When it comes to social media marketing, it’s easy to think you have to pick a side: organic or paid. But here’s the thing, the smartest brands don’t choose between them. They combine them.
The best social media strategies use the strengths of both organic and paid, working together to grow your brand faster and more sustainably.
What’s the Real Difference Between Organic and Paid Social?
Organic social media includes anything you post for free: updates, videos, photos, tips, and behind-the-scenes content. It’s how you build and nurture relationships with your existing followers. These posts help people connect with your brand in a genuine way.
Organic is important because it builds trust. When people like, comment, share, and engage with your content, they’re showing they believe in you, and that belief is gold when it comes to long-term brand loyalty.
Paid social media is when you put money behind content through ads, boosted posts, or sponsored promotions. This helps you reach new audiences, drive traffic, and encourage action.
Paid campaigns let you target exactly who you want to reach, based on demographics, location, interests, and even online behaviors. With paid social, you can get in front of new audiences who may have never heard of you otherwise, drive more traffic to your website, generate leads, and even directly increase sales.
Why Organic and Paid Work Better Together
Both are powerful tools. But together, they create a strategy that’s more resilient, more flexible, and more effective. Here are five reasons organic and paid work better together.
1. Organic and paid strategies support different stages of the customer journey.
Marketing isn’t just about the first impression; it’s about building a relationship over time.
- Organic content introduces people to your brand, educates them, and keeps them engaged.
- Paid campaigns focus on conversion, bringing people to your website, collecting emails, or completing purchases.
When you align organic and paid efforts, you’re creating a seamless experience: awareness, interest, decision, and loyalty. Maybe someone first finds you through a helpful blog post you shared organically. Later, they see a paid ad offering a discount or free consultation. Each touchpoint feels natural.
2. Organic Content Builds Trust, and Paid Reinforces It
People are smart. They know the difference between an ad and authentic content.
Organic posts, especially ones that feel helpful, conversational, and sincere, lay the foundation for trust. So, when someone sees your ad and checks out your feed, the message is clear:
This brand gets it. This brand is real. This brand cares.
Trust leads to engagement. Engagement leads to conversions.
Organic content shows who you are—your voice, values, and expertise. Paid ads then become a way to bring people back into that world you’ve already created.
3. Boosting High-Performing Posts Makes Your Budget Work Smarter
Ever notice that some of your organic posts just take off? Maybe a behind-the-scenes video resonates, a client testimonial gets tons of shares, or a carousel of tips racks up saves.
Instead of creating every ad from scratch, smart brands identify their best-performing organic posts and boost them with paid support. That way, you’re putting your dollars behind content that’s already proven to connect with your audience.
It’s not just efficient — it’s strategic. When you let real-world engagement guide your ad spend, you’re more likely to see better results without blowing your budget.
4. Paid Helps You Expand Beyond Your Current Audience
Organic posts keep your community engaged. But if growth is your goal, paid ads can help you reach fresh, relevant audiences.
Running ads that target specific demographics or interests means you’re not just shouting into the void, you’re connecting with the right people.
5. A Balanced Strategy Is a Smarter Strategy
If you lean too heavily on organic, you might grow slowly. If you only run paid ads without nurturing your audience organically, you might struggle to build loyalty.
The most effective social media strategy involves a blend of paid and organic posts. Paid ads allow for targeted reach, while organic content builds community and brand loyalty. A good starting point is the 80/20 rule: 80% informative, engaging content and 20% promotional content. Hootsuite can help manage both by allowing you to boost organic posts and run ad campaigns on multiple platforms.
Final Thoughts: Make Organic + Paid Work for You
If you’re only focusing on organic or only running paid ads, you’re missing out on the full potential of social media. A blended strategy gives you the best of both worlds by helping you grow your audience, strengthen your brand, and drive real business results.
Any business can start by boosting a few posts or running social media ads. If you need to get up and running quickly or want a more strategic approach, consider working with a social media professional.
Motionbuzz offers social media marketing services, and we’re here to help if you need us!