Paid vs. Organic Reach in Digital Marketing

Marketing your business online can be tricky. With so many options available, it can be difficult to identify which channels and methods will work best for your business. Choosing the wrong strategy could lead to your content not getting in front of the right customers, significantly impacting your ability to generate qualified leads. But where do you start? How can a small business with limited resources even think of contending with the larger corporations and their bottomless resources? Well in the digital marketing world it’s possible, and here is how.

Two of the biggest tools for gettingyour content seen in the digital world is through paid adsand organic search. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, so understanding how each works is imperative for making sure you are choosing the right option for your business. Realistically you’d be using a mixture of both, but for the sake of simplicity we will focus on what makes each different, and how you can use them to help get your business in front of as many potential customersas possible.

Paid Ads

Paid advertisement,also known asPay Per Click (or PPC), is one of the most effective ways to market your business in front of your target audience.A company will usuallyuse paid advertisement when they are looking to have more control over both the time and demographic that is subjected to their content.Ifthis is the case for a business, set yourself a budgetanddetermine the proper keywords that fityourtarget market. Here are some of the benefits of PPC advertisements:

Time Efficiency – Ads can be targeted for a specific time range.
Selective Targeting – Keyword optimization will make sure your ad shows up in front of exactly the kind of customer you are trying to reach.
Trackable Click Rates – All PPC programs include up to the second tracking on how well your ads are doing.

While these benefits may sound alluring, there are are some downsides that come with the use of paid advertisements. These include:

More Expensive – Each click costs money.
Time sensitive – Ads only show upas long as your budget allows.
Less Credibility- Compared to an organic search.

Organic Search

Is the grass greener on the other side? When someone describes something asorganic, one typically envisions it as a greener, healthier option than the alternative. While paid ads seem like the elite option when it comes to advertising on social, organic is just as good, if not better, for your business and its goals. To gain a better understanding of what it’s like to take a walk down the organic aisle, we’ve laid out some of the benefits that may fit your business’s goals:

Better Trust and Credibility – Since your search showed up organically through Google, customers know that your content is most likely going to solve their problems.
Work That Pays Off – The more your content shows up high organically, the more credibility your site will gain. Meaning your quality content will always provide value.
Higher Click Through Rates – Organic searches offer a much higher click through rate on average than PPC.
More Interaction Between B2C – Organic search is much more likely to encourage engagement with consumers, and more engagement means more quality leads.

Sounds pretty great doesn’t it? Why wouldn’t you just completely push organic ads all the time? Well unfortunately organic isn’ta flawless method of driving traffic to your site.Some downsides include:

Time Consuming – Organic trending takes weeks, even months before it truly pays off.
High Use of SEO Tactics/Research – Optimizing for organic search is no easy task, often times requiring a dedicated person in place to master the practice.
More Focus on Content Creation – Content is the main factor that impacts organic search. Without high quality content organic search becomes almost impossible.

There are a number of similarities and differences between the two in terms of how they go about getting traffic towards your site. It’s important to create a marketing plan that includes your goals and timeline for success. This will help youdetermine which one you should focus on. To determine whether paid or organic advertisement is for you, give us a call. We’re here to help you envision your goals and reach them in the best way possible.