Why should you be combining organic and paid social media?

Let’s cut to the chase, it’s not about choosing a side – which is better paid or organic social media? It’s more about how one can complement the other, and how an integrated social media strategy will enhance and maximise your social efforts. As social becomes more of a pay-to-play space, a hybrid paid and organic strategy provides brands with the best of both worlds. 

Our senior social media executive, Ness, gives her thoughts on why both organic and paid social media should be as standard in your social media strategy — read on… 

What are the differences between organic and paid social media?

 Organic social media refers to the content that all users, including businesses and brands, share on social networks (posts, photos, videos, Stories etc). When you post organically, you can expect only your followers and anyone following any hashtags you may have used to see your post.

Organic social media is the foundation of every social strategy. For brands, it’s the best way to establish your personality and tone of voice, build stronger relationships and connections with your audience, engage with your customers at every step of their buying journey and also support customers with customer service.

Of course, the biggest benefit of organic social media is that it’s free. It won’t cost you a penny. Perfect for those who don’t have multi-million-pound budgets. And the best thing? Even organic posts can go viral. Remember the Super Bowl blackout of 2013? Nope, probably not, but I bet you remember Oreo dunking in the dark. 

The biscuit brand took to Twitter (as it was called back then) and simply tweeted an image of an Oreo cookie in the dark with the caption, “Power out? No problem. You can still dunk in the dark.” when the power went out at the Super Bowl. This simple, perfectly timed tweet quickly gained traction and became the most talked about moment of the whole event. It’s also a great example of reactive social – read our blog on that here.  




Paid social media refers to using an advertising budget to share content and reach a wider, more target-specific, audience on social networks. This is either through “boosting” organic content or a uniquely created ad. When launching paid ads you go beyond the confines of the algorithm, putting your brand front and centre of people’s feeds.

According to Advertising Association/WARC’s latest Expenditure Report, online formats took 75.4% of all UK ad spend in 2023. This included search, display, social media and BVOD (Broadcast Video on Demand).

In short, you can expect to gain new followers, raise brand awareness, generate leads and drive conversions with paid social media. However, it shouldn’t operate alone.

5 tips for creating the best hybrid organic and paid social strategy

The differences between organic and paid social are clear, but here are our tried and tested methods of creating the best combined social strategy.

1. Give a little boost

If you have never run paid activity, the easiest way to get started is to identify what content has already resonated with your audience and then pay for new eyes to see it. This is super low-risk and you don’t need to come up with an ad or campaign. Start by allocating a small budget to your top monthly post and test the waters. This approach for perfect to boost your engagement levels and brand awareness without breaking the bank.

2. Hey big spender

Speaking of not breaking the bank, make sure to monitor your ad spend. No one wants to blow their whole ad budget halfway through a campaign. Make time to regularly check your ads performance and remember it is never too late to change your tactics if something isn’t working.

3. A to B

We are all guilty of missing out on this step. Before you use your entire budget on an ad, run versions of it with smaller audiences and see how it performs. Set up A/B tests and try out different CTAs, copywriting, visuals and placements, as well as audience targeting and demographics. But don’t limit yourself to split testing just your paid ads. Set up manual A/B tests for organic posts and track the results using UTM.

4. Take a collaborative approach

Influencer marketing can be very useful in a hybrid strategy. With the right influencer, they can help amplify your brand’s message and reach that wider audience you are desperately after. Make sure to find an influencer who matches your brand values and will resonate with your target audience. Don’t forget to track the performance of any influencer collaborations to ensure you are getting a return on money spent.

5. Jump on the bandwagon

You don’t need to work in social to know that, keeping up with the latest trends is going to keep the interest of your audience and continue to engage them. As long as it makes sense for your brand, jump on them! Pay attention to popular hashtags and trending sounds and don’t be afraid to join the conversation. Just remember to stay authentic to your brand, put your own spin on it and only do it, if it feels natural to do so.

Don’t forget, not everything needs paid spend. Some of the social’s most viral moments are purely organic, take Cuthbert in 2021 for instance. Cuthbert the Caterpillar, took Aldi viral and grew their X following by 30%, reached over 35 million people on Facebook and gained a 15% engagement rate on social. With an organic reach equating to over £5m worth of media spend without spending a single penny! All from a single organic tweet, “This is not just any court case, this is…#freecuthbert”. 




If you need help developing an integrated social media strategy, we’re an experienced Birmingham social media agency that can help. With experience in hybrid organic and paid social campaigns, for both B2B and B2C clients, we have the skills needed to supercharge your social media strategy! Get in touch with us today.  

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