Organic vs Paid Social Media: Which is better?

How to strike a balance with sponsored and non-sponsored content

The social media landscape in Trinidad and Tobago has become busy during the pandemic. Many businesses have gone online and turned to digital marketing especially as customer behaviours and expectations have changed. However, many local businesses are still struggling to find or even form a proper digital plan. Especially when it comes to finding an equilibrium between sponsored and organic social media. But is one necessarily better than the other?

Well Firstly...

What is Organic Social Media?

Organic social media are posts or content uploaded to social media platforms that have no advertising or boosting budget behind it.

What are the pros of organic social media?

● Build Brand Awareness: by creating organic content brands can solidify their online voice and presence without the pressure of advertising it on a large scale.

● Relationship Building: by keeping an active profile and creating content with organic engagement, brands can build relationships by sharing information and directly communicating with their customers.

What are the cons of organic social media?

● Target specific audiences: unlike paid advertising businesses cannot specifically target audiences to reach potential clients.

● Content will be seen by Engaged Users: Users have to actively engage with your content for them to consistently see it in their feed.

What is Paid Social Media?

Paid social media content is any social media content that is sponsored or boosted to reach more people. This includes photo and video ads, right column ads and more.

What are the pros of Paid Social Media Content?

● Reach a Large Audience: Sponsored ads allow businesses social media posts to reach a larger audience of potential clients and inspire people to buy their product or service.

● Target Specific People: Rather than just posting an ad to a mass audience, social media ads allow businesses to specifically place their ads in the feeds of their target audience. This often gives businesses a higher chance of engagement and purchases.

What are the cons of Paid Social Media Content?

● Analytics: Businesses have to keep their eyes on their analytics for optimal performance and to make any changes necessary when ads are not performing well.

● Carefully manage the budget: It is equally important to keep an eye on the ad spend and ensure that it is meeting the company’s advertising goals, for example, is it reaching the right people? Is the ad getting a lot of clicks? etc.

Which is better?

In reality, one cannot exist without the other. It is important for businesses to strike a balance between both organic and paid social media content to reap the benefits of both. For example, organic social media will allow a business to build a robust digital presence while paid marketing can help companies increase their sales.

Social media ads in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the wider Caribbean, have proven to be more than just a place for content but rather it can also be a fully functioning channel for customer acquisition. This means that businesses should actively be curating their digital presence and when necessary sponsor the content. For example: if a business notices a product post is doing well organically they may want to boost the ad to a “lookalike audience” to their engaged users.

Overall, it is essential that businesses have a clear goal for their advertising and then uses that as a guide to curating and strategizing their organic and paid posts.

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Need to spruce up your business’s social media presence in 2021? Connective Pros is here to help! Contact us via our website or send us an email at info@connectivepros.com to get a consultancy for your businesses' brand!