Is organic or paid growth better on social media?
It can be difficult for anyone to grow on social media, especially when you’re a small business owner trying to boost your visibility and your customer base – while also being mindful of your resources.
If you’ve done any research into building your brand on social media, you may have heard of the terms organic growth and paid growth, but what do they mean, which is better on social media, and how do you decide which to go with?
Well, keep reading as we break down what each term means, the pros and cons of both, and how YOU should decide what’s best for you and your business.
Organic Growth is growing your social media pages without paid advertising whereas paid growth relies on paid advertising to grow.
Organic Growth
Pros:
FREE!! – This is probably one of the most significant advantages of organic growth because it involves no monetary investment. And if you’re on a tight budget – that's a huge plus! (A reminder that you still need to budget your time!)
Encourages connection – When you’re working to grow your social media accounts without any financial backing, you will likely put a LOT of work into engaging with your audience as well as users who may be interested in what you have to offer. It encourages you to reach out and engage with others to build relationships yourself.
Cons:
Growth doesn’t happen overnight – You might see those accounts that seemingly blow up and go viral overnight, but chances are, if you’re growing your social media AND doing it without paid advertising, it’s going to take a while. Not only can it take a while to grow your social media, it can be time consuming as well, which can be particularly discouraging for the already super busy business owner/entrepreneur.
It’s frustrating and sometimes confusing – We'll be honest, it can often be frustrating and confusing to grow your social media channels! It can take a lot of time to grow organically and that itself can be frustrating. Additionally, social media algorithms and trends are constantly changing, so it can be hard to stay on top of trends.
Paid Growth
Pros:
Targeting - Paid growth allows you to choose your target demographic which means you’re reaching exactly who you want to rather than a larger audience who may or may not be interested in what you have to offer.
Immediate Results – While organic growth can be time consuming and may take a while to show growth, paid growth will have more immediate results and you’ll often see growth at a much faster rate.
Cons:
It costs money – When running your own business, budget is always a factor and it is certainly something that needs to be considered when deciding between paid or organic growth. It can be costly to grow your social media through paid growth, however you can often start with a small investment. For example, Meta (Facebook, Instagram, etc) allows you to choose a budget that’s right for you.
How to choose what’s right for you
Now that we’ve covered what each is and a few pros and cons of both, let’s talk about how you can decide which is right for your business.
Before investing any resources (time or money) into your social media, you need to first consider what your overall goals are. It’s not enough to say, “I want ten thousand social media followers.” You need to have a SMART goal and that takes some thinking on your part, that means your goal is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-based. Check out our article, “Defining Success: Goals and Metrics” to learn more about defining and reaching your goals.
When deciding whether to use organic vs. paid growth, we encourage you to evaluate your goals and to weigh the pros and cons – for example, if you don’t have the money to invest, paid won’t be your best bet. However, if you have even a small budget but little time to invest in growing organically, paid might be right for you.
Realistically, it may actually be best for you to grow your social media both organically and through paid ads. That’s right, they can go hand in hand!
Utilizing both paid and organic growth allows you to enjoy the advantages of both. For example, you can grow your social media presence through meaningful connections while investing nothing for the majority of your time and then when you need it, for example, during the holidays, you can utilize your budget to target exactly who you want and to grow your audience quickly within a certain time period.
We know it can be hard to grow your social media, even when you have some of the tools that you need, but we can help. Book your FREE 20-minute consultation and let’s discuss how we can help you reach your social media goals!