Boosting Posts Is Not a Marketing Strategy. Here's What Actually Works in Kenya.

Every month, thousands of Kenyan businesses tap the little blue "Boost Post" button, spend a few thousand shillings, watch the likes roll in — and sell almost nothing. Then they conclude that digital marketing doesn't work.

Digital marketing works. The boost button is just designed to be easy, not effective. Those are not the same thing.

What boosting actually optimises for

When you boost a post, the platform's default goal is engagement — likes, comments, shares. So it shows your post to people who like and comment on everything, including people who will never buy from you. You get vanity metrics that feel like progress while your actual customers never see a thing.

The boring fundamentals that outperform boosting

1. A clear offer. One product, one price, one action. Confused visitors don't buy.
2. Proper campaign objectives. Optimise for conversions or messages, not engagement.
3. Retargeting. The people who visited your page and didn't buy are your cheapest future customers.
4. A landing page that loads fast and asks for one thing — not your homepage with forty links.
5. Consistent content that answers real customer questions, so ads land on an audience that already trusts you.

This is the work we do with clients at Tacittech Systems — building the full funnel, from content to campaign to checkout, instead of just feeding the boost button.

Likes don't pay rent. Strategy does.