Not all social media traffic is created equally. There are critical differences between paid and organic social media traffic that every brand needs to be aware of as it develops and executes a social media strategy. Luckily, we’re here to break down everything you need to know about the difference between paid and organic traffic.
Paid Traffic
Paid social media traffic refers to the traffic generated when a brand opts to display adverts on a social media platform, like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. The forms of paid social media traffic vary. You can choose to purchase more traditional ads or embed the paid content more discretely within social media content. For example, Facebook also you to display target ads to users to the right of the newsfeed or embed paid content within a user’s newsfeed in the form of “sponsored stories.” Similar to Facebook’s “sponsored stories,” Twitter allows brands to embed paid tweets within a user’s Twitter feed, a strategy known as “promoted tweets.”
The major advantage of paid traffic is that it is highly targeted. Brands can essentially assign a budget to a particular product or service and then market that product or service to an audience on a social media platform by using the insights into demographics that each platform provides. For example, Twitter allows brands to target their promoted tweets based on keywords, by the type of people users follow, or what has been shared on users’ profiles and in their feeds. That means that a new luxury cycling studio could target promoted tweets to users who have previously posted frequently about cycling, working out, and healthy living. This can help boost the quality of your leads and drive up your conversion rates.
Furthermore, investing in sponsored content to generate paid traffic is highly effective when it is done well, particularly if a brand is struggling to generate traffic organically. Sponsored content is an excellent way to reach many new people quickly. Therefore, it is a great way to get more page likes, launch a promotional event, or build up a more consistent following. In conclusion, strategic paid forms of social media marketing are an excellent way to improve the overall ROI of your social media strategy.
Organic Traffic
Organic traffic refers to the traffic generated when a brand organically posts on social media (i.e., shares an update on Facebook or tweets a picture). Brands don’t need to spend any money for these posts to show up in their customers’ feeds, as they appear there naturally. The traffic generated, therefore, is referred to organic traffic. Organic reach is shrinking as brands continue to ramp up their spending on paid channels, in part because of the shift toward social ecommerce. However, organic is far from dead. Brands across the world are still using organic social media each and every day to reach out to and connect with their customers.
Organic traffic is primarily content driven. By investing in a comprehensive social media strategy, producing compelling content that is directly relevant to your target audience, and sticking to a consistent posting schedule, you drive organic traffic. The foundational assumption of these organic forms of outreach is that you earn your way into people’s newsfeeds. It’s essentially permission-based marketing — meaning your customers have deemed your content to be good enough and relevant enough to opt in. After all, your content isn’t going to show up randomly in a customer’s newsfeed. If it’s there, it’s there because that customer chose to follow you, presumably on the basis that he or she found your content to be interesting and relevant. That means a customer is more likely to engage with and share your content.
Organic traffic is without a doubt an excellent way to improve your brand’s visibility, provide your customers with relevant content, and build and maintain strong relationships with your customers. The downside is that creating and disseminating content organically is time consuming and resource intensive. With paid social media, you’re guaranteed an audience. However, with organic forms of outreach, this simply isn’t the case. In addition, it can be frustrating to funnel time and resources into content that isn’t going to be visible to your target audience.
However, you can maximize the success of your organic content by following just a few simple tips. First, make sure that you are posting during times when your followers are actually posting online. If you’re posting at 3 a.m. when all of your followers are fast asleep, your engagement rates will suffer. Do a bit of research to figure out when social media usage rates for your target audience tend to spike. Secondly, take the time to make sure that the content you are posting and sharing is actually relevant to your target audience. This means doing some audience research to hone in on your audience’s wants, needs, and preferences so that you can tailor your content and social media marketing strategy accordingly.
What’s Right for Your Company?
The bottom line is that when it comes to paid vs. organic social media traffic, there isn’t one option that is intrinsically better than the other. What’s right for your company will depend on a number of different factors. With that said, it is important to note that, as a rule, a strategic combination of organic and paid advertising tends to be most effective.
Both organic and paid traffic have their benefits, so every brand needs to work to leverage the benefits of both simultaneously in order to maximize the efficacy of its social media strategy. The key here is to clearly define the type of content you will be promoting organically and the type of content you will be promoting by paying. Remember, not every social media post is appropriate for paid support, and not every paid post would make a great organic post. It’s critical to be able to distinguish and to make strategic decisions accordingly.
Follow me on Twitter @miagordonnz and check out my other articles. Like this article? Subscribe to be notified when I publish.
Get access to unlimited stories like this one and support your favorite writers with a Medium membership for only $5/month. Sign up with this link and I’ll earn a small commission. Thanks :-)
