Selling on Facebook can be considered a double-edged sword. One of its most significant advantages – the sheer volume of users – can quickly become a disadvantage. The competition for what you're selling is more likely high, and you'd need to go beyond the bare minimum to catch potential buyers and convince them to purchase from you.

FB Marketplace boost listing lets you take your selling game up a notch. Simply choose the item you want to promote, and it will be converted into an ad that will run on your potential buyers' Facebook feed, on the Marketplace itself, or the platform's search results.

How to boost listing on Facebook Marketplace

To start your boosting journey, click the "Your Account" tab first. Under "Your Listings," locate the listing you'd like to promote, then hit "Boost Listing."

There are three parameters to set according to your resources and preferences:

Budget. You may choose from the recommended amounts based on the duration of your boosted listing or set a custom amount. There's an option to type in your total budget for the entire duration of the promotional campaign. Otherwise, select the amount you're comfortable spending from the spectrum of per-day budget options.

Note that there's a minimum daily budget needed to run your campaign, and your ad spend could impact the performance of your boosted listing.

Duration. This is to be considered in tandem with your budget. Under "Select Custom Budget and Duration," either identify the end date of your campaign or set the number of days you wish for your ad to run.

Audience. For local listings, the default audience is users at least 18 years old and are within a radius of 40 miles of the listing location.

For boosted listings that offer shipping, you are free to customize the audience based on information like states or cities, regions, postal codes, or even countries – depending on what's available to edit according to the Facebook Marketplace version you have.

You can then further refine your selection by adjusting the radius of the audience you would like to target. You can name this target audience before hitting the save button when you're done. This selection will be available for use should you need it again for another campaign.

Under "Payment Summary," verify your payment method and check the ad preview. Hit "Promote Now" if you're satisfied with the details and the overall look of your ad.

Now, if you feel the need to adjust the parameters at any time in the duration of your campaign, you can easily tweak your boosted listing. Find the "Edit Boost" button in your promoted listing and adjust the duration or budget. If you wish to delete your ad for one reason or another, you may also do so.

Boosted Listing Performance Contributing Factors

Boosting on FB Marketplace provides you with visibility to the metrics that affect how your ad is performing.

Click "View Insights," then go to the "Audience" section to access information such as the volume of people who came across your ad and where these people are located. Meanwhile, the "Performance" section reveals details like the number of started messaging conversations and the initiated checkouts (for listings that offer shipping). Also, check out the "Ads Manager" or "Ads Reporting" section for more metrics.

Here's a rundown of insights that you can use to gauge in editing your existing ad or guide you in creating future boosted listings:

• Reach –The total number of people who viewed your ad, either once or multiple times.
• Frequency – The average number of views done by the same person.
• Impressions – The total number of times your ad flashed on the screen (Facebook feed, Marketplace, or search results).
• Messaging Conversations Started – The number of inquiries from buyers through the in-house messaging platform. What only counts are the initial messages sent by each potential buyer for a particular boosted listing.
• Cost per Messaging Conversations Started – Your total budget for the ad campaign is divided by the quantity of messaging conversations started.
• Initiate Checkout – This insight is limited to boosted listings whose items come with shipping. It pertains to the volume of onsite checkouts attributed to the ad.
• Cost Per Initiate Checkout – Your total budget for the ad campaign is divided by the number of onsite checkouts attributed to the ad.
• Link clicks – The total number of clicks on links – leading to pages within or outside of Facebook – included on the ad.

In deciding whether to give boosted listing a try or not, consider the benefits of having visibility to these metrics and the flexibility of setting your budget, duration, and target audience.

If it's your first time to boost, begin with a budget you're comfortable spending and give the ad enough time to gain traction. Explore the parameters and edit them as you see fit. The only way to know if boosted listings work for you is to give it a try at least once.

Another helpful tool that could aid in the success of your Facebook Marketplace business, especially if you also sell on other platforms, is OneShop. It's an all-in-one app that lends efficiency to your business as it allows you to seamlessly cross-list to Poshmark, Mercari, and other online marketplaces soon. Sign up for its 7-day free trial today to experience the benefits.