What initially started as an organic marketing tool has rapidly become one of the most popular and invested means for brands. Each company puts in a significant amount of effort and money to reach its target audience. There is a constant content war where the need for likes, shares, views is raging.
Over the last few years, there has been a massive increase in paid and sponsored content to create awareness in all forms, from influencer marketing, ads promoted posts, you name it. The real question is are you going to build it or buy it to grow your business in today’s social media platforms?
Marketers are well aware that both organic and paid rule the audiences, but finding the right mixture or balance is necessary. Let’s get into the critical differences of organic social media vs. paid.
Organic Social Media
Organic – natural, not forced, social media marketing is all that content you don’t have to pay for initially (photos, posts, videos, Instagram or Facebook stories, etc.) that all customers, be it brands, businesses, influencers, share with their audiences. When a brand posts something organically on their social media accounts, the people they can expect to see the post are their followers, their followers’ followers (that is, if they decide to distribute your content), and people who follow any given hashtag that you have used.
An important thing to remember when posting organic social media posts is they people would like to be entertained. Post real people, real places, real life stuff and you will tend to get better likes, followers and engagement.
The greatest method to lay a foundation, create trust, and nurture a relationship with your followers is to start organically. Organic social media will allow you to create your voice and personality and engage with customers and grow with them while sharing content that is informative and keeps them hooked.
Pros
- It is straightforward on the pocket
- You can engage with your customers completely and assist them completely
- It helps you establish your brand in the eyes of the customers
Cons
- It will take most of your time in building your followers and in acquiring customers
- Changing algorithms dictate the success of your campaigns
- You don’t get to reach millions – restricted reach only till your followers
The rising problem is that only a few followers can view your organic postings as all central platforms now use ranking algorithms. Brands that use Facebook as their primary marketing channel get only 5.5% of average organic reach, and if you have a more significant following, it tends to be even less. It has become an enormous problem, and to make your brands visible in front of your target audience, you have to try harder.
Where organic social media marketing fails, comes paid social media marketing.
Paid Social Media
Enter the world of paid social media where you see several brands competing against each other and paying hefty amounts to social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc., to display their creative content seen, viewed and liked by their target audiences. There has been an increase in the number of people making purchases after seeing paid social media ad-sponsored content since 2020.
Ever since the pandemic, there has been a significant increase in the time users devote on social media, and they have now become more accustomed to shopping online. There are many types of paid social ads for twitter ads and Instagram ads that can used for brand awareness as well.
Businesses have noticed the impact of paid social media on individuals and are heavily investing in this increased success with social media ads. The types of ads have become more powerful and attract a broad audience out there. An ad campaign for businesses have become a must-have for every brand, and they seem to be fewer sales when they’re made with thought. Using paid social media advertisement on social platforms have created higher rates of leads and helped in conjunction with paid ads on Google (pay per click).
However, ads are not the only form of attracting customers. Paid posts have become one of the most effective ways to target potential customers on social media nowadays and get them to convert.
Paid social media promotion is being used to:
- Retain existing customers, attract new customers
- Promote their latest products, service, content, occasion, event, followers, or all of the above.
- Create leads
- Increase e-commerce sales
These paid promotions have become so common most users don’t even feel like they’re seeing an ad or paid post when they view it subconsciously, taking notes of it all.
Pros
- You get to reach new audiences instantly on social networks
- The audience nowadays has become more approachable
- You can control your costs
- You can retarget your customers as and when you want
Cons
- You have to target the right audience; otherwise, you won’t get a good return on investment
- Competitive landscape
- It is more costly than organic social media
- It takes time to analyze and measure campaigns
Both organic and paid social media marketing will help promote your brand and achieve the desired goals you have set for yourself.
Here’s an overview of the key differences between the two:
| Key Factors | Organic Social Media | Paid Social Media |
|---|---|---|
| Budget | Less | More |
| The time it takes to achieve results | More | Less |
| Upkeep | Less | More |
| Controlling targeted audience | Less | More |
| Backed by stats | Less | More |
| Marketing stage funnel | Awareness & consideration stages | Decision stages |
| Content production | Less | More |
| Provided performance control | Less | More |
Verdict: Organic Or Paid?
It’s all about finding the right mixture and incorporating organic and paid social media into your marketing strategies. Unless you cleverly combine the two, you may miss out on a potent combination that can take your business to new levels. By automating and analyzing data, integrating organic and paid KPIs, and examining your brand’s content behavior, you can run organic and paid social media marketing together. It will help you achieve the results you’re aiming for and increase your search engine results.
MJI Marketing is a digital marketing company located in Roanoke, Virginia that helps companies with their social media strategies. Each company may have different marketing strategies and even change depending on the time of the year. If you are looking to see what strategy would work for your business, then schedule a time to chat and we can discuss a custom plan for you.
Interested in some ideas for your business social media platforms? Check out this blog for some free ideas.
