Paid vs. Organic: Which One is Better

Social media marketing plays a crucial role in  many businesses' marketing strategies. Paid and organic social media advertising both offer unique advantages and disadvantages that should be considered when choosing which type of social media marketing to use. 

What is organic content?

Let’s start with organic social media content, organic content is any free content shared on social media profiles including posts, videos, stories and more. This content can usually be seen by a portion of your followers, people who are following any hashtags you use and the followers of anyone who shares your post. 

What is paid content?

Paid content can also be in a text, image, video format. However, you have to pay whenever you post content on your social media platforms. The cost will vary depending on your target audience, campaigns goals and other different factors. PPC (Pay-per-click) is the most used type of paid content used by businesses. 

Advantages of Organic Content 

• Builds and nurtures relationships and helps you support your community
• Brings in subscribers, leads, and sales i.e. it engages customers at every stage of the funnel
• Offers longer-lasting results due to staying power
• Boosts your credibility and visibility
• Helps establish your brand voice and personality
• Drives traffic to your website
• The platforms are free to use

Due to how social media networks operate, there is only so much you can do with such an approach before you have to turn to support from paid.

Disadvantages of Organic Content 

• It is labor-intensive and time consuming. 
• Achieving results takes time. 
• There is a very reduced reach due to the limits imposed by ranking algorithms.
• It is displayed mostly to your followers and rarely to people who do not follow you. Because of the above, having paid in your marketing strategy is vital. Without it, your reach will be limited, and it’s likely that you will not be able to create a community and gain traction on social media.

Advantages of Paid Social 

There are several advantages to paid social media marketing. This type of marketing has quickly become one of the most popular forms of digital marketing, as it can be highly effective.

• Expand your audience reach and cast a wider net for potential customers to increase your social media following.
• Increases brand awareness and helps you stay on top of your mind. 
• Can be customised to retarget consumers. 
• Gain credibility and increase trust of your audience
• Gain results fast 

Disadvantages of Paid Social

• Paid social media is competitive. A lot of brands are working with digital marketing experts to ensure that their paid campaigns are effective and cost efficient. 
• Paid social media requires a skilled campaign manager. If you’re looking for a digital agency that’s experienced in paid advertising, we’re here for you. Our digital marketing experts have over 40 years of collective experience in paid advertising. Get in touch now. 

• Paid social posts can become repetitive to your audience. Unlike in organic where you can post various posts for free. 

So which one is better? Organic or Paid Social?

We believe that having a balanced content strategy is what makes a difference. What it boils down to is this: Paid and organic content should be designed to achieve different goals. While organic should include posts that make people want to interact and share, paid social should have more of a specific goal in mind, whether it is to get more brand awareness, gain more followers or sell a product. You also need to remember that organic content should help you establish and grow your brand voice and connect with your existing customers while paid content should be designed to precisely target your ideal audience and reach the masses. 

Overall, rather than posting for the sake of having a post, if you can create a balanced strategy and maintain social media pages that truly represent your brand well, you’ll continue to reap the benefits of social media marketing and stand out from your competition.

If you’re unsure where to start, allow us to help you. We provide free digital marketing consultations - we’d love to hear your ideas and turn them into reality.