Regularly posting high-quality, engaging content helps establish a strong social media presence and build a loyal base of customers who genuinely care about your products or services.
But does organic posting on Instagram actually drive conversions? On its own, an organic strategy likely won’t move the needle much on sales. Pair it with paid social media though, and you’re in a much stronger position.
What is organic content?
Organic content is anything created and shared on social media or other online platforms without being paid for or sponsored. It’s usually created by individuals or organisations looking to share information, ideas, or experiences with their audience, rather than push a specific product or service.
Unfortunately, with so many brands competing for attention, organic reach has been steadily declining. The average organic reach for a Facebook post now sits around 5.5% of your follower count, and even lower for larger brands. To get the most out of organic content, it really needs to work alongside paid social media rather than instead of it.
Benefits of organic content
Increased credibility
Potential customers tend to see organic content as more authentic and genuine, since it isn’t pushing a specific product or service. That builds trust with your audience, and it’s a free way to connect with them whenever you want. Unlike paid social, the only real cost is time, which makes it a solid option for businesses working with a limited budget or without a dedicated social media team.
Cost-effective
Since organic content isn’t paid for or sponsored, there’s no direct spend involved, making it a genuinely cost-effective way to reach and engage your audience.
What is paid social media?
Paid social media means using platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, and LinkedIn to promote products or services through paid advertising. It lets businesses reach specific audiences based on demographics, interests, and behaviours, targeting the people most likely to actually care about what they’re offering.
Integrating a paid and organic social media strategy
Combine the two to serve different goals, and you’ll get better results overall. Organic content works best for driving engagement and sharing, while paid content tends to serve more specific goals like brand awareness or selling a particular product.
Boost your best organic social content
One great way to extend your reach is identifying your top-performing organic posts and paying to put them in front of new audiences. Boosting existing organic content also helps it blend more naturally into people’s feeds, feeling less like an obvious ad.
Utilise retargeting ads
Retargeting ads let you reach people who’ve already shown interest in your business, cost-effectively and with real precision. The right retargeting ad can be exactly what brings someone back to convert.
Target your ads to people similar to your organic audience
If you’ve put in the work to grow your social presence organically, you already have a wealth of information about your ideal customer to draw on when building ads. You should have a clear sense of their key demographics, along with the problems they’re facing and how you can help solve them.
Ready to elevate your Instagram ads strategy? Our digital team of experts can help you balance organic social content with paid social strategy to maximise engagement and boost conversions.
Get in contact with us at hello@omdigigroup.com to find out how we can help.