Social media marketing for small businesses is not the same as handling a personal account. It is not as simple as just uploading a video or posting content and waiting to see how your audience will engage with it organically. Getting traffic to your site via paid media is essential and effective in generating sales. One needs to understand, however, when to post organically and when to pay to ensure that your content reaches a wider audience. It is also important to decide what type of content should be posted organically and what type should be advertised. Should you opt for organic or paid media? These tips will help you decide.
Understanding Social Media Traffic
Organic Social Media Traffic
Organic traffic is generated with social content that is posted for free. Organic posts will show up only in the feeds of people that follow you. It is only when people that follow you engage with or share your content that you will reach a larger audience.
Paid Social Media Traffic
Paid traffic as the name suggests is paid for. This type of social media traffic helps you reach a larger audience. Your paid social posts will show up in the feeds of whichever audience that you have decided to target. These target audiences can be based on a variety of factors like demographics, location, age, interests and more.
When is it both?
Organic and paid content can cross paths when you pay to “boost” an organic post to get it to a larger audience. Boosting a post is basically paying to advertise it and is an effective strategy to use when organic posts are performing particularly well.
What are the advantages of Organic Social Media?
The biggest advantage of organic is that it’s free, but besides that, it works well if you have a large number of followers but don’t have a budget to promote your content. Organic content feels more wholesome and authentic because your content should be about engagement and interaction rather than calls to action. These posts help to build your community and are likely to be more interactive compared to paid social media. The use of appropriate hashtags can target a wider audience who are not your followers.
When to opt for Organic Social Media Traffic
When you are designing the content of a post for social media, it is important to decide whether you want it to reach existing customers or new customers. If you want it to reach existing customers who are already following you then an organic post is the best choice.
It is important to remember that your organic posts on social media platforms are like a social website, they give your brand validity. People will check out your brand’s social pages before they visit your website. This is where they will get the first taste of your brand. These posts are created for engagement and free promotion.
What are the advantages of paid social media?
The obvious advantage of a paid promotion is that it can amplify your reach and target the audience that you desire. You can experiment with as much budget as you have to work with. Audience targeting is an important part of your paid social media as it is responsible for increasing your metrics like click-through rate, cost-per-lead, and return on ad spend. Paid content also complements your marketing efforts especially in channels that are underperforming. There is also a lot of flexibility in the type of ads that you use.
When to opt for Paid Social Media Traffic
Paid content guarantees that your post will be seen and paid campaigns on social media have definite benefits. If you initially feel unsure of how to place ads as it takes a little know-how, you can take marketing help from a social marketing agency. Paid social media is a fantastic way to generate leads, sales and drive traffic to your website. Boosting posts are the first steps in paying for traffic but in order to get more control over your ads and better results it is advisable to use Facebook Ads manager. It is important to put out ads because the number of consumers that have made purchases after seeing an ad is steadily increasing. Surveys show that businesses are finding success with the use of social ads.
If you are marketing for a small business it is important to incorporate both types of media into your strategy. Organic and paid social media complement each other in many ways and don’t really work well without the other. Organic social media does not have an extensive reach and paid promotions can help you extend your reach and get more potential customers to your site. Paid social media is too salesy and cannot thrive without the community aspect of organic posts. Users want to feel the worth of their product which they feel through social engagement and not through an ad with a call to buy or download.
Do you need help with your social media content? We can assist you in finding the right balance of paid and organic content. We at The Social Expansion Project help businesses with their marketing strategies and goals. You can request for your free, no-pressure consultation here.
