Organic social media - how does it work?
Written by Merle Andringa
Digital Marketing & Design
Organic social media covers all unpaid activities on social media platforms. In other words, it is about posts you publish that are not promoted. Organic social media is a channel that anyone can use for free and is therefore accessible to everyone. It is accessible, but unfortunately not easy. Organic social media is seen as one of the most difficult tools, and achieving results through organic social media is hard. This is partly due to the algorithms you have to deal with. Nobody knows exactly how these algorithms work, and there is a huge amount to read about them when you search for it. Still, you will have to experience for yourself what success it can bring.
How does the social media algorithm work?
The social media algorithm is a mechanism that determines which users of a given platform get to see your posts. In the past it was mostly a chronological algorithm – the social media platform shows posts in chronological order, so the post that was published first is also shown first – but nowadays the algorithm is based on other factors. The algorithm is based on many factors and it is constantly changing, but the following factors will always play an important role:
- The relationship with the user: if you interact more often with a particular user, for example, that user will be more likely to see your posts.
- Similar content: if there are users who find content similar to yours interesting, they will also be more likely to see your posts.
- Relevant posts: the algorithm gives every post a relevance score, and this score influences who the post is shown to.
In short, algorithms make a selection based on user behaviour and, on that basis, decide who gets to see your posts. So it almost never happens that you reach 100% of your followers with every post you publish. This makes organic social media a difficult channel, because it is hard to find the right balance.
As described above, the algorithm plays an important role. To a large extent, it determines who gets to see your content and how big your reach is. Of course, it is also important that you yourself contribute to a higher reach on social media. You could, for example, focus on the following elements:
- Dive into your statistics and see what people like to look at, what people respond to a lot and what gets the most engagement.
- Create engagement and interaction, for example by asking questions that people have to answer in the comments. This also increases the chance that more people get to see your posts.
- Post attractive photos,
- Make a post personal
- Tag people in your posts – on Instagram you can now also invite people as collaborators, so that the post is also shown to the followers of the tagged person.
- Add a location and, of course, hashtags!
- Finally, post content that stands out from others: the more your content resembles that of competitors, the less interesting it is to your target audience.
How can you create a lot of reach with organic social media?
Why is using organic social media important for businesses?
Social media is a powerful marketing instrument for businesses.
- Through social media, businesses can connect with (potential) customers. These days people are more likely to look for businesses on social media than via a website, which is certainly an advantage for your brand awareness.
- You can also receive valuable feedback from customers on social media and stay up to date with it.
- Social media is also an added value for your SEO, as many social media profiles are ranked by Google as well.
- Don't forget that there is a chance that your competitors are also using social media and are therefore ahead of you (if they go about it the right way, of course).
Of course, it is important to translate the whole picture of your business to social media, and there is naturally a strategy behind this. It is important that you have a specific goal in mind and that you know your target audience well. Ask yourself questions such as:
- What do I want to achieve?
- What do I want to convey?
- How does the target audience behave?
- What are their interests?
- What does the target audience like to watch?
- Which channels is the target audience on?
- Does this channel suit my business?
There is much more behind organic social media than you might think, which is another reason to start right away!
Curious what we can do for your business? We are happy to help you reach your goals through organic social media. Feel free to contact us via our contact form!
