It goes without saying, but we’ll say it anyway: every brand needs to have a social media presence. Brands that use social media marketing enjoy more than double the return on investment (ROI) of brands who don’t.
Having said that, it’s hard to know where to spend your social media marketing dollars. Paid social offers a clear ROI and immediate results, while organic social helps your brand establish relationships that drive loyalty and long-term customer value.
Read on for your guide to balancing organic and paid social strategies in 2025.
Sections
1. Focus on community building to boost organic reach
Organic reach has been shrinking for years, and that trend will continue in 2025. By limiting organic reach, social platforms effectively push brands toward paid ads.
But that doesn’t mean organic social posts don’t have value. They’re just less valuable for immediate sales (which is where paid ads shine).
Instead of pushing product, use your organic posts for community building, brand storytelling, and customer interaction.
Here’s how to maximize your organic reach in 2025:
- Prioritize high-engagement formats like Instagram Reels, carousel posts, and interactive polls.
- Ask for and repost user-generated content (UGC) to build trust.
- Foster conversations through comments, DMs, and community groups.
Pro Tip: Don’t forget to optimize for search. One-third of all shoppers find new products and brands on social media. For Gen Z, that number is even higher, at 60%. Social media is its own wonderful brand discovery engine. Make sure you get discovered by using keywords in your captions and bios.
2. Use paid ads to amplify what works
Avoid approaching your organic and paid social strategies as completely separate silos. Yes, you can run paid campaigns in isolation, but you can also use them to boost organic content that already performs well. If a post gains traction, turn it into a paid ad to extend its reach.
By focusing on high-performing content, you maximize your ad spend efficiency while maintaining a natural, engaging presence.
Other smart paid social strategies include:
- Using retargeting campaigns to turn users from browsers into buyers.
- Running dynamic product ads to match user browsing history.
- Regularly testing different creatives to refine ad performance.
3. Invest in influencer and creator partnerships
Influencer marketing is the perfect place to balance your organic and paid social strategies in 2025. You can increase your return on investment by approaching influencers as long-term collaborators vs. one-off megaphones for your brand.
Here’s how to blend influencer marketing into your social strategy for 2025:
- Repurpose influencer content for both organic posts and paid ads (see above section: you can boost their content if it does well by turning it into an ad).
- Use micro-influencers (10K-100K followers) for higher engagement and trust.
- Try affiliate marketing with influencers and track performance through unique discount codes.
Pro Tip: How can you make sure influencers create content that resonates with your target audience? Find creators who align with your brand values. Then allow them the creative freedom to do what they do best: create organic content that gains traction and engagement.
4. Optimize organic and paid efforts for conversions
While organic social builds trust, it often doesn’t drive direct conversions. Paid ads, on the other hand, are great for targeted sales. The key is to use both effectively.
Here’s how:
- Post engaging organic content that educates and entertains.
- Retarget those engaged users with paid ads.
- Drive them to a landing page optimized for conversion.
This funnel-based approach creates a social media strategy that works cohesively rather than in silos.
5. Master AI-driven social media tools
AI is reshaping everything in 2025, and that includes social media marketing tools. From content creation to predictive analytics, AI can help streamline your social strategy and improve performance.
Use AI for:
- Boosting Facebook and Instagram Ads performance with Meta Advantage.
- Optimizing your organic social captions for better engagement.
- Suggesting content ideas based on performance data and emerging trends.
Balancing organic and paid social in 2025
Balancing organic and paid social isn’t about choosing one over the other. It’s about making them work together. By partnering with influencers, amplifying successful content, and embracing AI, you can create a winning social media strategy in 2025.
This can be the year that your social efforts soar to new heights. Contact the digital marketing experts at Your Marketing People to learn how.
