Leveraging the power of social media is a must for today’s businesses. Opportunities exist far beyond Facebook, and even some B2B companies have begun to rely on a carefully cultivated social media presence to bring new attention to their brand. There’s just one problem: effectively reaching the right audiences can be even harder on social media than it is through other channels.
Should your business focus on building an organic following, or should you turn to the paid advertising tools offered by virtually every major platform? A closer look at the pros and cons of both options can help reveal the approach that is most likely to yield the best results for your business. Let’s take a quick look at both sides of this coin.
The Pros and Cons of Organic Social Media
Making your own way is the option many businesses choose at the beginning. What makes organic solutions appealing?
- It’s virtually free to get started—you’re mainly investing time into making posts and managing your account.
- Authentic organic content builds authority and genuine engagement. Set yourself apart as a voice of reliability and easy answers in your space.
- Fully control how you interact with users. You can present a more active, friendly brand image with direct organic interaction.
However, it’s not a perfect solution, and there are some key drawbacks.
- You can’t instantly target a broad audience. Your audience is the one you already have—so it can take hard work to reach beyond that core following. A social media marketing agency can help.
- Success is a long-term project. Organic efforts take time and consistency to bear fruit, which demands frequent attention.
What To Consider About Paid Social Media Posting
What about the power of paid social media ads? As with the organic approach, there are pluses and minuses to this approach that you should consider thoroughly before making any final decisions. On the plus side, you can enjoy these benefits:
- Rapidly reach a virtually hand-picked audience. Especially on sites such as Facebook, targeting specific demographics is simple.
- Reach new users more quickly than with organic social posting. You aren’t limited only to the audience you’ve built organically.
- Accurately target users at different funnel stages.
However, on the other side of things, there are these issues:
- It can get expensive depending on your campaign’s size, scope, and length.
- You must face down competition directly. There is only so much ad space to go around, and you’ll need to be sure you can compete effectively online.
- You need to manage the campaign carefully. Watching the numbers, analyzing the results, and determining when you need to make course corrections is critical for success—and that can mean extra work.
So, what is ultimately the right choice?
Striking a Balance That Makes Sense for Your Strategy
For some, highly targeted and well-time paid campaigns can be the best option for social media success. However, the long-term benefits of an organic approach combined with the immediacy of paid advertising can yield a better strategy than one that is all-or-nothing towards one solution. At Digital Lion, our broad understanding of social media marketing in Calgary across all the most popular platforms can help you build a strategy that yields measurable results now and in the future. See how your campaigns could improve when you chat with us today.
Calgary-headquartered Digital Lion, with secondary locations in Edmonton and Ottawa, is a digital marketing and design agency built with a purpose and passion to partner with its clients and provide first-class Web Development, Graphic Design, Logo Design and Online Marketing services. We work with clients across Canada, as well as worldwide, and are focused on being environmentally friendly and giving back to charities that we are passionate about. Our mission is to “Design a Better World®.” Browse our website, follow our social media channels, and contact us anytime for more information on how we can customize a package that meets your needs and suits your style.
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