Facebook has 2.91 billion monthly active users and a massive 77% of global internet users are active on at least one Meta Platform every month. This makes it the most widely used social channel worldwide and, with one of the largest user bases, it undoubtedly has huge potential for reaching a wide audience and building awareness of your brand.
Our partner Pick & Mix Social Media Marketing outline some of the key differences between unpaid Facebook posts and Facebook ads, and share their views on how these two types of content can be combined to create a successful Facebook marketing strategy…
In our social media training sessions, Facebook marketing beginners often ask us how unpaid Facebook posts and Facebook ads compare. In this blog, we take a look at some of the key differences between the two types of content and how you can combine them in a winning Facebook strategy.
First things first, you might hear the term “organic Facebook content”. This refers to normal Facebook posts on your business page which don’t have any budget behind them. Ads on the other hand, cost money to run and are usually set up in the ad centre on your page- they are sometimes called “paid Facebook content”.
Unpaid Facebook posts are just as important as Facebook ads and you should factor them into your strategy. Consistently sharing free content onto your page is just as important as advertising. To simply put a large amount of money onto ads does not guarantee success- see our disclaimer below for more on this.
To create a balanced Facebook strategy that covers both posts and ads, let’s look at some of the differences…
The most obvious comparison to make is that posting organically on your page does not cost money. Other than the time it takes you to prepare, schedule and engage with your posts, there’s no monetary spend required. If you don’t have much money to spare, organic posts can make Facebook marketing more accessible.
One of the main benefits of using Facebook advertising is to reach more people. Without a budget behind your posts, they will only be seen by your existing followers unless you share them to a group or on a personal profile. Ads, however, will be seen by much larger crowds. This is especially true if you use the objective of reach or brand awareness.
Eagle-eyed Facebook users may notice that you’ve paid for ads because they will be marked “sponsored”. If your content is great, this shouldn’t matter too much but bear in mind that social media users are savvy! Organic posts won’t say that they’re sponsored which could mean users find them more authentic.
Ads can be a bit more temperamental than organic posts. We recommend checking on how they’re running in case a technical issue stops your content being shared. Since they’re more complicated than normal posts, there is more that can go wrong!
When you set up a Facebook ad, you’re able to choose where it shows up. This might be in the Facebook feed, messenger or on Instagram. But it can also show in the audience network. This is where ads appear on websites outside of the social media site itself. This has the potential to increase your reach and show your messages to people who might not use Facebook so regularly. By contrast, unpaid posts will only show up in the Facebook feeds of people who follow your page.
While an ad budget will improve the chances of achieving reach, engagements or clicks, there’s no guarantee that your money will get you results.
The best adverts deliver relevant messages to the right people at the right time. If you’ve carefully chosen your audience and created an ad that says what they want to hear, then you’re onto a winner. If you randomly set up ads without considering who you’re speaking to and what stage they’re at in their customer journey, you’re likely to see a high cost per result.
The same goes for how you present your ad. High-quality and correctly formatted images and videos will perform well with even the smallest of budgets, but pixelated pictures or poorly cropped graphics probably won’t take off.
In summary, the main difference between unpaid posts and Facebook ads is that, whilst organic content will largely only be seen by your existing followers, Facebook ads have the capacity to be seen by a wider audience and may even show outside the Facebook site.
Remember that the key to a well-balanced strategy is a combination of consistent organic content and paid content. In other words, simply running a large amount of money on ads will not in itself guarantee success. Therefore, it is vital to carefully consider your audience and create an ad that delivers relevant messages to them at whatever stage of the customer journey they’re on. Otherwise, what you’re more likely to find is a high cost per result… Know your audience and make sure that every £ invested on your advertising budget works as hard for your business as it can do.
We hope this has provided a useful starting point to Facebook marketing. Click here for more social media strategy advice from Pick & Mix Marketing, or check out the GrowthBox Advice pages here.
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