Organic vs. paid: the key differences
Let's take a look at the main differences between organic and paid social media:
1. Reach and visibility
Organic: With organic posts, you are dependent on the algorithms of social platforms, which determine who sees your content. With organic posts, you are at the mercy of the algorithm, and sometimes your content reaches people who are not even interested in what you have to offer.
Paid: With social advertising, you literally buy visibility. You determine exactly who sees your ads based on demographic data, interests, and behavior. You can basically just buy a much larger reach compared to an organic post, which only 2 to 5 percent of your followers see.
2. Targeting options
Organic: With organic social posts, there are no targeting options. Anyone scrolling through their timeline may happen to come across your post.
Paid: One of the major advantages of social advertising is the ability to target very specifically. Suppose you have a store in a certain location in a certain city. Then you can say in social advertising: I want to reach people in this region. But you can also add certain age groups and target groups to that.
3. Costs and ROI
Organic: Organic social media is free, while paid social media requires a budget for advertising campaigns. However, the costs of creating content remain the same for both methods.
Paid: With paid social media, you can track your Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) or even Profit On Ad Spend (POAS) very accurately. Ultimately, the goal is always to make advertising profitable. Ideally, you want to invest one euro and get at least two euros in return.
4. Objectives and timeline
Organic: Organic social media excels at building long-term relationships and brand loyalty, while paid promotion on social media offers quick results and precise targeting capabilities.
Paid: Social advertising is ideal for time-sensitive campaigns and quickly reaching specific target groups. You can set different goals. For example, we can set up an awareness campaign. But we can also set up a traffic campaign if you want more traffic to your website. And we can also set up a conversion campaign, which essentially ensures that more purchases are generated.
The different goals of social advertising
The goal of your social advertising campaign can vary greatly and depends on what you want to achieve as a company. At Reward, they work with different types of campaigns:
- Awareness campaigns: These are similar to a billboard along the road, but online. You show a photo or video, with the aim of getting people to become familiar with your brand or product.
- Traffic campaigns: If you want to attract more visitors to your website, a traffic campaign is the right choice.
- Conversion campaigns: These campaigns are aimed at generating purchases or leads via your website.
For example, we currently have a client. We are working with a see, think, and do phase. First, we simply showcase brand awareness online. Then, we want those people to actually buy something. Below that, we have another campaign running for people who clicked on the website but didn't buy anything. They are shown the product again.
Why a hybrid strategy often works best
Paid social media can fill the gaps when organic reach is limited, ensuring your content continues to reach your target audience even when social media algorithms change. It's not about choosing one approach over another, but about finding the right balance to achieve your marketing goals.
Both approaches have their place. Organic content is a space for community and building authentic relationships with target audiences. Advertisements and paid social media are intended to increase awareness or boost sales. Organic content focuses on long-term sustainability and building trust rather than short-term gains.
Essentially, you look at what each customer wants. And sometimes you might even run different types of campaigns for a single customer. One campaign might focus more on reach, while another might focus on conversion. But first, you want to show people your product before you can actually get a conversion.
The power of a combined approach
The question is not whether you should choose organic or paid social media, but how you can combine both strategies for the best results. Organic content helps build an authentic brand identity and long-lasting relationships with your audience, while paid ads provide greater reach and faster results.
At Reward, we help entrepreneurs every day to set up effective social media strategies that deliver real results.
We look at your specific target group, product, and objectives to create a tailor-made approach. Together with you, we will create the perfect Limoncello—eh, we mean, of course, the perfect social media strategy!
Curious about what social advertising can do for your company? Contact us for a no-obligation consultation. We would be happy to work with you to determine how you can effectively reach your target audience and achieve your business objectives using a combination of organic and paid social media.
