Organic Social vs. Paid Social Media: Which You Need
Tara Johnson is a marketing strategist with 10+ years of experience in digital strategy, content creation, and advertising. At Power Digital, she leads content planning, creating high-impact resources that boost visibility and drive results. Tara believes in no magic wands—just smart content and a passion for sustainable, authentic growth.
Power Digital is a full-service growth marketing agency helping brands accelerate their revenue with data, strategy, and execution. Known for our award-winning teams and nova technology, we bring clarity to complexity and build marketing that scales.
- 1. Key Differences Between Organic and Paid Social
- 2. When to Use Organic Social Media
- 3. When to Use Paid Social Media
- 4. How Organic and Paid Work Together
- 5. How to Decide on the Right Strategy (or Strategies)
- 6. Measuring Success Across Organic and Paid Channels
- 7. A Balanced Strategy is the Smartest Approach
Ever since companies started posting on social media, there’s been a tug-of-war: For years, the organic vs. paid social media debate has raged on.
Some marketing gurus swear by organic social, declaring that feed posts and engaging stories are the best path forward for businesses. Others are proponents of paid social, claiming that brands need to push their content to the masses through big-budget campaigns.
Are they both right? Kind of.
The truth is that paid and organic social are both fundamental. Understanding the differences between the two—and how they complement each other—is essential for any brand trying to build awareness, drive engagement, or boost conversions.
Key Differences Between Organic and Paid Social
With the above in mind, exploring the defining characteristics of paid and organic social is the perfect place to start.
Organic and paid social media differ in several major categories:
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Reach – Organic social posts are, more or less, limited to followers. While the odd organic post will make it to other users (whether through hashtags or a moment of virality), current fans are usually the only ones who engage. Paid posts, meanwhile, break through the algorithm and deliver themselves directly to new users.
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Cost – Organic content is 100% free. But, as always, you get what you pay for. Organic is generally slow to scale, and, once again, brand accounts are unlikely to gain new followers from it. Paid content costs money—as little as $5/day to $1,000-plus—but the results come in quickly.
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Control – When social media managers make an organic post, all they can do is hit “Publish” and hope for the best. Posting at the right time and soliciting engagement helps, but it’s far from a sure thing. Paid gives precise targeting options, enabling brands to decide exactly who sees it, when and where it’s displayed, and more.
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Measurement – It can be tough to measure an organic post’s success. After all, what is the goal of a feed post that only followers will see? (More on that in a moment.) Metrics like comments, shares, and reach are as far as organic posts go. With paid campaigns, measurement is a breeze. The KPIs are crystal-clear, and analytics dashboards built specifically for businesses provide endless data points.
When to Use Organic Social Media
The comparison above may make it seem like paid social is head and shoulders above its organic counterpart.
However, organic social shouldn’t be discounted as a second-rate option. First and foremost, organic is—once again—completely free. That’s a monumental advantage over paid social media.
More than that, organic social is a direct line to followers. It’s not an ad or a CTA—it’s an opportunity for connection and community. In fact, there are several use cases where organic social truly shines, including:
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Engaging current followers – Whether it’s sharing a behind-the-scenes process or soliciting customer feedback, there are endless ways to keep existing followers plugged into the brand.
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Strengthening customer relationships – Organic social posts are the perfect platform for two-way conversations with interested consumers. Brands can respond to comments, post polls, and generally remind customers that they matter.
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Showcasing company culture or values – A full 63% of consumers want to buy from brands with values and beliefs that resonate with their own. By using organic social to create an enduring “portfolio” of posts, businesses can highlight their culture and develop brand awareness over time. For example, a company that donates 10% of proceeds to local foundations could share pics of the community it supports.
When to Use Paid Social Media
Just like there’s a time to post without paying, there’s also a time to invest in social media strategy. Paid social is a better fit for:
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Reaching a specific or new audience segment – Thanks to the pinpoint-precise targeting features of Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms, reaching a particular audience has never been easier. Businesses can target users based on age, location, interests, and more to ensure posts don’t fall on deaf ears.
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Driving website traffic or purchases – Because only the most interested (and therefore most conversion-ready) consumers are targeted, paid posts are fantastic at convincing potential customers to take action. Optimized sponsored posts can drive consumers toward product launch pages, mailing lists, and promos.
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Supporting time-sensitive promotions – With a large enough budget, businesses can get thousands of eyes on their posts within hours. Translation? Paid social is ideal when time is of the essence.
How Organic and Paid Work Together
By now, the truth should be clear: In the organic vs. paid social media debate, there is no winner. Paid and organic are two sides of the same coin—and they work best when combined.
At the risk of oversimplifying, paid social is best for capturing new followers, and organic social is ideal for engaging existing ones. To that end, there are ingenious ways to leverage organic and paid social in harmony.
For instance, a SaaS company could initiate a paid campaign that drives users to their page. At the same time, they could make organic posts that build consumer trust, such as:
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Comparisons.
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User-generated testimonials.
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Infographics.
When consumers click through to the account page, they’ll be met with a hundred reasons to complete a purchase.
It’s also worth noting that organic content can become sponsored content later. If a brand’s video performs well with current audiences, pushing to a larger market takes two minutes.
Even existing organic audiences can be retargeted with paid campaigns for some surefire conversions. As long as the content is cohesive and the messaging is clear, a paid-plus-organic strategy can work wonders.
We help growing brands ($10m+ annual revenue) prove marketing’s true incremental ROI, impact by channel and tactic, deep customer insights.
How to Decide on the Right Strategy (or Strategies)
Ultimately, successful businesses leverage both paid and organic social media as part of their growth strategies. More importantly, they understand when to use each strategy separately—and when to combine them.
The choice between organic and paid social depends largely on the campaign’s overarching goal and, to a lesser extent, the current business stage.
If the Goal is to Build a Presence…
For cash-strapped startups and small businesses, organic social is the way to go. Creating an informative, inviting social media presence is free, and it gives entrepreneurs a place to direct potential customers (and investors).
Once they’ve established a footprint, early-stage brands can pivot to a mixed strategy by:
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Paying to promote high-performing organic posts.
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Running a targeted brand awareness campaign.
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Collaborating with micro-influencers to promote the business.
If the Goal is to Grow…
There is a soft ceiling on how many followers an account can achieve with organic posts alone. Growth-focused brands will likely need to focus on paid social to accelerate visibility.
Nothing beats paid social for generating views, likes, and purchases. However, brands should always have a strong organic social presence to further draw in interested consumers.
Measuring Success Across Organic and Paid Channels
No matter which social media strategy businesses choose, they must keep close tabs on performance. Tracking essential metrics allows brands to recognize successes—and switch tactics when goals are going unmet.
Fortunately, there are free, platform-provided tools for measuring performance, including:
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Meta Business Suite.
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LinkedIn Analytics.
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Google Analytics.
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TikTok Business Center.
Brands can also use third-party analytics tools (like Hootsuite or HubSpot) for more in-depth visibility.
These tools enable businesses to track key performance indicators (KPIs) for organic and paid social content. And, as it turns out, the most important indicators for each strategy are quite different.
Organic KPIs to Track
With organic posts, it’s all about how users engage with the content. KPIs that tell the story of engagement include:
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Engagement rate – The percentage of the audience that likes, shares, saves, or comments on the post.
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Shares – The number of times users have found the content valuable enough to send to others.
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Saves – The number of times users have found the content valuable enough to keep for later.
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Follower growth – The rate at which a brand’s follower count is increasing.
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Reach – The total number of unique accounts that have viewed the content.
Paid KPIs to Track
On the other hand, paid social metrics revolve around how the budget is being spent. KPIs to watch include:
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Click-through rate (CTR) – The percentage of interested users who click on the ad.
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Conversions – The number of users who complete the desired action (e.g. make a purchase or subscribe).
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Return on ad spend (ROAS) – A subset of ROI that measures revenue earned per dollar spent on paid content.
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Cost per result – The average cost to achieve the desired outcome (e.g. clicks, conversions, or leads).
A Balanced Strategy is the Smartest Approach
In the end, succeeding on social media isn’t about choosing one strategy over the other. Instead, the secret is understanding when—and how—to employ paid and organic social to maximize results and ROI.
Of course, identifying and capitalizing on those opportunities can be easier said than done.
If your brand’s social media strategy needs a jumpstart, you need Power Digital. Our marketing experts can help you assess your goals, allocate resources to the proper channels, and build an authentic social media presence.
Better outcomes are just a few clicks away. Get in touch with us today to talk socials, strategy, and so much more.
Sources:
Forbes. Why Core Values Matter (And How To Get Your Team Excited About Them). https://www.forbes.com/sites/brentgleeson/2021/03/30/why-core-values-matter-and-how-to-get-your-team-excited-about-them/
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Tara Johnson is a marketing strategist with 10+ years of experience in digital strategy, content creation, and advertising. At Power Digital, she leads content planning, creating high-impact resources that boost visibility and drive results. Tara believes in no magic wands—just smart content and a passion for sustainable, authentic growth.
