Both organic and paid marketing can increase online visibility, but they work in different ways. Organic marketing uses non-paid marketing tactics to reach an audience online, while paid marketing requires you to pay to promote your brand or message.
Both have a place in a digital marketing strategy. And can be even more powerful when used together. This article by FOR® guides you on the difference between organic and paid and how to use both for long and short-term visibility.
What Is Organic Marketing?
Organic marketing is the process of using non paid marketing tactics to increase online visibility. These tactics involve publishing content across different channels and optimising it so it reaches your target audience naturally. In most organic marketing channels if you create content that users can find on their own, you can reach them without paying for ads.
Examples of organic marketing efforts:
- Search engine optimisation (SEO): Blog posts, ebooks and other content that can be found by search engines like Google
- Video marketing: Videos published on platforms like YouTube are often found via search on search engines and on the platforms themselves
- Social media: Unpaid social media posts on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and other platforms
What Is Paid Marketing?
Paid marketing is the process of using paid advertising channels to target customers online. This involves running paid or sponsored ads across different channels to drive sales rather than just increase online visibility.
Unlike organic marketing which is about building brand awareness and increasing website traffic, paid marketing is usually more focused on conversions for a specific campaign.
Two types of paid marketing:
- Paid ads
- Sponsored ads
Organic vs Paid Marketing: 4 differences
Sometimes organic and paid marketing target the same channels. You can pay to put ads on search engines or social media platforms, just like you can create content that’s organically visible on those channels.
Here are 4 differences between organic and paid marketing:
Organic Marketing is Non-Paid
Organic marketing involves publishing content across different channels and optimising it so your target audience finds it naturally. In other words you don’t have to pay to put this in front of them.
Paid marketing involves funding paid campaigns or sponsorships to put ads in front of your audience. These can promote anything. A blog post, landing page or product page.
Paid Works Faster
It can take months or even years for your organic content to climb the search engine rankings. Same for other organic channels like social media and music streaming platforms.
Once you launch a paid ad, your ads can start showing to your target audience in minutes. In case of sponsored ads, as the creator or brand’s video goes live, your brand can start getting visibility.
Organic Works Longer
While organic takes time to deliver results, those results can be long term. The visibility and traffic from organic efforts can last for months or even years after the content is published. This is especially true if you’re updating and optimizing older content.
Yes, some paid tactics like sponsored posts and videos can continue to deliver results after payment stops. But paid ad campaigns only deliver results as long as you keep paying.
Organic Benefits From the ‘Trust Factor’
Another big difference between organic and paid marketing is the “trust factor”. When users come across your content organically, they may trust in its credibility and authority more. If a search engine like Google considers your content valuable and relevant, chances are its users will too.
On the other hand, when your content appears as a paid ad or sponsored post, some users might be more skeptical of its usefulness. These users know the content is being promoted to sell them a service or product. So they might not view it as unbiased or particularly useful to their search.
Conclusion
If you want a “hack” that will give you instant results, paid marketing might be the way to go. Just remember that getting a return on your investment (ROI) requires a lot of skill and subtlety. Paid marketing works better in some industries than others.
Organic marketing is a long game. If you want to build a long-term relationship with your audience and achieve sustainable growth (even if you stop investing), organic marketing is the way to go.
You can do both organic and paid marketing. In many cases the brand awareness and results from one will help the other and vice versa. If you want to Boost your online presence by using either Paid Advertisement or Organic marketing, contact Toni Hukkanen, the head of FOR®’s Digital Marketing Agency.
