Making sense of organic vs paid marketing

Marketing can be a lot to take on, especially when you’re trying to make it work at the same time that you’re working to keep your business not just running, but thriving. Social media marketing is a whole other level, still growing from fairly recent beginnings.

The first Facebook ad ran in May of 2005. Since then, marketers have spent nearly $10 billion on social media marketing in 2016 alone.

According to Link Humans, 2.1 billion are active on social media, and 1.7 billion use social networks from a mobile device. How are you making sure that the ones in your target market are seeing your message?

Organic isn’t just for produce

Social media marketing comes in two flavors: organic and paid. Organic social media posts come from you and go directly to your page or your company’s page. As users (friends and family count here!) share your posts, and then their contacts share again, you get free advertising.

A great example? All those viral cat videos you see on your Facebook page or Twitter feed. One person takes the video, a few friends share. Their friends share again, and before you know it, there are ten thousand people laughing at a kitten in a hat.

Things work a little differently in the business space, and going viral isn’t necessarily your aim. For a business, success in social media is all about having a consistent presence that keeps you front of mind with your audience. Start with posting once a week to establish a schedule, and then add more as you and your audience get comfortable.

Pay to play

Paid social media works a little differently, giving you the power to get in front of people who don’t already have a reason to follow your social channels. With the power of paid social media, you can target your ads based on demographics, interests, and other details to customize your audience.

By connecting directly with their interests, you can attract new leads and use your metrics to track the performance of your paid efforts.

Whether you stick with free, organic options or invest in paid social to expand your network, your best social media posts will center around strong content on current topics that keep your audience interested and engaged. Keep your social media posts simple and streamlined with ConnectWise Campaign™, which allows you to build, schedule, and post marketing campaigns to your social media channels with just a few simple clicks. You’ll save time and effort, and keep your social channels vibrant.