The Case for Using Organic Social Media Marketing to Obtain Sales

All too often, organic social media marketing is seen as a necessary evil that must be done but can never really be justified based on actual sales. If done properly, nothing could be further from the truth.

As part of our series on social media marketing, we will delve into the world of organic social media marketing. Before we are through, you will question why this has not been a bigger part of your growth strategy. But like all marketing efforts, it has to be done properly. This means adhering to best practices that have been honed and proven over a number of years and with a number of industries.

We shared best practices in our last blog entitled, "The Top Fifteen Mistakes Social Media Managers Make.” If you have not yet read that blog, we recommend you go back and catch up before you continue your journey into organic social media marketing.

Social media has become an integral part of our daily lives, and it has also transformed the way businesses operate. With millions of active users on various platforms, social media presents a massive opportunity for businesses to reach and engage with their target audience. While paid advertising on social media can also be effective, organic social media marketing plays a crucial role in building brand awareness, fostering customer relationships, and driving long-term success.

Organic social media marketing is a strategy where you don’t pay the social media platform to promote your marketing asset to an audience, rather, it happens naturally. It can help you connect with prospects, build relationships with customers, and boost sales. This includes posts, photos, videos, music, and stories shared by individuals and businesses with the desire to connect and engage other users of the platform. While the only cost to the producer of the content is their time, talent, and energy, it can also be a challenge to stand out from the crowd and reach your target audience.

Organic Social Media Reach

Organic social media marketing is a huge industry, with billions of active users on various platforms. Collectively, there are over five billion active users on social media platforms. Here is the breakdown of active users (worldwide) on the ten most popular social media channels.

Reported In Billions

(Statista)

The Battle for Attention Is Real

With all these active users, it would seem that generating followers and securing sales from organic social media marketing should be a shoe-in. That is hardly the case as being able to make an authentic connection is hard enough much less motivating users to follow and engage on any regular basis.

The sheer volume of users means that you are fighting an uphill battle. The social media platform statistics are quite demoralizing:

• There are 510,000 comments posted and 293,000 status updates every minute.

• Users receive over 10,000 messages a day across multiple channels.

• You only have eight seconds of the average user’s attention to get your message across.

(The Drum)

The social media algorithms are also constantly changing and trying to push users to use paid demand to gain followers and traction. The average reach of an organic post on Facebook is only 5.20%. That means only 19 fans will see the content of your organic post.

With all this doom and gloom about how difficult it is to be successful, is organic social media worth the effort? The next section will convince you the rewards justify the effort.

Benefits of Organic Social Media Marketing

ROI - The Return on Investment (ROI) for organic social media marketing is not a number that is generally available from accredited sources. Some “experts” suggest you can only measure the ROI in terms of activity and goodwill rather than actual revenue.

While it certainly takes an effort, we have done the calculations. We used a first-touch analysis of companies that became clients to demonstrate a true ROI. By using UTM codes (Urchin Tracking Modules), we can ascertain what first brought our client’s brand to their attention. Does this mean that social media was the reason they eventually became a customer? Not by itself, but without that first touch, they might not have found our clients.

A UTM code is a snippet of text that is added to the end of a URL link that points back to a landing page or your website. When it is clicked on by the user, it will send data to Google Analytics. Using this information, along with landing page form data and buyer persona analysis, we can have some certainty that the origination of the client was from organic social.

Since, by definition, organic social is done without paid demand costs, the ROI calculations are skewed when compared to paid social or other methods. The only actual costs are production costs, but, typically, they are not factored into any paid demand ROI calculation.

We prefer to report the economic benefits in terms of what percentage of customers originated from organic social media. We have found there is a direct correlation between the amount of activity, industry, and nature of the content. For B2C clients, not only can the numbers be significantly higher, but actual sales can result directly from the platform being used.

If you have a robust organic social presence, for B2B clients the number of customers that can have their first touch on social media ranges from 16-27%. This alone should justify any organic social media program, but let’s discuss some of the intangible benefits.

Organic social media marketing can also provide authenticity, legitimacy, and a voice for your brand.

Create a Community – Imagine having a passionate group of subscribers and followers who wait and anticipate the content you create. When you have such a passionate group, they will further amplify your content by liking, commenting, and sharing it to their sphere of influence. Having a community of followers is like having an army of brand advocates who are driven by a passion for your brand and the subject matter you share.

We have all seen it, individuals who have just great organic content on one or more channels and find they have amassed a die-hard community of followers. An example of building such a community is Altcoin Daily, two brothers who produce daily content on cryptocurrency on both YouTube and X (Formerly Twitter). They have created a community on both channels of over 1.4 million subscribers/followers. When asked how they created such success in a few short years, they answered:

Conclusion

Organic social media marketing offers numerous benefits for businesses, including creating a sense of community, cost-effectiveness, authenticity, increased brand awareness, targeted audience engagement, and long-term relationship building. While measuring the ROI of organic social media marketing can be challenging, it can be done by using UTM tracking engagement metrics, conversion information, and customer feedback.

Tomorrow, we cut through the noise and will share with you the actual techniques and strategies that you need to employ if you want organic social traffic to generate sales.

"The key to building a following on social media is consistency and calibration.

Consistency means: Just like going to the gym, you have to show up, and you have to go regularly in order to see results.

Calibration means: You have to listen to your audience and be willing to grow. We are very data-driven at Altcoin Daily. Meaning we are always looking at the back-end metrics and diagnosing which pieces of content did well and why. And learning from it."

Authenticity and Trust - Organic social media marketing enables businesses to establish a genuine connection with their audience. Typically, an individual needs six to eight touchpoints before they will engage with a brand (Medium). By having an omni-channel social media approach, you can generate these required interactions by providing content that addresses their pain points, concerns or that has a high entertainment value.

By consistently sharing valuable and relevant content, businesses can build trust and credibility with their followers. This trust translates into long-term customer loyalty and increased brand advocacy.

Increased Brand Awareness - By regularly posting engaging content, and interacting with followers, organic social media marketing helps businesses increase their brand visibility. When you have an active presence on a social platform where there are engaging interactions, The Law of Social Proof will drive more engagement and followers. As users of the platform see others they follow or engage with your content, they will be compelled to check it out for themselves.

When followers engage with a brand's content, it can be seen by their connections, thereby expanding the brand's reach. This organic reach can lead to increased brand awareness and exposure to a wider audience.

Targeted Audience Engagement - Organic social media marketing allows businesses to target specific personas and engage with their ideal audience. When you create your buyer personas, you should be learning not only the type of content and messaging they need to see, but also where they go for information, education, and entertainment. Normally, these are social media channels.

By understanding their target market's preferences and interests, businesses can tailor their content to resonate with their audience. This targeted approach increases the likelihood of meaningful engagement and conversions.

Long-term Relationship Building - Organic social media marketing focuses on building relationships with followers rather than solely promoting products or services. By sharing quality content that educates or entertains, you will begin engaging in conversations. When you respond to comments and address customer concerns, you will foster a sense of community and loyalty. This long-term relationship building can lead to repeat business and positive word-of-mouth recommendations.

Establish Your Brand Personality – Organic social media is a powerful tool for establishing a brand's personality. By engaging with followers, authentically and genuinely, brands can showcase their values, beliefs, and unique voices. Through regular updates, engaging content, and meaningful conversations, brands can build a loyal community around their personality. By consistently posting high-quality content that aligns with the brand's identity, organic social media helps to humanize the brand and create a lasting and relatable impression on the audience.

Cost-effective - One of the key advantages of organic social media marketing is its cost-effectiveness. Unlike paid advertising, which requires a budget, organic social media marketing allows businesses to reach their target audience without spending money on ads. By investing time and effort into creating valuable content, businesses can achieve significant results without breaking the bank.