To boost or not to boost? A look at why Facebook post boosting might be a winner for your optical. Here, Tanya Gill, O.D., takes the digital marketing strategy for a test run

ever scroll your Facebook business page only to find the invitation to “Boost Your Post?” Happen to notice that little blue box that says “Boost” on every post?

At first I thought it was just plain annoying. Mosquitoes, right?

Well, for the past six months I’ve been playing around with the Facebook Boosted Page feature, and it turns out I love the results. Here are three reasons why you should do it, too:

1. Know the time. It’s the present and future of advertising.

The last time I found a phone book by the front door of my house, I did the socially responsible thing—I put that book directly into the recycling bin. Sound familiar? For a small business, obsolete are the days of effective advertising via the phone book—digital is where it’s at.

According to TechCrunch, Facebook currently has more than 2 billion monthly users. So. Many. People. Is what they have.

And, per Pivotal Marketing, more than $60 billion was spent on digital marketing in 2015—with a whopping 65% majority on Google and Facebook.

Just the other day I was searching for “mountain bike gloves,” and ads immediately appeared on my Facebook feed. Let’s imagine a potential customer is searching for “eyeglasses”—wouldn’t it be awesome if your business ad popped up?

It’s seriously time to jump on the targeted ad campaign wagon. And BTW, it is no longer a wagon—it’s a Porsche (keep reading).

2. Get in the fast lane. Boosting is fast & furious.

Thanks to the engineers at Facebook, with the click of a button and just $1 a day, you can become your own instant marketing agency. Yes, in less than 60 seconds—about the same time Vin Diesel can steal a Porsche—you can create targeted ads to grow your business.

Just follow these steps:

Step #1: From a well-performing post, just click Boost Post.

Step #2: Select your audience.

I started by targeting people aged 25 to 60 in my area. You can refine your targeting based on thousands of categories, including interests (glasses), technology (smart phone), and even shopping habits. It can get extremely specific. Now that you are your own marketing director, the job is to refine the options for better results each time.

Step #3: Select your budget + duration.

I like the concept of $1 a day because it’s a cup of coffee. Plus, I’m cheap, LOL. Here you see the potential audience size of 1,700+ people when boosted for 14 days at $1 a day. If I got just one new customer to schedule an appointment, it would more than cover the cost of 14 cups of coffee. Read: winning.

Step #4: Click BOOST. How’s that for 60 seconds?

3. Boost with intent. Create ROI and grow your business.

In my opinion, there is only one purpose of boosting a post—to attract customers, which will ultimately increase business in dollars spent.

My practice recently hosted a trunk show in which we garnered five new patients who cited our Facebook ad as the referral source. The boosted post reached 2,274 people. We spent $100 and grossed $1,500 from three of those customers (two did not purchase glasses).

Who wouldn’t want this ROI (return on investment)? Answer: crickets.

So, the next time you see that blue little box on your business page post, don’t blow it off—BOOST it.

—Tanya N. Gill, O.D.

Tanya N. Gill, O.D., is the owner of Oakland Vision Center Optometry in Oakland, CA. Dr. Gill is obsessed with ocular surface disease, kick-a$$ female entrepreneurship, never saying never, eating vegetables daily, and skiing. She lives in Oakland with her husband and is the founder of We Love Eyes, a company that makes natural cleansing products for the eyes. weloveeyesxo.com .