Gone are the glory days of organic content. Yes, this might ruffle the feathers of some digital marketers but the organic content has already lost its luster.
In this article, we will go through a couple of things why organic content is no longer a reliable way to promote your business. More importantly, we will help you transition from relying on organic content to something that works better.
Social Algorithms Vary Between Social Media Platforms
One reason organic content is no longer as reliable as it once was is due to the varying social algorithms between different platforms.
For example, Facebook determines a post’s ranking based on its relevance score. However, Youtube does this differently as it calculates the total watch time per session in determining if a video will be included in its Recommended Video section.
Truth be told, it is very difficult nowadays to produce a single content that can be aligned with the social algorithms of various platforms.
The proof is in the pudding when it comes to organic content. While you may be enticed by the perceived free cost of organic content, you have to remember a few things.
Organic Content Has an Opportunity Cost
First, organic content relies on consistency in publishing content. This is where things get tricky. Publishing content is easy. Publishing high-quality content is not. This entails investing in high-quality content that your target audience might find interesting or useful.
Looking in from the outside, you might believe that this is easy and may not cost a lot. However, creating and curating high-quality content requires a significant investment in terms of money, time, and effort.
Second, organic content will not give you instant results. This is why it is often used as a complementary strategy to paid advertising. The content you need to publish has to be interesting enough for your followers to share. This presents a big opportunity cost if not done right.
Paid Advertising Is the Most Cost-Effective Way to Promote Your Business
The beauty of paid advertising is you get to effectively control your budget with better results. Take Facebook for example. You can set your advertising budget, zero in on your target audience profile, mix and match content based on target locations, and use more powerful tools that can help you promote your business with effective customer segmentation.
Whereas organic content would hinge on your target audience to find their way to your business, paid advertising will bring your business to potential customers.
Organic Content Is Your Bicycle, Paid Advertising Is Your Sports Car
Organic content needs time, consistency, and quality content to work.
Think of organic content as your bicycle. It can get you from point A to point B. No cost for fuel. However, you need to consistently pedal your bicycle (consistency), be able to produce enough pedal power to get you through uphill roads (quality content), and it will definitely take you a longer period (time) to reach your destination than if you were driving a sports car.
Now, look at paid advertising as your sports car. It can easily get you from point A to point B faster than your bicycle. Sure it costs money but it gets you better results at a faster pace.
Paid Advertising Is the Way to Go in 2018
Nowadays, paid advertising is not only cost-effective but they are also made ridiculously affordable. For instance, you can run ads on Facebook for as low as P50 ( $1) per day and expect to get thousands of qualified leads thanks to Facebook’s powerful advertising tools.
Paid advertising is the way to go if you want to get your money’s worth when investing in digital marketing. You can still decide to do organic content but only as a supplemental strategy to paid advertising.
SOURCES:
Smith, K. (March 2017). Social Media Marketing Vs Social Media Advertising: Who Will Win The Social Traffic Game in 2018? Retrieved from
http://www.jeffbullas.com/organic-marketing-vs-paid-advertising-wins-traffic-game-social/
Orona, J. (February 8, 2018). 5 Paid Media Trends You Should Know in 2018 (So You Don’t Fall Behind). Retrieved from
http://www.verticalmeasures.com/ppc-advertising/5-paid-media-trends-2018/
Marvin, G. (December 19, 2017). Digital advertising in 2018: 5 trends to watch. Retrieved from
https://marketingland.com/digital-advertising-2018-trends-230473
Tyson, M. (May 20, 2017). Why Small Businesses Should Use Facebook Advertising. Retrieved from
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-tyson/why-small-businesses-shou_b_10046180.html
Quilty, D. (May 17, 2017). Is Organic Content Marketing Dead? Retrieved from
https://kaleidico.com/is-organic-content-ma
Joseph, S. (January 15, 2018). ‘Organic Reach on Facebook is Dead’: Advertisers expect price hikes after Facebook’s feed purge. Retrieved from
https://digiday.com/marketing/organic-reach-facebook-dead-advertisers-will-spend-reach-facebooks-feed-purge/
High Season Company (January 19, 2018). Organic Reach Is Dead: Why You Need To Pay To Play On Facebook. Retrieved from
https://highseasonco.com/blog/organic-reach-is-dead-pay-to-play-on-facebook
