“We do social.” We hear it all the time. But is there a difference between doing social posts and doing social ads?
Social media posts are unpaid and only visible to people who follow a page’s public profile. Also known as organic posts, these posts are suited to engage with a page’s customers and community. They can include links to a website or be used to generate conversations.
Social organic posts can be turned into advertising via a process called ‘boosting’. Boosted posts have limited customization and targeting potential as compared to paid social advertising, so might not be the best vehicle for driving sales or lead generation.
Social ads, also known as social media marketing, are paid media that allow businesses to promote their content to more people on the platform. Ads, like boosted posts, can look similar to organic posts but will typically include a note indicating that they are sponsored.
These paid ads benefit from an array of targeting options and may include a call-to-action (CTA) button that directs users to a landing page. Paid social advertising can appear in various placements on social media including Stories, Reels, and Marketplace, in addition to being mixed into timeline content.
So, which is better for your local business, social media posting or social media advertising? Not surprisingly, both can be beneficial to your business.
Social media posts help you to build relationships and loyalty with your customers and community while social media advertising places your brand in front of people who are looking for the products and services you offer, including potential new customers.
Using both forms of social marketing is the most effective way to leverage these social platforms. Mixing less ‘salesy’ organic posts along with your growth-focused advertising messages is the ideal approach. Seek a healthy balance.
It is important to know that social media platforms, with their inherent interest in driving paid advertising growth, significantly limit the reach associated with social posts via their algorithms. For example, Facebook prioritizes content from friends and family over business pages, which can result in lower organic reach for business pages. On average, Facebook only shows 2%-6% of a page’s followers their posts, and the larger the page, the lower the percentage.
This means if your business page has 1,000 followers, your organic posts are only reaching 20-60 of them, on average. If you’re interested in growing your business, it’s not considered best practice to rely exclusively on organic posts.
Posting too frequently can reduce organic reach yet further, as Facebook will show subsequent posts to fewer people after the third post in a day. As well, Facebook limits reach when posts include words like “sale”, “free”, or “sign-up”.
Boosting your post will open the audience for your content, including new audiences beyond your page followers, but only by the amount you’re willing to invest. When you boost your post you can choose a goal for your campaign, who you want to see your post (largely limited to geo, demo and interest targeting) and how much you want to budget. The more you budget, the more you’ll reach.
Organic posts, boosted posts, and social media advertising all have their strengths and weaknesses, and their role in the customer journey. Positioning each appropriately within your media plan is key to optimizing your investments, in both time and money, in your marketing.
If you’re interested in learning more about how to optimize your investment in social media, Sentinel Solutions can help.
Give us a call at 603-352-5896 or send us an e-mail to advertising@SentinelDigitalSoutions.com if we can be of help.
