture at the top right and switch into your Page. Click Ad Center (Meta's boost guide calls it Ads center), then Advertise, Boost Facebook content and Boost post on the post you want (Meta's boost guide). A blue Boost post button may also appear under some posts.

You're done when you see your post's ad settings. If it says Boost unavailable, see posts you can't boost.

2. Choose the goal, audience and category

Pick the goal yourself, so you know what you're paying for. Goals include messages, calls, website visits and post engagement (Meta). For Audience, take Meta's recommended audience or build one from traits. Turn on Special Ad Category if the ad is about financial products or services, employment, housing, or social issues, elections or politics.

You're done when your goal, audience and Special Ad Category are set.

3. Set the end date, budget and placements

Under Duration, pick a specific end date, then set Daily budget. The end date gives the budget a total. If your screen asks for a lifetime budget instead, which is one total for the whole run, enter that total. Keep all available placements (the spots where the ad can appear) turned on, as Meta recommends.

You're done when an end date is set and you can state your planned total.

4. Publish and clear review

Check that the post's link, phone number or inbox works, then click Publish. Meta says most ad reviews finish within 24 hours (Meta). If it's rejected, Meta emails a link to the reason, and you can make a new ad or request another review (Meta).

You're done when the boost shows Active in Ad Center, or you've read the rejection reason.

How to boost a post on Instagram

1. Open the boost on Instagram

On instagram.com, go to your profile, select the post and click Boost. In the app, tap the post on your profile, then Boost below its image (Instagram's boost guide). Reels have the same button, and stories have one at the bottom.

You're done when you see the Goal, Audience, Budget and Duration settings. If there's no Boost button, see posts you can't boost.

2. Set the goal, audience, budget and duration

Pick from goals such as profile visits, website visits or messages (Meta). For Audience, Automatic reaches people similar to your followers, or you can build your own. US-based or US-targeted ads about credit, employment, housing, social issues or politics need a Special Ad Category.

Budget is an average daily spend. For Duration, pick a set number of days rather than Run this ad until I pause it, so the budget has a total (Meta).

You're done when you've set a number of days and can state your total.

3. Review and boost

In the app, tap Next, then Preview ad to check where the ad will appear, then Boost post (Boost reel for a reel). On instagram.com, select Boost post. Instagram reviews the ad and notifies you when it's approved or disapproved.

You're done when you get the notice that your ad is approved.

Can you boost to Facebook and Instagram at once?

Partly. Boosts made from your Facebook Page can also run on Instagram when your Instagram professional account is linked to the Page (Instagram).

• To keep a Page boost off Instagram, turn off Advantage+ placements (Meta's automatic placement setting) next to the ad preview and uncheck Instagram (Meta).
• From the Instagram app, some goals add an Allow Facebook placement toggle below Audience. It needs a personal Facebook account and a Page, works only for ads that start WhatsApp chats or collect leads, and is still rolling out by country (Instagram).
• Meta Business Suite, Meta's tool for running a Page and Instagram account together, can build one new ad, not a boost, for both apps in its phone app (Meta).

Posts you can't boost

On Facebook, hover over Boost unavailable on the post to see why. Common reasons and fixes, from Meta's troubleshooting page:

Meta also excludes drafts, albums and some reels, such as those with copyrighted music. If your ad account or payments are restricted, a new post won't help. Follow What you can do in Meta Business Support Home, where Meta shows account and ad problems, instead (Meta).

On Instagram, if Boost is missing, the post may not be eligible or your account may not be set up to boost (Instagram's boost guide). The common limits:

• Reels: 90 seconds or less, full-screen vertical (9:16), published on or after Oct 15, 2021, with no licensed music, and not already shared to Facebook (reels guide).
• Reel extras: no face or camera effects, GIFs, product tags, interactive stickers or auto-generated captions (troubleshooting page).
• Stories: active, highlighted or reposted from your archive, without polls, quizzes, music or link stickers (stories guide).

How much a boost costs

There's no set price. You pick a budget and a length, and Meta sells ad space by auction, usually charging by impressions, the times your ad is shown (Meta).

The daily budget is an average. As of 2026, Meta's daily budget page says one day can run up to 75% over, so $10 a day can reach $17.50 on a busy day. A Sunday to Saturday week stays within seven times the daily budget.

Meta doesn't publish a dollar minimum for boosts. Its ads in general have minimums that vary by country and goal (Meta), and Instagram shows a recommended minimum based on similar businesses (Meta).

On Facebook, cards and PayPal are charged when spending reaches your payment threshold (the amount of spend that triggers a charge) and on your monthly bill date. One bill can cover all your ads in that period. On Instagram, you pay what was spent, up to your budget (Meta).

How to judge the result

Judge a small boost as a rough reading, not proof. Once the run ends:

1. Open the results. On Facebook, go to your Page's Ad Center, find the post under Recent Ads and click View results (Meta). On Instagram, go to Professional dashboard, then Ad tools, and tap View Insights below the ad (Meta).
2. Find what you were charged. On a computer, open the receipt under Payment activity in Billing & payments. It lists the amount spent and the campaigns charged, and needs admin or full control of the ad account (Meta). On Instagram, Billing & payments is under Other tools in your Dashboard. If you boosted on Instagram without a Facebook ad account, check the charge on your card, PayPal or App Store statement instead. Spend can take up to 48 hours to settle (Meta).
3. Work out cost per result: the amount spent divided by the results for your goal (Meta). In a made-up example, $70 and 5 messages is $14 a message.
4. Compare it with your business. Count real inquiries and bookings, and ask new customers how they found you. In another made-up example, if a job leaves you $200 after costs and one inquiry in four becomes a job, an inquiry is worth up to $50.

Small budgets buy little data. The table below is rough arithmetic, not a forecast, from vendor data (numbers from companies that sell ad tools or services) for Meta ads in general, not boosts.

Impressions use CPMs (costs per 1,000 impressions) of $8.32 for Facebook and Instagram (Gupta Media, 2025) and about $23.42 for US Facebook (Superads, 2025 to 2026). Each page is inconsistent about its sample or dates. Leads use $27.39 per lead for Facebook lead campaigns (LocaliQ, 2026).

At two or three leads, one more or fewer could be chance. If people clicked without getting in touch, our guide to Google Ads clicks with no leads covers what to check after the click.

Change, pause or stop a boost

Facebook allows more changes after publishing than Instagram, according to Meta's edit guides for Facebook boosts and Instagram ads.

• Facebook: edit on facebook.com from Ad Center, under More options, then Edit ad, since the iPhone app can't edit boosts. Pause from the three dots on the post in Ad Center (Meta). Deleting a boost ends it and removes its results (Meta).
• Instagram: edit or pause from Ad tools in your Professional dashboard (Instagram). Delete the ad before deleting a boosted post (Instagram).

Boost, Promote or Ads Manager

Meta's guide to ways to promote your business suggests ads from your Page if you're new to its ads, and Ads Manager for more control. Here are the three side by side, from Meta's help pages:

The Advertise list from step 1 also offers ad types such as Get more leads, depending on your Page (Meta). If you'd rather hand this off, our Meta ads management page explains that service, and our comparison of flat fees and percentage-of-spend pricing covers how agencies usually charge.