Social media is constantly changing, which means what's most effective today won't be effective down the road. It can be hard to keep up, but if you can these platforms can be very useful in gaining exposure for your business. The hardest concept to understand is the difference between organic and paid social media. Understanding what makes these different is important and can aid you in your marketing efforts. That's why we've broken it down for you:

What do they mean?

What exactly does organic and paid social media mean? Well, "organic reach on social media refers to the number of people who come across your post without boosted distribution." This means that when you post on social media, the people who happen to be on at the same time will see it organically.

Paid social media are posts that "businesses have voluntarily boosted the reach of by using one-time payments or ongoing payments. These posts can be targeted toward specific demographics and reach a much larger audience than organic content."

Why are both important?

A common misconception is that an organic reach is enough for business pages. While this might have been true in the past, it has changed in the last several years. Nowadays, "Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn are all on algorithmic feeds, meaning posts are shown to the user based on past behavior and preferences instead of in chronological order." For example, Facebook made an announcement a few years ago that organic reaches will be 20% lower than the previous years.

While organic reaches are lower, they are still important because you want to maintain consistency on social media. All this really means is that you need to be more focused on what and when you post. It's important to try to maintain both organic and paid social media. "A solid organic strategy improves your online presence and reputation, and a paid strategy increases your brand's reach and awareness to targeted audiences."

It might take more time and management to juggle gaining both, but your hard work will pay off once you start seeing results. If you're not sure you can handle social media management on your own, then contact us about our social media services!