Why organic growth on social media may take more time, but is the best way to build your digital presence
When making choices about how to fuel our bodies, we know that organic options are usually best. They have the fewest pesticides, no GMOs, healthier soil, fewer toxins, more nutrients, and they are typically not monocropped. What does monocropping mean? It means a single crop is planted in a large area and that crop is left extremely vulnerable to being wiped out. In turn, it must be treated with chemicals that allow only that crop to live…but leaves them covered in things humans really shouldn’t be ingesting.
Why am I talking to you about organic food and crops? Because the concept of choosing ORGANIC comes into play with social media marketing too! Organic content and management of your social media accounts takes a bit more time and effort, but it yields the most fruitful and authentic results. Relying on a handful of paid ads to build a sustainable business model online is like planting all of your crops in one spot, spraying them down, and hoping they don't all wither or get destroyed at once. It is entirely possible to GROW your platforms without paid advertisements and toxic follower-gaining strategies--and while it may not be as fast, we want to show you why it is the most NUTRITIOUS fuel for the digital presence and success of your small business or brand.
Connection is Key
Putting out informative, entertaining, and inspiring content that brings value to your audience and then connecting with people about those posts is the best way to nurture relationships and create loyal customers. Content that you or your social media manager have created that showcases your brand in a relatable and authentic way may not attract the most views but will attract views most intentionally. Consistency in organic posts will also help establish brand presence, and display your unique personality and voice for your followers to adhere to and expect.
Community Engagement
Creating conversation in the comments of these posts and ensuring you connect with everyone who messages you will help support and retain your existing and protentional customers. While connecting with your own followers and in the space of your own content is crucial, another key factor to successful organic growth is engaging with the local community and the community of similar brands online. You can do this by interacting with their content and stories, as well as intentionally following and connecting with handful of relevant accounts each week. By becoming a part of comparable communities that could closely link to yours, and interacting with your local community, you establish a deeper trust with your audience and your brand is more likely to grow via word-of-mouth.
Time
Yes, organic outreach will take more time to build a sizable community and customer base. Why is this? The average reach for an organic Facebook or Instagram post is only about 5-10% of your follower base. Obviously, the percentage of new eyes on this content is notably low as well. HOWEVER…with intentionality and consistency in organic posts, you will maintain STEADY growth of HIGHLY VALUABLE, engaged and purposeful audience members who are more likely to be potential customers, therefore boosting your revenue and ROI. Paid ads may reach more eyes, but without an organic base they will not create business retention or customer loyalty and any success from sudden, fast growth could be short lived. Insert eloquent “tortoise and the hare” metaphor here.
Paid Ads Aren’t All Bad
While implementing occasional paid ads into your social media strategy can be part of a successful game plan, the best way to maximize your efforts and ensure your audience members will benefit your business in a steady way is to grow through consistent, high quality, organic content, and regular, authentic community engagement. If you opt to implement occasional paid advertisements into your strategy, boosted posts and sponsored content are typically ideal, as they are most often organic posts that someone has decided to boost. These types of ads will blend right into viewers feeds and won’t look like pushy ads or marketing ploys. Ensuring your content bodes well and hits all the targets with your current audience through A/B testing before paying to boost it as an advertisement is going to be crucial in making sure you aren’t wasting your marketing budget on duds and fluff pieces.
At Brand|Uncommon, we want to help you develop a social media marketing strategy rooted in gold standard organic content, that will help you build and maintain an authentic, engaged, valuable community--and not simply a bank of followers that doesn’t benefit your financial success at all. Sometimes these strategies include intentional, occasional paid advertisements—but we help you protect your budget and make sure these aren’t published without a solid base to stand on. If you fuel your digital brand with high quality nutrients (aka community engagement and organic content) you will absolutely watch it grow stronger and more sustainable.
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