How Exactly is Paid and Organic Marketing Different? This is What to Know

25 Feb ‘20

In: Search Engine Optimization (SEO), / By: Ripe Media

95% of small businesses plan to increase spending on digital marketing this year. Before you start increasing your budget, however, it’s important to consider where you plan on spending that money.

Do you know the difference between paid and organic marketing? Understanding the differences and benefits of both can help you improve your marketing strategy. At the same time, you can also reduce spend, boost brand awareness, and increase sales.

How exactly are paid and organic marketing strategies different? Keep reading to find out!

What Is Paid Marketing?

As the name suggests, you have to pay to implement paid marketing strategies.

Paid marketing allows you to target, reach, and engage your customers quickly. With paid ads, you won’t have to wait for someone to find your blog post in an organic search. Instead, paid marketing gives you an opportunity to direct your content toward the right people at the right time.

Paid marketing strategies like pay-per-click (PPC) advertising allows a more sales-forward approach. With paid marketing, you can focus on driving specific actions to increase conversions. For example, you might want to encourage people to purchase a product or attend a webinar.

The Benefits

If you have specific marketing goals for the year or feel like you’re on a tight deadline, paid marketing can help. Let’s say you need to increase sales this quarter. You can use paid advertising to boost sales for a specific product.

Paid advertising allows you to quickly create, publish, and refine your ads. If you need to make changes, you can alter your PPC ads immediately.

Then, you can publish and test your ads throughout the quarter.

Digital paid advertising strategies like PPC allow you to review your data in real-time. As a result, you can review the data and make quick changes. Once you have enough data, you can determine which ads are working best and focus your budget there.

Paid marketing is ideal if you want to drive quick results and boost immediate sales.

Your paid ads will direct consumers to a specific product or landing page on your website. You can align your page content with your ad language to help you drive results. PPC ads can help you:

• Improve your ROI
• Increase impressions
• Obtain quantifiable results
• Hit specific sales goals
• Optimize ads in real-time
• Test numerous campaigns

When done correctly, PPC ads can produce better results. In fact, PPC visitors are 50% more likely to make a purchase than organic visitors.

Types

A few different types of paid marketing include social media and search engine ads. There are also different ad styles you can choose from, including:

• Text ads
• Video ads
• Display ads
• Remarketing ads

You can post PPC ads on search engines like Google and Bing or social platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. Choosing the right platforms can help you reach your target audience.

What Is Organic Marketing?

Unlike paid marketing, you don’t have to pay to create organic content on your own. Organic content includes blog posts, infographics, and social media posts.

This form of marketing is ideal if you want to:

• Develop your brand voice
• Spark authentic interacts with customers
• Educate and convert blog readers
• Drive traffic to your landing pages, websites, or content

Organic marketing is also often referred to as inbound marketing. Organic content allows you to build brand awareness and lead customers to take action without a hard push toward sales.

One of the most effective ways to boost your brand awareness is through search engines. In fact, search is the top driver of traffic to content sites, beating social media by over 300%.

The Benefits

Organic marketing allows you to:

• Optimize your website for your ideal customers
• Educate your audience to improve brand credibility and trust
• Push forward with high-level company goals
• Drive authority in your niche or industry
• Build a lasting brand

Organic marketing is also inexpensive or free. Think of inbound marketing as a large-scale word-of-mouth campaign. These tactics will allow you to spread the word about your products without draining your budget.

The more informed consumers feel, the more likely they’ll make a buying decision.

Instead of forcing a sales pitch on your readers, they can make the decision on their own. Educating your readers can also improve long-term brand trust. In time, trust becomes loyalty, allowing you to save money by retaining your customers.

Inbound marketing also allows you to create high brand visibility by creating high-quality content. Unlike paid marketing, organic content is easy for consumers to share. A customer might send your blog post to a friend, allowing you to grow your audience.

While paid marketing is more promotional, organic marketing helps you attract leads without heavy sales language.

Types

There are a few different types of organic marketing you can use to build your business. Five of the organic marketing strategies you should consider include:

• Content creation
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Social media
• Sales funnel optimization
• Email marketing

SEO makes it easier for consumers to find your organic content online. The higher you appear on search engines, the more brand awareness you’ll build. Higher rankings will also let you appear before competitors, which will help you build brand authority.

Your organic content will appear as people search for your product or service. As a result, you appear when people need you, making you more likely to close a sale.

You can then use your content to appeal to their interests and needs. Once you attract a lead, you can inform, engage, and persuade them into making a purchase.

The Difference

The main difference between paid and organic marketing is in the name. You pay for paid marketing while organic marketing tactics help you save money.

Organic marketing also lets you build long-term connections with your customers.

Many companies use paid and organic marketing. Using both strategies will help you cover your bases and attract more customers.

Making Your Mark: How Exactly are Paid and Organic Marketing Different?

Understanding the difference between paid and organic marketing can help you make the most of both strategies. In addition to building brand awareness, these strategies will also help you improve your ROI for the long-term.

Ready to boost your brand? Contact us today to get started on your next project!

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