Get in touch
Growing your business on social media can feel like a huge juggling act. One post might get likes left, right and centre, and the next is a complete flop. Your reach feels good one month, the next your impressions have dropped, and you start wondering if anyone’s actually seeing your posts at all.
So, what’s the secret? Do you double down on organic content, or start throwing money behind ads?
The reality is, the best social media strategies don’t rely solely on one or the other. They find a balance between the two.
What Do We Mean by “Organic” Social?
When we talk about organic social, we mean everything that happens naturally on your social media accounts without paying to boost or promote it.
Your photos, videos, stories, updates and behind-the-scenes posts all sit under the organic umbrella. It’s the stuff that shows off your brand’s personality, promotes your products and services and gives people a reason to follow you.
It’s where, ideally, people see the human side of your business, which matters more than you might think. Good organic social media management helps you:
Build trust with your audience
Keep your brand front-of-mind
Encourage conversations and community
Show people what makes you different
But, unfortunately, there’s a catch. With massive user bases and platforms changing their algorithms every five minutes, sometimes only a small percentage of your followers see each post, never mind your untapped audience who are yet to know you even exist.
So, how do you reach them? Unless they’re all resharing your content, your posts only really go to your followers. This is where we can start utilising paid social.
.jpg)
What About Paid Social?
Paid social is exactly what it sounds like. Putting money behind your posts to reach more people, especially those who aren’t already following you.
You probably see them in your feed all the time: sponsored posts, promoted stories, carousel ads and videos that look just like normal posts from accounts you don't even follow.
Paid social is brilliant for when you want to:
Reach new audiences quickly
Shout about a new product, offer or campaign
Target specific customers by location, age or interests
Collect real, measurable results like clicks, leads and actions taken on your website
It’s fast, highly targeted and can give you a huge boost when you need one.
However, without solid organic content to back it up, paid campaigns can fall flat, and even feel a bit disingenuous. If someone sees your ad and clicks onto your profile, what they find there is important. A strong feed with consistent, engaging posts shows a customer that they’re safe buying from you.
To sum it up, paid social gets people through the door, and organic content makes them want to stay.
How to Find The Balance
If you’re thinking “okay, but how do I actually do that?”, here’s what we recommend:
1. Start with your goals
What do you want from social media? More followers to see your organic posts? More leads to add to your mailing lists? More brand awareness in general? Knowing what success looks like helps you split your time and budget between organic and paid.
2. Keep your brand consistent
Your paid and organic posts should look and feel like they belong to the same brand. Keep your tone, visuals and messaging consistent across the board.
3. Use your best organic content as ads
If a post performs really well organically, it’s a good sign that it might be worth promoting. Whether you reuse the content in it or boost the post itself, you’re only spending money on something that you know your audience connects with.
4. Track, test and tweak
To get the most out of paid social media, you should be testing different formats, audiences and budgets. See what works so you can double down on it.
5. Stay social
Remember, even if you’re running ads, you should still stay present organically to nurture that trust with your audience. Reply to comments, share updates, join conversations. Engagement is what puts the “social” in social media.
Getting that balance takes time and experimentation, but once you find it, you could start hitting your targets more consistently.
Why Working with a Social Media Agency Helps
Keeping up with algorithms, ad budgets and analytics can be a full-time job, and it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. If you're at the point where you want to get started, a social media agency can really benefit your business.
When you work with a team that lives and breathes digital marketing, you get the best of both worlds. They’ll plan your organic content, manage your paid campaigns and make sure the two are perfectly in sync.
A full social media management service means you’ll get:
Consistent, professional content across every platform
Ads that are setup to achieve your specific goals
Regular reports and insights you can understand
More time to focus on running your business
If you’re looking for social media management in Hull, working with a team like ours at Eyeweb means you’re partnering with people who understand your market, your audience and your bespoke goals.
Looking to get started?
If you’d like some help finding the right balance, the team at Eyeweb is here to help. As a social media agency, we create in-depth digital marketing strategies that get your business the results that matter. Get in touch with our team today to get started!
