With digital marketing trends changing faster than you can blink, the debate between paid advertising and organic reach has been a longstanding one.
When considering your options, the choices are vast, which creates its own challenges with businesses starting to grapple with the question: where should they invest their resources for maximum impact?
While organic reach holds its allure, the data consistently reveals that paid ads emerge as the undisputed champion. In this article, we'll dive into the numbers and uncover why paid ads consistently outperform organic reach.
The Decline of Organic Reach:
Organic reach refers to the number of people who see your content through unpaid distribution. However, as the biggest social media platforms continue to adjust their algorithms and prioritise paid content, organic reach has experienced a significant decline.
Platforms like Facebook and Instagram have made it increasingly challenging for businesses to achieve meaningful visibility without boosting their posts. Here are some key statistics on the decline of organic reach on social media:
Facebook: As of July 2023, the average engagement rate of an organic Facebook post was between 2.58% and 1.52%. About 15% of Facebook feed content is recommended from non-followed accounts, which is all organic exposure (Hootsuite).
Instagram: There has been an 18% year-over-year decrease in reach on Instagram in 2024 according to a report by Social Insider.
General Trend: In the early days of social media, organic reach was much higher. For example, Facebook’s organic reach in 2012 was 16%, but by 2022, it had dropped to 6%. Similarly, Instagram’s organic reach decreased from 25% in 2020 to 16% in 2022
These statistics highlight a significant challenge for social media marketers, emphasizing the need for creative and compelling content to excel in the current social environment.
Conversely, and in the spirit of balance, for LinkedIn, the statistics regarding organic reach and engagement in 2024 are as follows:
Organic Marketing: A significant 93% of B2B marketers used LinkedIn for organic social marketing in the 12 months preceding October 2021, and 77% of them reported seeing their best organic results from LinkedIn.
Engagement: Personal accounts on LinkedIn tend to drive more engagement than company pages, and video posts perform the best
Organic reach has it's place for awareness and visibility for all brands, but if you're looking to grow your business and make sales, you need a paid ads strategy for depth of penetration into your target market.
The Power of Paid Advertising:
When we look at paid advertising, it's not difficult to why this strategy offers unparalleled precision and control over targeting your ideal audience.
With sophisticated algorithms and advanced targeting options, your business can reach highly specific demographics, interests, and behaviours. This level of pin point targeting ensures that your content is seen by those most likely to engage with it, resulting in higher conversion rates and a more significant return on investment.
Here are some interesting statistics related to paid advertising:
Global Ad Spending:
Brands and companies spend billions of pounds annually on advertising to boost awareness, strengthen competitive standing, and drive sales.
The United Kingdom is the largest advertising market in Europe and one of the leading advertising markets worldwide.
In 2022, ad spending in the UK amounted to £35 billion (approximately $49 billion), enjoying the second year of healthy growth after the pandemic-related slump in 2020.
Digital Advertising:
Digital ads are expected to account for 61.93% of total global ad spending in 2023.
The global spending on digital advertising is projected to reach nearly $586 billion in the same year.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising:
Advertisers are projected to spend $190.5 billion on search advertising globally in 2024.
The average global cost-per-click (CPC) in 2023 stood at $2.30.
The U.S. accounted for 35% of the global PPC spend.
Mobile PPC ads had a 20% higher CPC than desktop ads in 2023.
Consumer Behaviour:
80% of consumers are more likely to purchase from companies that run personalised ads.
90% of respondents say paid ads influence their purchasing decisions4.
Paid advertising, when strategically executed, can yield significant results for businesses, driving brand visibility, customer engagement, and ultimately, revenue growth.
Data-Driven Success:
As you can see from the statistics above, the effectiveness of paid ads is not merely anecdotal; it's backed by concrete data. Studies consistently show that paid advertising generates higher click-through rates, conversion rates, and overall engagement compared to organic content.
Additionally, paid ads provide invaluable insights through analytics, allowing businesses to continuously refine their strategies based on real-time performance data.
Maximising Your Marketing Efforts:
While organic reach still has its place in a comprehensive marketing strategy, the undeniable benefits of paid advertising cannot be overlooked. By leveraging the power of paid ads, businesses can amplify their reach, drive targeted traffic to their website, and ultimately, achieve their growth objectives more efficiently.
Unlock Your Business Growth Potential:
Understanding how to use ads effectively to grow your business is an artform in itself. This article just Book a Free Business Growth Plan and Strategy Meeting with us today.
Our team will work closely with you to develop a tailored strategy that harnesses the full potential of paid advertising to boost your business growth. Visit our website today to book your Free Business Growth Plan and Strategy Meeting!