Many small businesses have been struggling to stay afloat offline in this competitive global business environment because their customer bases have dwindled, as more and more people are understanding the myriad benefits of shopping or doing business online.
Based on public data, online shopping is growing exponentially, whereby the online shopping market size has reached almost 4 trillion in 2020 and is predicted to attract another 300 million shoppers by 2023 in the United States.
Small businesses that are not getting a piece of the pie from the gross return from digital marketing are losing out because of the misconception that social media marketing is an expensive business model.
But money isn’t everything, some of the best things are free!
Understanding the role of organic versus paid social media marketing is very critical for small businesses. Paid social refers to content (text, images, videos, stories etc.) on social media that is influenced or paid for by the business owner or sponsor, popularly known as paid advertising or paid ads.
That is, money paid by advertisers to social networks such as, Facebook and You Tube to display such content to target audiences that are not apart of their social media following.
On the other hand, organic social media marketing is content or any social media post or activity that is not paid for by businesses but utilizes free social media tools to share, engage and grow their audiences.
Both paid and organic social play important roles and provide their own benefits in a company’s marketing strategy depending on needs and available resources.
Business owners who are of the opinion that they cannot promote their brands on social media because they can’t afford paid social media advertising should realize at this point that this is further from the truth.
Paid social allows advertisers to navigate algorithms and connect with audiences that they would not have reached otherwise, but regular fluctuations of algorithms and changes by social media networks present challenges that also affect businesses negatively.
While paid advertising increases traffic, you can also save money and extend your reach through organic advertising, as paid social can be a very costly endeavor and may not yield the expected return on investment (RIO).
Organic social media is an excellent marketing strategy for small businesses in particular to consider for the following reasons:
- More Cost Effective – organic social is all the activities that take place on social media without businesses paying to engage with their audiences or build traffic – it’s basically free. It doesn’t cost anything to post on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter among others. The only costs involved are those associated with content creation, audience engagement and page management, whether through your company’s social media employees or outsourcing to agencies or freelancers.
- Trust and Authenticity– Consumers are feeling overwhelmed with promotional content that flood their social media on a daily basis. Approximately 86% of people expressed the importance of trust and authenticity in their buying decisions. Users are more comfortable engaging with content, purchase products and services from organic social media or those referred to them by friends and family, rather than being bombarded by unwanted ads that appear fake or too promotional on social media.
- Organic Social Reach Guaranteed- Organic social media is the foundation of the digital marketing landscape because it is proven to be the most authentic way to interact with followers, nurture existing customers and reach potential customers once they become followers. Posting organically to your page, without a doubt, you will reach your followers and their followers, and people following the hashtags you choose. Your organic reach can quadruple if followers of your followers find your messaging interesting and choose to share it with their followers or within groups that they are members. On the other hand, paid social are geared towards a specific target audience.
If you are on the periphery wondering whether or not you should pivot your small business online in order to remain relevant and viable, now is the time to make the first step.
The exponential growth of internet technologies and social media in particular, provides endless opportunities for small businesses to gain financial security and independence, while capitalizing on the freedom and flexibility that many are enjoying in the global digital business environment.
For more information on how to grow your small business with organic social media please leave comments below.
