Difference Between Organic and Paid Content on Social Media

Used for varying purposes but ultimately aligning under the same goal of increasing awareness of your products and services, Organic and Paid form the two main types of content on Social Media. 

Organic social media refers to posts and other content that is shared for free by all users (both businesses and ordinary consumers) on their respective feeds. 

As a business, those who can see your Organic posts are; 

• The majority of your followers 
• If those followers decide to share your content, their followers also 
• Users following or engaging with any hashtags you have used 

Paid social media on the other hand, aligns more closely with traditional advertising. The process involves businesses paying the Social Media platforms to amplify their reach or visibility beyond those outlined above. The posts are then shown to these new targeted audiences (specified by the business), with the business charged for each time that content is viewed. 

Why consider Paid Social Media in addition to free Organic posts? 

• Promote your messaging to a much wider audience 
• Target a specific demographic of users based on their age, interests and other filters 

• Drive leads, sales and conversions 
• Increase your following, which can then be targeted with Organic posts 
• Reach your business goals more quickly 

For an informative overview of the core differences between Paid and Organic Social Media Posts, read this,Hootsuite article; https://blog.hootsuite.com/organic-vs-paid-social-media/