Facebook offers advertisers everything they could dream of. There’s lead ads, local awareness objectives, social media contests, custom audiences, app installs, you name it – they have it.
But there’s one type of Facebook post that has been out for quite some time that most businesses don’t know about.
Facebook dark posts.
What Are Facebook Dark Posts?
A Facebook dark post is quite simply a post that doesn’t appear in your timeline and is not shown organically. Facebook dark posts can be anything from status updates, picture posts, offers or a leads ad.
You have to pay to promote dark posts and can select who they are served to. You cannot create Facebook dark posts using the Adverts Manager, they can only be setup through the Power Editor.
They can be setup by everyone with a Facebook Page and are typically served within the newsfeed.
How To Use Dark Posts
Dark posts are perfect for testing messages and ad copies. If you plan on tackling an important or sensitive subject and are unsure how your audience will react, dark posts are a great way to test the waters.
For example, if you want to add some meme humour to your Facebook ads but aren’t sure how fans would react, you can setup a dark post and serve the ad to a similar audience to gauge their response. If it bombs, you only lose a few dollars while your current prospects and customers are none the wiser. If it’s a success, you can then decide to serve it to your actual audience.
Dark posts greatest advantage is testing new ads on test groups, but it’s also awesome if you want to run contests or promotions that you wish to hide from your competitors.
As dark posts are hidden from your Facebook Page, unless you target a direct competitor in your ad targeting, they have no way of tracking your ad.
How To Setup Facebook Dark Posts
To setup your own dark posts, login to the Facebook Power Editor by clicking here using Google Chrome. Click Page Posts in the navigation bar and + Create Button:
A pop-up box will appear where you’ll be able to create your post. You’ll have the option to choose your post type and create the copy. At the bottom you’ll have the choice to display your post on your Page or as an advert, select advert:
Once you select the advert button, you’ll see a small message saying “This post will not get organic distribution”.
Through the Power Editor you can serve your post to test groups to gauge their reaction and decide whether it’s worth showing to your core audience.
Summary Of Facebook Dark Posts
Organic reach on Facebook has been dropping for some time. The less fans interact with your updates, the lower your organic reach becomes overtime. Some reports even stated that organic reach will drop to 1-2% in the future, meaning businesses have to spend to promote.
While dark-posts require an initial investment, after running a few tests you should gain deeper insights on which copies and images yield the greatest engagement. Knowing what copies work will allow you to keep a bigger organic reach in the long-term when serving posts to your fans.
Have you ever thought about posting something on your Facebook Page but wasn’t sure if it was worth the risk, maybe it’s time you created a Facebook dark post?
Nick Bridges
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