The importance of organic social media
Discover why an organic social media strategy is an essential part of the modern marketing toolkit.
Social media: a multi-billion-pound industry that has shaped the landscape of the modern world, especially when it comes to marketing. If your company doesn’t have at least one social media account in this day and age, then we want to be frank and ask you, why not?
Whatever market you are in and whatever product you sell or service you provide, social media gives you the power to increase brand awareness, build your audience and talk authentically to your customers.
With a plethora of different social media platforms to choose from, there is infinite space for brands of all shapes and sizes to take full advantage of the advancing algorithms and the opportunities they provide. Whether you are a global brand with a far-reaching audience or a local business providing a niche service, there is room for you to carve your space in the social media ecosystem.
If you are looking to dip your toes into the world of social media, want to make the most of your current social networks or are looking to build a powerful social media marketing strategy, read on to find out more. And as travel experts, we’ve learned a lot about the industry too. We’ve kept our eyes on all four corners of the bigger picture – seeing how brands act and react to every changing regulation and how consumers are navigating a new way of living, thinking, and travelling.
What is organic social?
In simple terms, organic social media is any social media activity that isn’t promoted with payment to social networks. This can be in the form of posts, stories, images, videos, and more. These updates can be seen by your followers, as well as those looking at your profile, and they are also shown to users who the platforms believe might be interested in your content.
This activity can take place on a range of social platforms, with Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and TikTok being the most prominent and each offering a unique outlet and opportunity. For holiday providers, Instagram is an image-sharing platform where #holidaygoals are always well received. Recruitment companies can look towards LinkedIn, the professional network where healthy debates between business professionals are part of day-to-day life.
On the surface, branded organic social is almost indistinguishable from a standard user profile, and so for those already familiar with social media, it won’t feel like a unique marketing platform. The primary way it varies from a personal profile is that, with a brand account, you’ll have access to data which can help you monitor post performance and information on your following.
Organic social media content is a quick and authentic way to keep your customers (and potential customers) up to date on your brand. It’s there for whatever type of content you want to post, whether it’s fresh offers, updates on company news or reactive social commentary.
Why is organic social an integral part of a digital marketing strategy?
Social media is a one-stop shop for sharing updates and brand information, supporting your customers throughout their journey to purchase (and beyond), and mastering a brand voice that will line the road for the rest of your marketing strategy. It gives you an opportunity to talk to customers, new and old, in an authentic way and can often allow you to post quickly and reactively.
Social channels can often become tribes of existing customers, offering a sense of community and support as well as fostering brand loyalty. With this tribe, you’ll get an abundance of engagement, an area to receive feedback and provide a great level of customer service.
Whereas other marketing channels might be seen as the ‘uninvited guest’, as your followers have opted in to see your posts (or are shown your posts due to similar interests), organic social means you are talking to an already receptive and engaged audience. Rather than putting you in a position where you have to prove yourself to an unexpecting crowd, you’ll be talking to your tribe, your customers, and your people.
What are the pros and cons of organic social media?
Where do we start with the pros of organic social strategies? Free promotion for your brand, an engaged and dedicated audience, the ability to react and share in real time, and the opportunity to talk to customers authentically and informally. The list really is endless, provided you have the time (and creativity) to make the most of this marketing channel.
The advantages of organic social media:
You only need time and an internet connection to start.
You can reach a ‘subscribed’ and engaged audience.
You can react and share in real time.
You can talk to customers authentically and informally.
The disadvantages of organic social media:
You can’t target social users who don’t follow you.
You can’t target a specific customer subset.
You can’t guarantee a certain number of impressions.
You can’t amplify your post reliably.
We’d love to be able to sit here and say that organic social media is faultless, but there are always areas where certain strategies don’t perform as well as others. Luckily, where organic social media might be seen to fall short, paid advertising on social media can help.
Why combine organic and paid social media strategies?
Organic content is just one side of the coin and paid social (social media activity that has a budget behind it) is another part of the marketing puzzle. It’s a mistake to think that it’s one or the other, as both serve a different purpose and fit into the customer’s path to purchase in a unique way. This is why we don’t believe in the ‘paid vs organic’ debate; it should be both, not one or the other.
The advantages of paid social media:
You can target people who don’t know about your brand.
You can target customers at a specific point in their path to purchase.
You can guarantee a certain number of impressions.
You can amplify your organic posts to a larger audience.
Where one avenue of social media marketing might fall short, the other stands strong, making a combined approach of paid and organic social media marketing the key to success. Where you find you might be limited by your organic reach, paid can help bolster you with targeted ad spending.
LEARN MORE: How we optimised National Geographic Expeditions Facebook activity
How Accord can help you with your social media strategy
The only thing you need to roll out an organic social media strategy is time, something we know many business owners or marketing managers and their teams simply don’t have at their disposal. Organic social is a long-term commitment and ensuring you keep a continuous and reliable presence is essential to success. This is where Accord can step in.
Our Digital Delivery Team is well-equipped and ready to help. By utilising competitor research and comparisons to gain an understanding of your market and reviewing this alongside your current brand voice and business needs, we can curate a reliable organic social media strategy across multiple channels that fits seamlessly into your marketing plan. What’s more, we can connect that to a targeted and data-driven paid campaign, covering all bases for you.
Becoming an extended part of your marketing team, we’ll work collaboratively with you to understand your social needs, offering guidance on channel selection, hashtag usage, optimal frequency for posting content, audience demographics, target audiences and everything in between.
Our social packages can be curated to suit your needs and budgets, whether you are looking for help with post frequency or want a well-rounded social media strategy that doesn’t require any work from yourselves, get in contact with Accord Marketing today to discuss your options further.
Holly Paddon
Holly is Accord’s SEO Content Lead. There’s nothing in the world of SEO that Holly doesn’t already have her eye on.
