Can you rely on organic social media to market your business?

When I first started out in business, I relied on organic social media marketing alone to build my business. And it worked – I grew the Instagram following to around 23k in under 12 months. But, times have changed. Is it still enough to just market your business using organic social media alone?

 

 

Can you rely on organic social media alone to market your business?

SO many people have been asking me this lately – is it enough to rely on social media marketing alone? Do I really need to be out there investing money in Facebook Ads, Google Adwords, Pinterest Promoted Pins… All of the different things!

Well, a couple of years ago, when I was ready and raring to launch my first business, I assumed that the one thing that would grow my business was organic Instagram marketing. Back then, social media was this magical thing that promised to grow my business super quickly. And, it did. A solid two months of pre-launch hype building, a ton of influencer marketing, and 12 months straight of posting 3x a day saw me grow my Instagram following to around 23,000 followers in under a year.

The problem is that so many fresh-faced business owners are still getting into business thinking that organic Instagram or Facebook marketing is going to bring them the growth that they want.

Long story short: organic social media should be just one part of your marketing arsenal.

You can no longer rely on organic social media marketing alone to market your business. The free social media marketing wins that many businesses enjoyed a few years ago don't exist anymore. Yes, there are some exceptions; there are some people who've grown a 7-figure business just off the back of Instagram. But, I wouldn't count on being one of them.

It's far harder to reach your target audience than it used to be. Building a large, engaged following is a long, slow slog, and if you're relying on organic social media alone it's going to be a lot slower than if you're investing some in some other marketing channels.

Note that when I say social media “alone”, I mean posting on organic social media platforms without using any Facebook Ads, Google Adwords, influencer marketing, or anything other than just simply posting on social media and following a social media strategy.

You don't own your social media platform

Of course, there's also the fact that you don't own your social media platform – Instagram or Facebook or YouTube or whoever it is, they own it. Without notice, they can flip the algorithm on its head or, worse, shut it down completely or delete your account.

If Instagram shut down today, how would you communicate with your audience?

Your organic social media platforms are mainly a top or mid-funnel activity

So, that means they are a great way to get your brand in front of new people and to nurture the tiny portion of your audience who do see your posts.

But, to close the deal and turn your followers into paying customers, you really need to get your audience off social media and into your email list. If you don't already have an email list, you need to set one up and get started with email marketing, like, yesterday.

Email Marketing is a huge part of your small business marketing strategy. It's free (for the most part) and, when you do it correctly, it can transform your warm audience into paying customers and clients.

Influencer Marketing is another tactic outside of paid ads that can speed up your business growth, and it can grow your social media audience as well – when it's done strategically, that is. Again, this is a top of funnel activity – it's about getting your brand in front of new audiences and building brand awareness. It's not always going to end in sales straight away.

You need to nurture those people and that's where email marketing comes into play.

You also need to be prepared to pay for influencers who are truly influential. Yes, you can get away with sending products to some smaller influencers – but, remember: Just because they have a large following doesn't mean they're truly influential.

Honestly, there are so many other ways to reach your audience outside of organic social media. I would be here all day if I were to list them all.

Paid social media advertising is a great place to start. Facebook Ads aren't the only one – there's also Google AdWords, Linkedin Ads, Pinterest Promoted Pins. There are so many out there and chances are that you'll find your audience on at least one of these platforms.

Yes, paid ads cost real cash money, but their targeting is so powerful, which means you can fill your email list with the right people. People who are your ideal customer.

Does this mean you should abandon organic Social Media Marketing altogether?

No way. It's still such a valuable piece of your marketing funnel – it just shouldn't be your entire funnel.

Remember, it takes more than one touchpoint to convert a customer. So, think about other ways you can market your business and mindmap them on a large piece of paper. Think about how these different methods interact with each other and think about how you can leverage social media to amplify this.

For example, say that you “meet” a potential customer on social media and you get them from Instagram onto your website or onto your e-mail list. You can then use Facebook Ads retargeting and/or email marketing to continue building trust with that potential customer, with the goal of eventually getting them to convert.

Tell me in the comments – do you rely on organic social media alone to market your business?

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