If this is your only strategy, you’re making a huge mistake

Reading time: 3 mins.

Let me paint you a picture: You've just launched your business or side hustle, and you're eager to get the word out. What's the first thing you do? Many entrepreneurs fall into the trap of pouring all their resources into paid advertising, believing it's the fastest route to success. But here's the harsh truth: relying solely on paid ads is a recipe for disappointment.

Throwing money at ads without a solid foundation of organic content is like building a house on sand. Sure, you might see a temporary spike in traffic or engagement, but it's not sustainable in the long run. People need more persuasion to buy from a brand than just a paid ad, especially if you’re playing in a highly competitive field.

A good social media strategy should focus first on creating good organic content. Yes, it’s hard and requires time to figure out. Each social media platform has a different culture, and you really need to understand what the user expects from each platform. Instagram is about aesthetics and is led by high-quality content. TikTok requires very personal content, as people want to connect with the real human behind the product. LinkedIn is great for educational content. There’s something for everyone and for every type of customer.

By focusing solely on paid ads, you’re losing money not just because you miss out on the opportunity to create a connection with your customer, but also because you’re most probably creating ads people are not even interested in. My previous work in PR has taught me this: if I would pitch a topic to a journalist and get a response from the ads department instead of the journalist himself, I knew that my pitch was bad. If they thought it was a good topic, something people actually want to read, they would go with it. But if it’s not something people are interested in, why would you even push it?

Paid ads still have their place in your marketing strategy. But instead of relying on them as your primary (or only) strategy, use them strategically to boost your most successful organic content. Identify the posts or videos that are resonating most with your audience organically, and then invest in promoting them through paid ads to reach a wider audience. Paid ads also offer powerful targeting options that can help you reach your ideal audience with precision.

I recently worked with a client who had lost complete hope for social media: 20k followers on Instagram and an average of 5 likes under most posts. They were convinced organic social media reach is a thing of the past and were solely focused on paid ads to drive traffic to their website. However, I was not surprised it wasn’t working: the feed was full of basic product photos and not much else. We focused on creating UGC content with their jewelry shown worn by real people in real life and only pushed the best-performing content with ads. This simple change resulted in sales doubling from the month before.

Lesson of the day? The rules of the game are already out there. In social media, there are no shortcuts; you just have to master the game.

Actionable Tip of the Day: Go research 50 brands that are doing well on your preferred social media network. Write down everything they are doing well, why do you think it works, and the exact strategy behind every winning post. Then figure out a way to copy it for your brand.

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