The different aspects of social media do different things for a business. Organic social media builds trust over time, keeping the business visible. Paid social puts your key messages in front of targeted people at scale.
What is organic Social Media?
Organic social media is what everyone thinks of when they think about social media. It’s the posts you publish without paying for them. It includes posts, stories, reels, videos, and conversations with your customers in direct messages and comments on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, YouTube, TikTok, etc. It is designed to build up familiarity for your brand with your potential audience, increasing trust and demonstrating credibility. This gives people a reason to follow you and find out more, so that they are confident to buy or book when they are ready. Good organic social media isn’t just about posting. It is about telling people what you do, how you can help them, what you’ve done in the past (your experience) and why your business is worth following.
What is Paid Social advertising?
Paid social advertising is just that – ads. You pay to put your posts in front of people on the platform outside of your existing following, increasing reach. It is powerful, Facebook and Instagram have advanced targeting features so that you can reach specific people based on location, interest, behaviours and whether they’ve interacted with your business before. Paid social is especially useful when you want to reach new people with a specific offer, to generate enquiries or encourage them to visit your website. Unlike organic social, where the control lies with the algorithm, paid social advertising gives your business more control over where it is seen, by whom, how many people you reach and how much you want to spend.
In short: Paid social can get you in front of the right person. Organic social is where they go when they want to find out whether you are trustworthy.
Key differences between organic and paid social advertising
| Organic Social Media | Paid Social Advertising | |
| Purpose | Build trust and familiarity | Reach specific audiences |
| Best for | Reputation and relationships | Awareness, leads, offers |
| Timescale | Longer term | Faster |
| Audience | Existing followers, organic reach | Defined and targeted audiences |
| Content | Expertise, stories, proof, education | Offers, propositions, campaigns |
| Investment | Management + content | Management + content + ad spend |
| Measurement | Reach, engagement, traffic, enquiries | Reach, clicks, leads, cost per lead |
| Limitation | Organic reach is limited | Stops when you stop spending |
| Why should I trust you? | Why should I act now? |
How organic social media and paid social advertising compound
Organic social media creates the foundation. To build the foundation you need:
- Clear positioning
- Useful content (answer customer’s questions)
- Expertise
- Proof of that expertise (testimonials)
- Consistency (reliability)
Paid social amplifies your best performing messages. Don’t just boost a post. Build something worth promoting.
You need organic social if..
- Your customers need to trust you before buying or booking in.
- You are selling expertise or an expert service.
- Your service has a considered buying decision e.g. healthcare.
- You need to demonstrate credibility – can you deliver what they need?
- Referrals are important for your business.
- You want to stay visible to your existing audiences.
You need paid social advertising if..
- You have a clear offer.
- You know who you are targeting.
- There’s a big enough potential audience.
- You have a tested landing page or sales page with a clear conversion path.
- You are willing to invest consistently. Ads don’t work well if you switch them on and off.
- You want to accelerate reach.
When you need both
You’ll need both organic social media and paid social advertising when you use social media as a genuine acquisition channel for your business, rather than just maintaining a presence online.
Not sure whether you need paid advertising? That’s where the marketing strategy intensive can help.