July 3, 2018 Using Boosted Posts on Facebook What is a boosted post? A boosted post is a post that you ve chosen to promote on your Facebook page. Facebook boost is a form of advertisement and there is a fee associated with it, typically nominal amounts ($20 for a week, for example). This can be many things including a shared post, a status update on your page, or an upcoming event from your local League or a partner. For example, you could boost a post about a fundraising opportunity or about the 100 th Year Celebration of the League. The boosted post appears in the newsfeed of more people than your page would typically reach and includes a Sponsored, label, like this: Why should I boost a post? Boosting posts increases your audience reach and increases likelihood that people who follow your League s page will see your posts in Facebook s algorithm. It s a quick and easy way to expand your local League s reach and share information with more people. What do I need to boost a post? A published Facebook Page for your local League. A role on the Facebook business Page that allows you to advertise. You'll need to be an Admin, Editor, Moderator or Advertiser to advertise on the local League s page. Note: because of Facebook s new ad policies with ads with
political content, you might have to be the Page admin in order to go through the process. That additional process is explained further below in the guide. A Facebook ad account A post on your Facebook business Page that's eligible to be boosted. Look for the blue Boost Post button. A payment method (see info box) Payment Method: the Facebook Page itself does not have its own payment method. The payment method will be linked to the personal ad account of the individual. Given the nominal amount, in most Leagues, the person with the ad account pays with their own funds and is reimbursed from the League or opts to make it a donation. With either method, make sure to record the transaction to the appropriate fund. How do I access my Facebook ad account? 1. Sign into your personal Facebook Account. An account will exist for your personal Facebook page automatically. You ll use this ad account for the local League s advertising needs. 2. Go to http://www.facebook.com/ads/manage/. Ad manager is a dashboard for managing all Facebook ads and boosted posts. The ID number you re assigned will be used later in this setup process, so take note of it. This is what the page should look like. 3. Set up your billing information. Refer to the disclaimer above regarding the payment method. Click the gear-icon for Settings in the upper-right hand corner of the upper toolbar. 4. Once in Settings, click Payment Settings on the left-hand sidebar. 5. For Payment method, insert the cardholder information. Facebook will ask you for your password again. Once you ve entered your password, you ll be directed back to the Ads Manager dashboard. That will become your primary payment. 2
6. Now your ad account is set up. You re ready to start boosting; however, if your ad is deemed by Facebook has having political content, you re going to need to complete the additional steps below. Creating Boosted Posts How do I create a boosted post? 1. Find or create a post you want to boost on your Facebook Page. 2. Click the blue Boost Post button on the post. If the button is faded and un-clickable, you can t boost the post. 3
3. Select the audience you'd like to reach (may select multiple), or click Create New Audience. If you click Create New Audience, you'll have the option to create an audience based on traits like age, location, interests and more. 4. Click the dropdown below Total budget to select a budget for your boosted post. You can select a pre-filled budget or click Choose Your Own and type in a custom budget. You ll also choose a duration option, or type in a custom end date next to Run this ad until. 5. Select your preferred payment option. Your ad account and payment information should already be linked to the page, and if you try to change it, Facebook will route you back to your ad manager account. This is the ad account and payment info that has been authorized to publish political content by Facebook. 6. Click Boost. But when will the boosted post actually be up and running? Facebook will let you know when your boosted post is approved. You can also check your ad status by looking at the Delivery column in Ads Manager. 4
Boosted posts that aren't approved through the review process won't accrue any additional charges from that point. Keep in mind that a boosted post may have charges from before it was reviewed. That's because the boosted post was running before it was reviewed. If you have any further questions, feel free to contact info@lwvil.org. Political Ads and Facebook Authorization In an effort to create more transparency and curtail interference in online advertising ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, Facebook announced that it would create a new process for ads coming from specific candidates in October 2017. It essentially created an advertiser authorization process, disclosure label, and political content archive for ads coming from any campaign or individual promoting electoral candidates. As of May 2018, Facebook has expanded that to include issue-based ads and ads promoting news articles on politics and elections. For the issue-based ads category, Facebook worked with third-party organizations like the Comparative Agendas Project to compile a list of twenty issues of national importance, including abortion, the environment, immigration, and civil rights. All of the issues are listed here, https://www.facebook.com/business/help/214754279118974, and the list may be expanded over time. Not only will these ads receive a Paid for by [Organization] label when they re live on Facebook, but they ll also be placed in a digital archive labeled, Ads with Political Content. Because the League is typically working with voting rights, voter education, and a voter guide, League posts and events typically count within this political content realm, it s recommended at least one Page Admin completes the Facebook authorization process. How do I authorize my account? 1. Initially, make sure you re the page admin of the local league s Facebook page. If not, request to do so. 2. Once you have access, click Settings of that Facebook Page. You ll then want to click the Authorizations tab on the left-hand sidebar. The process can take 2-4 weeks, so plan accordingly. 5
Further, you ll need the following materials and information to go through the identification process: A US driver's license or US passport. A US-based residential mailing address. The last 4 digits of your Social Security number. 3. Facebook then guides you through confirming your identity. Click Step 1: Confirm Your Identity, to begin, here: 4. Throughout Step 1, you ll be taken through a 3-part process. You can pause this process at anytime and Facebook will simply let you start wherever you left off. Note: if you do not have 2-factor authentication on, Facebook will prompt you to do so and walk you through that process. This just provides extra security for your account when you log-in. 6
5. After you complete the 2-factor authentication process, you ll input your mailing address within that three-part process. This is because Facebook will mail you a physical copy within ten days with a confirmation code that you will enter online. The letter will include the URL of the confirmation site that you ll visit to enter your code to complete your ID information. After you submit that information successfully, it should look like this: 6. You can fill out the third part of the process while waiting for the US mailing address to be confirmed through receipt of the letter. Click Continue, to start inputting your ID and Social Security Number Information. Once here, you ll choose whether or not to upload a copy of your driver s license or passport. 7
Note: if you choose to upload your driver s license, you ll have to upload both sides. First, upload the front of your photo, then click Front, and go to the lower tab to click the bottom like this: 8
You ll then upload the back. Make sure the tab says, Back, when you upload this one. Click Next, and you ll prompted to begin the Social Security Number verification. 7. You ll be prompted to enter the last 4 digits of your security number. Enter those, then click, Next. 8. After you complete Step 1 of the authorization process, you ll be prompted to review the information. Then, once you ve reviewed and confirmed the info, Facebook will alert you that it will take a little bit before you can finish Step 2. 9
9. You cannot start Step 2 until Facebook has confirmed your identity. Your driver s license or passport photo will be approved or denied fairly quickly, and once you receive your letter in the mail, you ll be directed to go to https://www.facebook.com/id to input the special code on your letter. Click Submit Code, to finish the confirmation process: 10.After you ve been approved and gone through the process of inputting the code from the physically mailed copy, you can start Step 2 by going back to the Authorizations tab and clicking Step 2: Link Your Ad Accounts. This is where you ll input the ad information of the account you accessed earlier. Click Begin, and accept the Terms and Conditions when prompted in order to continue the process. 11.Where it asks you to put in the Ad Account Number, refer back to the ID number from the ad account creation process. If not, you can go to https://www.facebook.com/ads/manager/accounts to access that ID number. Your ad account might already pop up since its your personal ad account. If 10
so, simply click Enable, and then hit Next in order to move to the next step. You can return to this screen at any time to add more accounts. 12.Enter the disclaimer you want to appear in the header of your ads with political content for each ad account you've linked. These funding disclaimers must accurately reflect who is paying for your ads. (see info box) Which League Fund? The disclaimer will reflect where the reimbursement is coming from or the donation is going to. If your League elects to use operating funds, the disclaimer will read, League of Women Voters of [Local League s Name] Operating Fund. If your League elects to use education funds, it would reflect, League of Women Voters Education Fund. Submit reimbursement forms to appropriate organization. NOTE: You can edit your disclaimers at any time, but after each edit, it will go through Facebook s review process again and will not be immediately available to use. You won't be able to create new ads until the new disclaimer is approved. 13.Click Next, then review the information you've entered, and Submit for approval. 11
14.After Facebook reviews your identification information and linked ad account, you ll be authorized and ready to begin boosting ads! You can check on the status of both your identify confirmation and your linked ad accounts from the Authorizations tab in your Page s settings. You'll see the following status indicators next to your account and your linkage: a. Blue dot: under review b. Yellow dot: a problem requires your attention c. Red dot: account link NOT approved d. Green dot: approved/confirmed Using the Ads with Political Content Archive In addition to receiving the label when they go live, these ads are placed in an archive labeled, Ads with Political Content, for up to seven years. The archive is currently live at https://www.facebook.com/politicalcontentads. In this archive, users can see the see the same budgetary and demographic information that they would have seen when they clicked on the ad, but they can do so simply by searching the organization, candidate, or issue. Users can also see links to other ads these organizations or candidates have funded. For example: 12
Ads from Leagues across the country have already been included 13