As the world becomes more digital, people are looking for ways to reach potential customers and engage with them online. At first, this probably seemed easy. After all, you have a massive presence on social media and you post frequently, engaging with your audience and encouraging them to engage with you.

Yet, so much about social media marketing is misunderstood and a lot of businesses are wasting a lot of time and effort trying to grow their audience organically when they should be focusing on lead generation and sales.

The Organic And The Paid

You might be wondering, as we discuss organic vs paid social media, where do I fit in?

Well, let’s look at the difference between the two:

• Organic: The term organic is usually associated with organic food and drink, but it also applies to websites and social media networks that are built on marketing with no paid ads. In other words, the content is produced and controlled by the business itself, which usually means it’s a lot closer to real-life.
• Paid: Paid social media is when a business pays for ads, either on social media networks or on Google. Essentially, paid social media is akin to organic social media, but with the key difference being that you’re paying to have your ads displayed. This can be a useful tool in lead generation, but it’s important to understand the limitations of paid social media.
• Hybrid: Between organic and paid social media, we have the term hybrid. A hybrid strategy is one that benefits from the insights of both. Having come from organic roots, but also having invested in paid ads and retargeting, a hybrid approach can help companies maximize their reach on social media while also driving leads and sales.

Organic social media is valuable, but you need to understand that it takes time to truly see the benefits.

How Long Does It Take To See Results From Organic Marketing?

Based on your niche and the type of content you’re posting, you can expect to see results from organic marketing in about a month. Whether you’re seeing more traffic to your website or boosting your social media presence, you can measure the results of your efforts and determine whether or not it’s a good use of your time.

An organic increase in web traffic can take some time to show, especially if you’re talking about small to medium-sized businesses, but the return on investment is typically very good. It’s also important to note that for a while, at least, organic traffic is free.

Why Is Organic Marketing So Important?

In a nutshell, organic marketing is valuable because it builds credibility and trust with your audience. When someone taps into the power of the internet to seek quality information on your niche, it’s because they’ve probably come across some authoritative and trustworthy sources online that have informed their decision making process.

Even when someone discovers your brand through traditional marketing methods, such as through a television ad or a print publication, they can still end up on your site. An organic link is evidence that your site is trustworthy, and as a result, you can bet that they’ll be back to explore more or to purchase your product or service.

On the other hand, paid advertising is typically an attempt to artificially increase the web traffic to your site for the sake of generating sales. While there’s no denying that it can be effective (if you’re using the right tool), it’s also very easy for your audience to spot and avoid.

So, if you’re looking for a way to establish credibility and trust with your audience quickly, then consider investing in organic marketing.

The Difference In Message

A major difference between organic and paid marketing is in the type of message you’re conveying. While it’s great to generate brand awareness, it’s more effective to use organic marketing to build credibility and trust with your audience.

When you promote a product or service through paid advertising, you’re usually aiming to trick people into thinking that your brand or product is the best in its class. After all, you’re paying for ads that are likely to convert.

However, it’s unlikely that your advertisements will ever achieve perfection. You’ll always have the option to improve upon the messages, but trying to fool people over and over again will eventually cause your credibility to deteriorate.

On the other hand, when you promote a product or service through organic marketing, you’re conveying a genuine message that is informed by your expertise and the authority that your brand and content provide. For example, if you’re an expert doctor of psychology, but you’re using psychological theories to sell vitamins, your message will be far more effective if it comes from someone who truly understands how vitamins can benefit a person’s psychological health.

The Need To Evolve

Above all else, it’s important to remember that the internet and social media are always changing, and changing fast. Just when you’ve realized the effectiveness of a certain tactic or strategy, Google or Facebook will unveil a new update that makes it obsolete.

If you’re serious about growing your business online, then it’s important to evolve with the times as much as possible so that you can maximize your online presence and achieve the best results for your business.

For example, did you know that the icons used to represent podcasts and audiobooks in the iOS App Store have changed?

Icons for audio books used to be text-based, but as the industry has embraced audio and made it easy for people to discover and enjoy audiobooks without having to download an app, they’ve changed to pictures of actual books.

Similarly, the icons used to represent podcasts in the iOS App Store used to be based on traditional notions of what a podcast is, but today, they’re more closely associated with digital content, such as this podcast, Serial, which is widely available on iOS.

So, if you’re serious about maximizing the results of your digital marketing efforts, then it’s important to stay abreast of the evolving trends and make changes where necessary so that you can achieve your goals.