Advertising on social media is a game of “who has the biggest budget”. Brands with vast pockets spend big on the most lucrative audiences and engaging placements, driving costs up and pricing smaller businesses out.

Last year alone, Meta generated $114bn in ad revenue. The majority of that didn’t come from small and medium businesses (SMBs). Rather, from corporations with daily marketing budgets that likely surpass the $10,000 to $50,000 average that SMBs spend in a year.

However, in the European market, those utilizing PPC ads through social media will be forced to reconsider their approach. To retain users following the European Union’s ruling that consent must be given before users can be targeted with personalized ads, tech giant Meta has announced plans to offer an ad-free subscription for users browsing Facebook and Instagram.

A level playing field for SMBs on social media

This is a huge win for those who can’t afford to spend vast amounts on advertising. It’s estimated that we’re exposed to 4,000 to 10,000 ads per day, much of them as we’re scrolling through various apps on our smartphones. Without these ads filling up our timelines, there will be more space for brands to reach customers — and it isn’t a case of pay-to-win, but rather who can be the most creative.

Engaging content has the potential to go viral, amplifying a brand’s reach into the millions, and increasing awareness, engagement, and conversions just like an ad would. However, instead of paying $0.44 per engagement on average, utilizing organic growth tactics reduces this expense to the price of creating the post.

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How businesses can sustain organic social media growth

Organic growth tactics offer a low-cost marketing opportunity for SMBs, but success requires a firm commitment to consistency, engagement, and optimization. For brands hoping to get ahead of their competition, here’s how to achieve social media success:

1. Be consistent

Marketing is a numbers game. It takes an average of seven interactions to convince a potential customer to make a purchase, so set your content schedule and stick to it. The chance of your first post blowing up is slim to none, but the more content you put out, the more you will be seen, and it only takes one viral post to put your brand in the spotlight.

 2. Follow the trends

Creating content that nobody wants is a waste of time. Brands need to learn their audience and focus their content around topics they’re interested in. But the average social media trend and talking point  is short-lived — You likely only have a few days to capitalize, so you need to be active in your space and jump on trends as soon as they emerge.

3. Get involved

The easiest way to stay on top of trends? Don’t hit ‘post’ and then log out. Not only does being active in your community make it easier to keep your content on-trend, but you will also come across countless opportunities to grow your brand  — Something as simple as a funny comment on a popular post can earn you a handful of followers.

4. Don’t forget to hashtag

Hashtags offer users easy access to an endless stream of content on the topics they’re most interested in. These users are already highly engaged, so you aren’t just throwing content into social media’s abyss and hoping someone notices. Research shows using hashtags can increase engagement by up to 7%. However, you can’t just set any tags and expect results. They need to be popular and your content needs to be relevant.

5. Collaborate

Take that money you’re saving on ads and spend it on a collaboration. Some 49% of consumers rely on influencer recommendations, and these high-profile accounts come with a ready-made following for you to market towards. But you don’t just want a few easy sales. A successful collaboration should put your brand in the spotlight and grow your own following. That way, your future campaigns won’t come at a cost.

 6. Encourage fan content

Even once your content has caught attention, you still need to prove that your brand is legitimate before you can achieve your ultimate goal: conversions. Here, don’t underestimate the value of social proof — Offering a small discount code when customers mention your brand on social media can expand your reach while filling potential customers’ timelines with evidence that you’re trustworthy.

 7. Test and optimize

It will take more than a few tweets to find a strategy that works. In fact, you should expect six to nine months to pass before you start seeing real results. During that time, try out a variety of content types and keep a close eye on the metrics to determine what’s working well. If it isn’t delivering results, it’s time to head back to the drawing board.

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