The importance of paid social

The purity of the TikTok and Reels algorithm means that organic content is the perfect place to test what content gets the most engagement.

This content can then be iterated on with small tweaks such as:

• Hook variants (written & verbal)
• Colours
• CTA variants
• Small copy tweaks
• Video story order
• Visual Style
   

As well as testing bigger things – such as messaging and proof points – against each other.

Based on the levels of engagement, you’ll know what content is most likely to get engagement when it comes to paid.

We also tweak CTAs at this point to help drive the outcomes needed for the paid campaign.

Why organic reach has declined

Ever since brands were allowed onto social media the platforms have been slowly curtailing their organic reach.

Of course, it was in the interest of Meta, Twitter and others to cap organic reach for brands as this encouraged them to spend more on paid advertising.

Paid advertising was much more trackable and had a much clearer purpose. It was also much easier to report on the outcomes of paid campaigns and how this laddered in to a company's marketing and business goals.

It was also in the interest of users. We want to be served good, entertaining content. We don’t want to be inundated with ads or subpar brand content.

Compelling content keeps us all scrolling for longer. Scrolling longer means more placements available for advertising. More placements = more money for social platforms.

What has changed?

TikTok changed all this.

Previously, your content’s reach was determined more from historical data on how well engaged with your content was.

This meant brands were tentative about innovating or taking risks. If it didn’t pay off, it could have a sustained impact on your account’s reach going forwards.

This had been changing progressively to factor in more data on the current performance of content.

TikTok blew that out of the water. It slowly releases your content to more and more people based on its engagement rate.

Reels has closely followed this methodology. Other channels are also moving more in this direction.

What’s the opportunity?

Organic impressions and reach for brands have been declining for years, in particular across Facebook and Instagram. This has been coupled with a lack of clear ROI and purpose for organic.

Brands have neglected organic. They haven’t put anywhere near as much energy into their organic content as they have to their paid social campaigns.

This needs to change.

The results

We implemented this methodology for Waterside Holiday Group, who sell high-end holiday homes on England’s south coast.

In the first month of using the best-performing organic posts in our paid campaigns, the organic content drove:

• 90% of that month's leads
• Increased leads by 12% MoM
• Increased CTR by 10%
• Decreased CPL by 9%

Other benefits of this methodology

As well as improving the performance of your paid campaigns, this methodology also:
 

• Allows you to run AO campaigns without worrying about creative burnout
• Improves the visibility and engagement of your brand through better organic content
• Is more iterative content creation, which reduces the cost of creating paid campaigns
• Gives a clear purpose of organic channels that helps drive the business case and content creation
   

How can I do this?

This methodology can be implemented from as little as £1k pcm on organic content creation and reporting.

Book a strategy call to see how we can help you.