What distinguishes paid social from organic reach?

Before we get into the strategy, it’s worth defining the term properly. Organic social refers to all content that you publish without a direct advertising budget – posts, stories, reels, contributions that are played out via your profile. Your reach here depends on the quality of the content, the algorithm and your existing community. Paid social refers to paid advertisements on social media platforms: you pay for your content to be displayed to defined target groups – regardless of whether they already follow you.

The key difference: with Paid, you buy reach and visibility immediately. With organic, you build them up over time – but the effect remains sustainable, even without an ongoing budget.

The direct comparison: Paid vs. organic at a glance

In order to choose the right strategy for your company, a structured comparison of the most important dimensions will help. The following table shows the key differences – without marketing platitudes, just facts:

When is paid social worthwhile – and when is it not?

Paid social is not a panacea. There are situations in which paid advertising delivers enormous ROI when used precisely – and situations in which it is a waste of money. The decision depends on your goal, your phase and your data situation.

Paid social makes sense if you:

• Want to launch a new product or brand and need visibility quickly
• Want to address a clearly defined target group that you cannot reach organically
• Want to use retargeting to bring back website visitors
• Have seasonal campaigns (Black Friday, Christmas, summer vacations) with a clear time window
• Want to run A/B tests to understand which messages, images and CTAs work
• Want to boost an already proven organic contribution with budget (amplification strategy)

Paid social is inefficient when:

• Your landing page or profile is not optimized for conversions
• You have not implemented tracking (pixels, events) correctly – then you don’t know what works
• Your budget is under €500 per month – the learning phase of the algorithms needs data
• You have no creative material – Paid needs strong creatives, otherwise the budget goes up in smoke

Agency tip: Never start a paid campaign without a functioning organic base. If your profile looks empty or inactive, users won’t click on your ads – even if the targeting is perfect. Organic gives paid the necessary credibility.

When organic growth brings more than paid

Organic reach has declined on all platforms in recent years – that’s true. But it is not dead. On the contrary: for certain goals, organic is clearly the superior strategy because it builds trust that no advertising budget can buy.

Organic is particularly worthwhile for building expert status and authority. Those who regularly share valuable content, answer questions and provide genuine insights are perceived as experts – paid advertising cannot replace this. Especially on LinkedIn, organic content is the strongest lever for B2B companies that want to reach decision-makers.

Organic content also has a long-term effect. A good YouTube post, a viral TikTok or a strong Instagram post generates reach for months and years after publication – without any additional budget. This is a fundamental difference to paid content, which ends as soon as the spend stops.

Organic also acts as a trust signal for paid. Platforms such as Instagram and TikTok prefer accounts with active, well-performing organic content, even for paid campaigns: Lower CPMs, higher relevance scores, better playout. Organic and paid are therefore not alternatives – they are mutually dependent.

You can find out more about how to increase your organic reach on social media in our detailed strategy guide.

The smart combination: Paid and organic as an integrated strategy

The most experienced social media managers don’t think in terms of “paid or organic” – they think in terms of synergies. The goal is a system in which organic content provides the data basis for paid decisions and paid campaigns reinforce the best organic content with reach.

The concrete procedure looks like this:

1. Test organic content: Publish content organically and observe which posts perform above average (high engagement rate, comments, saves, shares).
2. Boost top performers: These posts are advertised as paid posts (also known as “boosted posts” or “amplification”) with a budget. They have already proven that the message works – you massively reduce your risk.
3. Play back learnings: The A/B data from paid campaigns shows you which texts, images and CTAs convert – use these insights for better organic content.
4. Retargeting for engagement audiences: Use custom audiences from organic profile interactions for retargeting campaigns – you can reach users who have already shown interest.

If you are planning a social media budget, you should consider both pots right from the start: Content production (organic) and media budget (paid). A realistic starting point for SMEs: 60% of the budget in content, 40% in paid – adjusted according to performance data after 90 days.

Platform-specific recommendations: Where Paid, where Organic?

The optimal balance between paid and organic varies greatly depending on the platform. Here are the most important assessments for German companies:

Instagram: Organic for community and brand building, paid for product launches and e-commerce (shopping ads). Reels still have a comparatively high organic reach – take advantage of this.

TikTok: Organic has enormous viral potential – a good video can reach millions without a budget. Paid(TikTok Ads) works well for younger target groups and creator cooperations. Important: Content must be native, not classic TV commercials.

LinkedIn: Organic is indispensable for B2B – thought leadership, CEO posts, company updates. Paid (sponsored content, lead gen forms) is worthwhile for specific campaigns with a clear lead target. CPMs are high, but the quality of the leads is often better. More about the full-service strategy of a social media agency.

Facebook: Organic reach is minimal – hardly usable for broad target groups without paid. Paid via Facebook Ads works particularly well for retargeting and lookalike audiences based on website traffic.

YouTube: Organic via SEO-optimized videos is very valuable in the long term (YouTube is the second largest search engine). Paid (pre-roll ads, discovery ads) is suitable for branding and product demos.

Our guide to calculating ROI in social media marketing answers the question of whether your social media investments are paying off.

Budget planning and KPIs for paid vs. organic

If you want to strategically combine paid and organic, you need clear KPIs for both areas – otherwise you won’t be able to make a well-founded decision about budget allocation.

KPIs for organic content:

• Engagement rate (likes + comments + shares / reach) – benchmark: 1-3% on Instagram, 0.5-1% on LinkedIn
• Follower growth (month over month)
• Organic reach per post
• Saves and shares (signal for valuable content)
• Profile visits and link clicks from the profile

KPIs for paid social:

• CPM (Cost per Mille / 1000 impressions) – depending on platform and target group 5-30 €
• CPC (Cost per Click) – Benchmark strongly industry-dependent
• CPL (cost per lead) – particularly relevant for B2B campaigns
• ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) – revenue from advertising expenditure
• Conversion rate of the landing page

To measure the overall success of your social media strategy, we recommend an integrated dashboard that combines both areas. Our article on calculating ROI explains how to do this with specific formulas and examples.

The following applies to budget planning for social media: always calculate a buffer for creatives. Especially with paid, the first 2-3 seconds of a creative are decisive for success or failure – bad creatives destroy budget, no matter how good the targeting is.

Frequently asked questions about paid vs. organic social media

More on the topic: Performance marketing – Instagram Ads costs – Organic reach – Agency prices

Related articles

• Social media agency – full-service consulting and strategy
• Increase organic reach on social media – what else works
• Social media budget planning for companies
• Facebook Ads: costs, prices and budget planning
• Calculating social media ROI – formula and examples

Why Facebook remains relevant for companies

The question is not whether Facebook, but how. The platform has changed significantly in recent years: Organic reach for company pages has fallen to below 3%, while Reels, Groups and Paid Ads have gained massively in importance. Companies that are successful on Facebook in 2025 will combine these three building blocks in a targeted manner instead of relying on just one.

Set up the Facebook company page correctly

The company page is your anchor on Facebook – it must be professional, fully completed and clearly positioned. Many companies underestimate how much trust (or mistrust) a poorly maintained page generates.

Checklist for the optimal company page:

• Profile picture: Logo in 1:1 format, at least 180×180 px, also recognizable as a small icon
• Cover image: 820×312 px – use the space for your value proposition or an ongoing campaign
• Category: The right category influences search results on Facebook – select precisely
• Info section: short description (255 characters), website URL, contact details, opening hours
• CTA button: Contact us, Book now, Visit store – depending on the business objective
• First content: At least 5-10 posts before the launch so that the page does not appear empty

Important: The company page is managed via the Meta Business Suite – not via a personal profile. If you skip this, you will lose access to Insights, advertisements and team management.

Agency tip: Many companies create a page, fill it for two weeks and give up because the reach fails to materialize. Facebook pages work like SEO – they need 3-6 months of consistent activity before the algorithm really distributes the page. If you skip this and start directly with ads, you are burning budget. First build the page, then scale it.

Facebook formats for companies at a glance

Facebook offers more content formats than most companies use. The right combination determines organic reach and advertising efficiency.

Using Facebook groups strategically

Groups are the underestimated lever in Facebook marketing for companies. While company pages are distributed less and less organically, group posts reach up to 30% of members – because Facebook prioritizes community and real exchange.

Own group vs. joining an existing group

Both ways work, but with different efforts and returns:

Create your own group: You have full control over rules, content and positioning. It takes time to set up, but it pays off massively in the long term – especially for coaches, consultants, B2B companies and community brands. Don’t think of the group as an extended advertising arm, but as a real value-added hub.

Be active in existing groups: quick entry, immediate target group. Find thematically relevant groups (e.g. Facebook search for your industry + “group”), become an active member, share expertise – and only link where self-promotion is permitted.

Group content that works

• Ask questions – triggers discussions that Facebook heavily promotes
• Polls and votes – low barrier to entry, high interaction
• Exclusive content for group members only (early access, discounts, previews)
• Share success stories of other members – social proof in the community
• Weekly fixed points (“Monday question”, “Friday win”) – rituals increase recurrence

Groups can be linked directly to the company page – so visitors to your page immediately see the community and can join. This is an often overlooked feature that synergistically connects page and group.

More on building long-term social media communities: Community management: social media for companies.

Facebook Ads: Targeting, formats and budget

Facebook Ads are the most powerful tool in the Facebook marketing toolkit – but also the most complex. If you run ads without a strategy, you lose budget. If you understand the system, you can reach very precise target groups with a relatively small budget and achieve measurable results.

The most important target group options

• Core audiences: Interests, behavior, demographic characteristics – classic Facebook targeting
• Custom audiences: website visitors (pixels), customer lists, app users, video viewers – retargeting
• Lookalike audiences: Facebook finds people who are similar to your best customers – high ROAS leverage
• Advantage+ Audiences: AI-based targeting that Facebook optimizes itself – good for scaling

Ad formats according to funnel phase

• Top of Funnel: Video Ads, Reels Ads, Image Ads – Awareness, Reach, Brand Building
• Middle of Funnel: Lead Ads (directly in Facebook), Carousel Ads, Collection Ads – arouse interest
• Bottom of Funnel: Dynamic Ads, Retargeting Campaigns, Conversion Campaigns – Conclusion

Budget: What you should at least plan for

Facebook Ads need a learning phase – the pixel and the algorithm need to collect data in order to optimize. If you start with €5 per day and give up after three days, you will never understand whether the campaign can work.

As a rule of thumb: At least 300-500 € test budget per campaign before you draw conclusions. Anything less will not provide any statistically relevant data. You can find a detailed cost overview in our article on Facebook Ads costs, prices and budget.

More on the overarching paid strategy: Facebook Ads Agency – what an agency does for you.

Organic Facebook strategy: What will still work in 2025

Growing organically on Facebook is more challenging than it was five years ago – but not impossible. The platform now rewards different behaviors than before.

What the 2025 algorithm prefers

• Reels: Facebook tries to compete with TikTok – Reels get a massive boost, even for smaller sites
• Real discussions: Comments and replies to comments have a stronger impact than likes
• Long dwell time: Videos that are watched for longer get more reach
• Group activity: Posts in groups (especially your own) reach more people than page posts
• Stories: Use daily for visibility – low production costs, good contact holder

Posting frequency and timing

For company pages, quality beats quantity. 3-4 posts per week with real added value are better than daily mediocre content. Best times (in general, may vary depending on target group): Tuesday through Thursday, 10am-1pm and 7pm-2pm.

Use Facebook Insights to determine your own best times – the data shows you exactly when your followers are active.

Content mix for organic growth

• 40 % value-added content (tips, instructions, industry knowledge)
• 30 % entertainment / inspiration (success stories, behind-the-scenes, humor)
• 20 % interaction (questions, polls, challenges)
• 10 % Promotion (offers, products, services)

Anyone embedding Facebook in an overarching social media strategy should not forget the B2B page: Social media strategy for B2B: leads and visibility.

Facebook marketing with an agency or in-house?

The decision as to whether you run Facebook marketing in-house or outsource it to an agency depends on budget, resources and complexity. Both approaches are justified.

In-house

Advantages: Fast response times, in-depth product knowledge, direct proximity to the brand, lower running costs.

Disadvantages: Takes time to set up, algorithm updates require ongoing training, ads expertise often limited.

Suitable for: Companies with a dedicated social media team, simple organic strategies, brands with a strong community.

Agency

Advantages: Immediate expertise, access to industry intelligence, experienced ads specialists, clear structures.

Disadvantages: Higher costs, training time for brand understanding, less flexibility for spontaneous topics.

Suitable for: Scaling phases, complex ad structures, companies without their own social team, ambitious growth targets.

Find out more in our overview of the Facebook agency: services, processes and benefits.

If you want to integrate Facebook into an overarching social media strategy, our article on social media strategy for B2B will help you – or you can compare it directly in our guide to community management strategy.

Frequently asked questions about Facebook marketing for companies

More on the topic: Facebook Ads Agency – TikTok Algorithm – Social Media Platforms 2026 – Meta Ads Agency

Why organic reach has become more difficult

The average organic reach on Facebook was still over 16% in 2012 – today it is often less than 2% for company pages. Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn show similar trends, albeit at different levels. The reason is structural: all major platforms are advertising-based business models. The newsfeed is a scarce commodity, and anyone appearing there without a budget has to provide the algorithm with solid reasons.

What many companies underestimate: The platforms differ fundamentally in how they evaluate organic content. A post that goes viral on LinkedIn would not interest anyone on TikTok – and vice versa. Successful organic strategies are therefore always platform-specific.

Platform comparison: organic reach 2025

The following table shows the average organic engagement rate (ER%) for company pages – measured as interactions per follower, as of 2025:

TikTok is the only platform that still generously distributes organic reach even to small accounts. The algorithm evaluates every new post almost independently of the number of followers – which makes it particularly attractive for companies in the development phase. On Facebook, on the other hand, organic reach can hardly be strategically planned for most company pages without a budget.

TikTok: How the algorithm really works

TikTok distributes content in waves. A new post is first shown to a small test group – typically a few hundred to a few thousand accounts. If this group responds with above-average signals (completion rate, comments, shares), the post is shown to a larger group in the next wave. This system makes it possible to scale from zero to millions of views with one account – provided the content delivers what it promises.

For companies, this means that the first three seconds are decisive. Anyone who does not immediately deliver added value – through entertainment, information or an element of surprise – loses out. Completion rate is the most important single factor in the TikTok algorithm. A short, fully watched video of 15 seconds beats a superficially interesting video of three minutes, which most people click away after ten seconds.

Other TikTok factors that companies can actively control: Sound usage (trending sounds significantly increase reach), hashtag strategy (mix of niche and broad hashtags), posting timing (not the most important factor, but relevant when the community is active) and interaction speed (engagement in the first 60 minutes after posting). You can find out more about platform-specific strategies in our article on the TikTok algorithm and organic reach for companies.

Agency tip: Produce at least five to seven posts per week for TikTok – not because of the frequency per se, but because you will quickly learn which formats resonate with your target group. Evaluate, iterate, scale. This is the basic logic of every successful TikTok account that we manage at Social Media One.

Instagram reach: Reels are not enough

Instagram has made a massive switch to reels in recent years. Those who only post static images are penalized with a severely limited reach. But there are also major differences within the Reels category: reposts of third-party content have been specifically downgraded since the 2024 algorithm update. Instagram prefers original content – especially if it is produced on the platform itself (camera roll upload vs. direct recording via the app).

Carousel posts are the underestimated format on Instagram. On average, they achieve 30 to 50 percent more reach than single images because every swipe gesture is seen as an interaction signal. Combined with a strong hook on the first slide (“Slide 1 must arouse curiosity”) and clear added value on the subsequent slides, carousels work well for B2B and knowledge formats.

Stories, on the other hand, are no longer a reach tool – they primarily reach existing followers. They are less suitable for organic growth, but are still valuable for community engagement and direct interaction (polls, questions, swipe-ups). You can find the complete strategy for Instagram growth without a budget in our article on organic Instagram reach for businesses.

YouTube: Search engine and social platform at the same time

YouTube is the only platform that functions as both a search engine and a social feed. This makes it particularly valuable for organic reach – because content can be found not only when it is published, but also permanently via search. A well-optimized YouTube video can still generate new views every day after three years.

YouTube Shorts have fundamentally changed the dynamic on the platform. They are played in the user’s own feed and also reach non-subscribers – similar to TikTok. Many companies now use shorts as teasers for longer videos: A 60-second Shorts clip shows a problem, the full tutorial video provides the solution. This combination of short and long format maximizes both reach and dwell time.

SEO is more important on YouTube than on any other social platform. Titles, descriptions, tags, chapters and closed captions directly influence how well a video ranks for relevant search queries. Our guide to YouTube SEO for businesses explains how to systematically build your YouTube channel for organic growth.

One aspect that many companies neglect: the community tab function. If you have over 500 subscribers, you can post images, surveys and text updates in the community tab – similar to LinkedIn or Facebook. These posts are displayed to subscribers in the feed and strengthen platform loyalty without additional production effort.

LinkedIn: Organic reach for B2B still strong

LinkedIn is the exception among the major platforms: Organic reach is not only possible here, but makes more strategic sense for B2B companies than almost anywhere else. The reason lies in the platform logic – LinkedIn was built as a professional network in which content from real people (not from company pages) is preferred.

This has direct consequences for the strategy: posts from employees and managers reach an average of five to ten times more people than posts from the company page itself. Thought leadership – sharing real expertise, opinions and industry insights – is the most effective organic lever on LinkedIn. Algorithms prefer posts that trigger comments, not just likes.

Document posts (PDF carousels) are the strongest format on LinkedIn for reach and expertise signaling at the same time. Text posts with a personal reference and a clear thesis often perform better than polished graphics. Native videos (uploaded directly, not as a YouTube link) are preferred by the algorithm. We explain why certain KPIs are more important than others in our article on social media KPIs for companies.

Content formats that perform across platforms

Despite all platform differences, there are content patterns that work everywhere:

Behind-the-scenes content creates authenticity and trust – two values that the algorithm registers as engagement signals. Show how your product is created, how your team works, what mistakes you have made. This is real added value that clearly stands out from AI-generated stock photo content.

User-generated content (UGC) is organic reach that is generated outside of your own channels. Customer reviews, unboxing videos, testimonials – all of these generate trust signals and attract further organic traffic. The environment in which people speak honestly about your brand is the strongest social proof.

How-to content and tutorials work on YouTube, TikTok and LinkedIn because they deliver tangible added value. People share content that has helped them. This is the easiest way to generate organic shares without having to go viral.

Reactive content – i.e. posts on current events, trending topics and industry news – benefits from the increased search activity around the topic. Those who react within a few hours of a relevant event receive a short-term boost in reach that can hardly be bought organically.

Serial formats build expectations over time. A weekly LinkedIn post with industry insights, a daily TikTok format, a monthly YouTube analysis – serial formats increase the return rate and strengthen community loyalty.

As a social media agency, you will learn how to translate these formats into a consistent strategy – from strategy to operational implementation.

Measurement and optimization of organic reach

What is not measured cannot be improved. Organic reach without tracking is an investment in the blue. The most relevant key figures differ depending on the objective:

For awareness: impressions, reach, video views (total), view-through rate. These metrics show how many people actually see your content.

For engagement: engagement rate (interactions ÷ reach × 100), comment rate, share rate. These metrics show whether your content triggers a reaction – and are the strongest algorithm signals.

For conversion: link clicks, profile visits, follower growth per post, website traffic from social. These metrics show whether your content is making a measurable business contribution.

The most common mistake: companies optimize for impressions (vanity metric) instead of engagement rate (real quality indicator). A post with 10,000 impressions and 50 likes has an ER of 0.5% – that’s weak. A post with 800 impressions and 60 comments has an ER of 7.5 % – that’s excellent. The second post is much more favored by the algorithm and generates more organic growth in the long term.

Regular audits are crucial. You should evaluate on a quarterly basis: Which content types perform above average? Which posting times show better engagement rates? Which topics trigger comments? These findings shape the content strategy for the next quarter. For a systematic evaluation of your social media performance, we recommend our guide to KPIs and measurement in social media marketing.

Frequently asked questions

More on the topic: Paid vs. organic – Social media for SMEs – Social media audit

Range types

Here you can see the different types of reach once enumerated:

• Post reach – number of individual users who have seen your post.
• Page Reach – Number of users who have seen your posted content.
• Paid reach – number of users who saw your promoted post.
• Organic reach – number of users who have seen your content on their own initiative.

Increase range

Tips and ways to increase reach on Instagram:

• Post posts and stories on the right days of the week at the right time (a comparative analysis reveals the differences)
• Post articles and stories regularly, at least once a week
• Usehashtags
• Optimizebio details and links

Range quickly explained

Range briefly explained:

• Number of users who see your post on social media

Search engine optimization: SEO simply explained

Social media marketing is a small area that is mostly only interesting for B2B. But now think of big markets like travel, pets or even e-cars and real estate.

We can promise you:

Life can be so simple with 1,000,000 relevant visitors a year.

Relevant = search by topic (interest already exists)

Calculation example: Visitors per month + Converison (sales)

Traffic – How about if you have a website and reach a million people a year? That’s round about 84,000 visitors / month.

Sales conversions – Let’Let’s say only 0.1% buy from the store, which is not a typical conversion rate (more like 1 to 4%). With 0.1% conversion, you would already have 10,000 paying customers.

Margin and profit – If we calculate with a small margin of 15 euros / sale, then your profit is already at 150,000. At 1% conversion, it is 1.5 million profit. With a good rate of 4%, a whole 6 million profit for you.

Conversion Table:

• 0.1% conversion (bad) – 150,000 profit / year
• 1% conversion (ok) – 1.500.000 profit / year
• 4% conversion (good) – 6.000.000 profit / year

Traffic is not everything: convincing product

PS: This also shows that traffic is not everything! Reach is always only the first step. Behind it there must be a convincing product.

But how to become a traffic millionaire?

Keywordrds and competition

Before we get into the specific SEO strategy, here’s the golden rule first:

The more competition, the more profit, the harder it gets.

The advantage to getting started with good SEO:

Conversely, the more specific, the “easier”.

Some industries are relatively easy, some industries are relatively hard.

• High profit, little demand – neutral
• High profit, much demand – hard
• Less profit, much demand – hard
• Less profit, much demand – simple

For search engine optimization than it first applies the following rule:

The more specific the target group, the more specific the topic, the “simpler” the structure.

The marketing term for this, longtail.

Longtail simply explained: Example keyword chain

Longtail simply means “the long tail”. Translated into SEO, not the beginning, that is, the main keyword, but more distant keywords, more precisely keyword chains. An example says more than 1,000 words:

Main Keywordrd:

• “Buying a car”

“Buying a car” at #1 is going to be tough. That’s why you start with the long tail:

• “Buy Mercedes A-Class blue Hamburg”

The chain “Mercedes A-Class blue buy Hamburg” has less competition, because they all do something to “buy a car”. But who serves “Mercedes A-Class blue buy Hamburg”?

Behind the main keyword “buy a car”, of course, is much more potential, hundreds of thousands of search queries every month. Longtails are sometimes retrieved only ten times a month, 100 times a month, but if there is enough profit behind it, it is worth it, especially in market building against the big competition.

Focus Keywordrd(s) / Keywordrd Chains Difference:

• Focus: “Buying a car”
• Longtail: “Buy Mercedes A-Class blue Hamburg”

Strategy, structure, links and texts

To conquer longtails and main keywords you need strategy, structure, links and many, many SEO texts.

Search engine agencies use the search engine infrastructure to create presence for their clients. Google is ultimately like a big road, with many road users. If you get your business location far up the road, you will be visible to those driving (searching). The more advertising signs we have, the more attention and visitors our brand gets.

Infrastructure search engine, figuratively speaking:

Every placement on page 1, is a new billboard

So you build up longtails step by step and link them (links).

The longer users stay on your site, the better the metrics.

• Dwell time
• Abort rate
• …

SEO Strategy: Keyboard expansion

Then follows the strategy: expand longtails piece by piece. So that the rankings (placement) on page 1 increase.

The more good rankings, the more traffic (visitors to your website, online shop, …)

Let’s calculate with a really small example. A certain keyword brings 100 visitors a month if it is placed on page one. If we extrapolate this, you already get stable numbers. Just think, you would have this amount of visitors in a specialty store.

Example, keyword page 1 = 100 visitors / month:

• 1 = 100
• 20 = 2.000
• 50 = 5.000
• 100 = 10.000

That means just 100 page 1 keywords will already deliver you 10,000 quality visitors, every month. These are already:

• 120.000 visitors / year with 100 relevant keywords

Butterfly Effect in search engine optimization

Do you know the butterfly effect? This states that the flap of a butterfly’s wings will eventually cause a big hurricane.

Even in search engine optimization, small wing beats will gradually storm into big ones. The more long-tail keywords you conquer, the more relevant you become, even for the general topic, i.e. for your (ultimately, strategically focused) main keyword.

You know the example “buy car” and “buy Mercedes A-class blue Hamburg”. Here is another one for clarification:

Example: Real estate industry

The real estate industry is one of our main hobbyhorses, whether buying, selling or renting. Here, too, it goes up and up via the longtail. From the four “4 room apartment Berlin Spandau”, to the “4 room apartment Berlin”, to the “rent apartment Berlin”.

Longtail construction in stages:

• 4 room apartment Berlin Spandau
• 4 room apartment Berlin
• Rent apartment Berlin
• Apartment Berlin

Reach: main keyword and longtail in comparison

With each level the traffic (number of visitors) increases. Let’s take a quick look at our example here.

Now the question, how long does such a SEO project take to build? For this question you should also first consider the golden rule, do you work in a segment with high margins and high competition or in a special segment, with a small target group?

Structure:

• 1-5 years

By the way, an SEO project never really ends. After all, the competition is always growing, new companies, new projects, new private sites (blogs) and of course social media. Accordingly, content must be updated, but also newly created.

Example: “Currency trading” (Finance) + secret trick

Here is another practical example, of a new project. Also heavy keywords like “currency trading” are possible, if especially a secret trick is in the foreground:

Good, user-oriented content (added value).

Yeah, that’s the secret trick:

Make the user happy!

Example focus keyword “currency trading”:

Read more on the topic here:

• Search Engine Optimization

SEO and Google Ads: Insider Tip 2

Now here’s an insider tip to really reach everyone.

Combine organic reach and paid reach.

Google, like other search engines, lives on advertising revenue, which is achieved through the sale of prominent placements above the organic search results. Accordingly, stand before the qualitative content, always advertising links. No matter whether quality or not.

So for profitable areas, it pays to combine these two worlds. We also support our clients’ organic content, not only through social media marketing activities (sharing a post for example), but also through Google Ads, Display Ads.

Tip. Especially for e-commerce ultra interesting. Just think of the typical long-tail, as in our example “Mercedes A-Class blue buy Hamburg”. The purchase desire is relatively concrete and accordingly we should be the first place where users land after your search query.

Read even more about Google Ads, in Display Ads, as a complementary reach booster for your content here.

• Google Ads
• Native ads

How to increase the page views?

There are two ways to increase page views. Organic range and paid range.

• What is a normal bounce rate? Here there is no correct answer, some pages are at 15%, others at about 90%. Especially those who have a lot of traffic (advisors, computers, etc.) attract many visitors who are looking for only one piece of information and leave the site directly.
• What is a Google Analytics session? A session is a visitor, i.e. a person who has visited your website or online shop.
• What is a measured value in Google Analytics? Measured values are different, from the jump rate to the click rate to the page views. As success factors they help to compare different single pages, e.g. articles in the blog, or products in the online shop.

Organic reach and organic growth

The organic reach consists of different methodologies, especially search engine optimization, but also community building in social networks. Both usually require a one-off investment, but have a lasting impact. Because by the good placement in the search engine, daily new visitors will come, every week, every month and naturally also every year, if the side is permanently strengthened. The initial investment is the biggest part here in search engine optimization, but also in social media marketing. The current operation is then limited to updates in the block or community management in the social media channel.

As soon as the reach has been built up, users can be targeted with the information of your company. Search engine optimization and community management, however, requires a lot of knowledge. Simply put, for you it means regular content, that is every day and of course regular interaction. For the search engine, you write new, informative articles every day, specifically on your subject area. In the social networks you share media that fit your topics, but also the links to your blog, for example for very good articles. If someone in the community responds, or leaves a comment on the blog, you should respond promptly. Of course, the algorithms of the search engine providers record the interactions, but also the algorithms of the social media providers.

The unbeatable advantage, once the community has been built up, once the search engine has been filled with good rankings, the effect is very lasting. Quite different from a paid range, where you constantly have to top up.

The disadvantage, organic growth is usually very slow. What’s the matter with you? Facebook alone has more than 1.5 billion users and, of course, an enormous amount of media content that is shared every day. Compared to the competition, which has been active for years, it is difficult to build a new brand from scratch. Of course there are small niche areas where much is still possible but the largest areas such as nutrition, diet, love, cars, real estate, everything is already there! So they need to be more creative, more informative, more community management, more interactive.

Payable range and growth

In contrast to organic range, the paid range can be very quickly increased. Organic reach is growing bit by bit, day by day. Paid reach can already provide 5,000,000 impressions tomorrow, i.e. page views by over 5,000,000 people.

Several millions in one day?

Much is possible with the necessary financial means. The question is, how long can you play? Advertisements are and only become effective when they have been tested. Different target groups, different ages, different interests. Graphics, texts and various regional differences. Which campaign is ultimately the most effective on which social network? Where is the best place to reach 30 to 35 year old men, 20 to 25 year old women and 40 to 45 year old men in relationship with a woman who wants to go on holiday?

Whew! A lot to do, a lot to plan and of course a lot to analyse. But that’s what paid advertising is all about. Optimize every day to end up with an extremely effective display that performs for 3, 6, or even 12 months. Campaigns with a high return of invest, about which we have already written in our social media blog, will be further expanded and provided with a further financial budget. Campaigns that have a low return of investment will be switched off and their available media budgets will be redirected to the good campaigns.

Paid reach has the unbeatable advantage of being targeted in terms of target groups, predictable in terms of reach and page views, perfect for analysis and evaluation.

The disadvantage, paid reach, provides only with good planning for simultaneous growth of organic reach. If the campaigns are not effectively planned, they cost a lot of money. Every day, every week, every month. After 6 months the amazement is big in many companies, when the own Facebook fans still stopped at 500, 600: “Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, we didn’t even try!”

Campaigns must be well thought out and, of course, pursue a strategy.

Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Virality

Range, so-called impressions, are digital gold. Comparable to the popular shopping street in the city centre, it is also important to be at the top in the marketplaces of the digital world. From search engine optimization to Google bit to analysis and optimization of your own social media channels. Social networks, in particular, are the key to opinion today. New trends, evaluations, reviews, but also Shitstorms, here the big topics of the future are forged. The better your placement, the more you can help shape the pool of ideas. This is not only about active setting of topics, but of course also about influencing new fashions. This is not about the fashion industry, but about fashion in a broader sense. Trends!

• Are there any discount promotions or vouchers?
• What new products will be launched soon?
• What do the others say, are there reviews?

In order to be able to have an active weight in opinion, a certain performance is needed. Performance in social media means marketing, reach. The more range, the better! The bigger the community, the better! Because the bigger your community is, the less money you have to make available for the media budget and to place advertisements. If the own Community consists of for example 10,000 fans, one can reach over night 500 to 1,000 humans, without that are to be steered from advertising budget, without special production planning, with a simple photo . If this image goes virally, classic word-of-mouth propaganda, then the reach may even increase.

This is also where one of the most frequently asked questions is answered. Is there a difference between impressions and range? Both terms are the same statement. Range of coverage is the general term for all sightings. An impression is a single sighting and thus the word for the quantity. In a meeting with the customer one would say, “we have achieved a range of 7.2 million impressions!

Tip! Regular postings and interaction

If you want to increase your own reach, you should first make use of regular postings and regular interaction. Because organic reach grows out of your own community, the more people recommend your project, the better! Virality.

Our tip for building community and increasing reach, regular posting! On Facebook and Instagram, you should publish content three to seven times a week. If you have over seven postings a week, you can either expand to twice a day to reach 14 postings a week, or post additional stories. But don’t worry, if you’re at the beginning, an absolute 3 or 4 postings a week will do. On YouTube you should publish new videos at least once a week. Best with a fixed time, e.g. on Friday at 18.00 or on Sunday at 11.00. These are the most important tips we can give you to extend your reach. Then, of course, there are many other social networks that are used by very few companies. These include platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter or TikTok. TikTok’s relevance is clearly rising steeply, as young people in particular are very active here. The target group of the future!

Our second tip for community building, permanent interaction. When we are on the road as social media consultants in companies, we very often see that comments are left out, inquiries are not answered, reviews, what is that anyway? In fact, the issue is neglected by many and communities are often kept small accordingly. Even in very large companies, with over 1,000 employees, they often have 572 Facebook fans. Is that even possible?

Imagine a person taking an extra minute or two to send you a request. If you were at the point of sale, i.e. directly at the point of sale in the city centre, or in the industrial estate, would you reject a customer who takes two minutes for you and your product, or your brand? You would greet him kindly and ask if you could be of assistance. That’s exactly what you should do digitally! That’s why our second tip is to respond to likes and comments of your community. If it’s just a simple “heart,” or a “thank you for being there!”

Follower calculation: strategic perspective

Those who consider these two basic tips for social media marketing will gradually notice more and more successes. Always consider this formula if you do not have immediate success!

You have ten fans, you recommend two of them to friends, they become fans of you.

Every week you recommend Follower because of your good work, since you are diligent, the recommendation rate consistently remains at 20%, which also become followers of your channel:

• Week 1: 12 followers
• Week 14: 128 followers
• Week 30: 2,373 followers
• Week 60: 563,475 followers

In this theoretical model, after a little over a year, you would have already achieved more than half a million followers. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Therefore, always see the long-term perspective and value your first 10, 100 and 1,000 followers accordingly.

Of course, the world is not perfect and half a million followers crack, not feasible for every company. Overall, however, it shows how one’s own social media channel can develop strategically as a very important source in terms of organic reach. There are examples of best practice.

Organic range, a very complex subject. If you have mastered the basics, you can always improve specifically, especially in the use of videos instead of simple photos. If photos can express more than a thousand words, what does a whole video say? A lot! So let’s take a look at organic reach and video marketing.

Videos and organic range

Video marketing has become extremely important thanks to the high data transfer rates that exist today through the 4G and 5G network. Meanwhile, 4K Ultra HD videos can easily be streamed with the smartphone in the city center. Accordingly, the content can become longer and the images more detailed. But not only the network technology is decisive, of course also the performance of the individual end devices. Smartphones today are small computers with processor power that makes a lot possible. Of course you can also watch high-resolution videos. Accordingly, social networks also prefer to play video content. You can take advantage of this in social media marketing. Because video content is perceived much more intensively by users, the messages are of course also placed much deeper in the memory.

The high art of video marketing lies in packaging content as simply as possible. This requires structure, but also compression. While image films, printed brochures, which provide information page by page and at the same time offer a lot of space, in social networks one usually only has a moment to convince the user of oneself.

How do you produce a video that catches the user’s attention in the first three seconds?

Social media marketing is mainly about constant entertainment. Social media is used by people to distract themselves, to chat, or to experience and discover new things, such as new trends. Accordingly, the content must be prepared so that it reaches the target group.

When it comes to video marketing, we speak of advertising content. This does not necessarily mean that the video is a commercial, but in the end it is always about getting the user to do something. Either the brand should please, the user should share the video, or I like the press. Perhaps the user should also click on the link to go directly to the online shop, or become aware of the registration form for the newsletter and subscribe to it. For YouTube, Facebook and Instagram this means 10 to a maximum of 30 seconds of video material, fast cuts and text insertions, as the videos on the social media apps are usually played silently until the user actively decides to turn on the sound. When we talk about YouTube on this point, it’s of course about advertisements that are specifically faded in in advance by other videos. Here also a tip in video marketing. Many companies use advertising on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, it turns out more and more to a lucrative business. Here you can switch to the contents of your competitors in a targeted way. Very practical, because customers often inform themselves on social networks before buying, and of course very much on YouTube. Here are thousands of free videos, tests and comparisons on each topic, with detailed explanations.

Payed Range vs. Organic Range?

Buy organic range? What is the difference between paid range and organic range? Does it make a difference if I buy my range? The question has two different results:

• How fast do you want to build up reach?
• Do you have the financial means?

To the question, how quickly do you want to build reach? If you are counting on organic coverage, then you have to make long-term calculations. As you have seen from our example before, the number of fans increases exponentially as the number of referrals increases the more fans you have. If theoretically 30% regularly, i.e. once a month, talk about your brand with friends, then that’s about 30 people with 100 fans, later 3,000 people with 10,000. However, if your goal is to need 3,000 people to actively talk about you right from the start, then paid coverage through advertisements and media budget is recommended. This allows you to build up a certain range quickly and in a targeted manner.

To the question, do you have the financial means? Paid range always costs money. Accordingly, you need an active fan page, an online shop, or extra landing pages. In addition to Social Media Management, Advertisement Management is also available. Therefore, the financial possibilities are a decisive factor for the question of organic or paid reach? With 10 € advertising budget per day, you don’t really achieve much. Every company that wants to be active should provide at least a four-digit amount each month. In addition, the campaign will be set up and social media marketing will take place. After all, the views that are bought at a high price also have to convert. If, for example, you advertise your social media channel, but do not actively manage it yourself, many investments will be lost. And indeed, in everyday life it often happens that companies spend a lot of money on advertisements but don’t spend a cent on community maintenance. The result is a high reach, but little conversion.

Combine Organic and Paid Range

It becomes even more effective when both aspects are combined. Organic reach comes from good community management, growth can be driven by advertisements, after all, they are still real people and real people, they only become aware of you through your digital flyer.

If you have a dedicated and motivated social media manager in your own team, we recommend that you work like the professionals right from the start. Both areas belong closely together. By paid range you increase the impressions.

The next time you post, you can reach these people without a media budget, free of charge, so to speak. The bigger your community is, the more people you can reach for free. Once the critical quantity has been exceeded, the chance of virality also increases. Because when 1,000 or 2,000 people find out about our new product overnight, it will be the subject of conversation, without an advertisement, of its own accord. The best recommendation marketing.

Software and automation

Our last tip, social media software! In our Social Media Blog you will find various articles on how to increase interaction on your own channel. Interaction ultimately means attention and thus again your big goal, organic reach. Social media software can replace much of the human work of the social media manager with programs such as licking photos and videos. Filters will precisely define everything to target groups that match your brand or product. Not only Likes, also comments can be scattered by software. It gets even better, even your postings can be planned in advance so that you take care of the editorial plan and content production once a month, and then the software automatically posts your selected photos and videos every day. Interaction despite holidays, holidays or weekends.