Organic OR Paid Marketing? Why That's the Wrong Question to Ask

Do I really need to run ads? Can't I just grow organically?

If you've asked yourself these questions, I need to tell you something: you're asking the wrong question.

Because here's what I've learned after years of running ads for clients and building my own business, it's not about choosing between organic or paid. It's about understanding what each one actually does and when your business is ready for both.

Maybe you've been posting consistently on social media for months, and your growth feels painfully slow. Or maybe you're spending money on ads but not seeing the return you expected. Either way, something's missing.

In this episode, I'm diving into what's really happening with organic marketing right now, why the strategies that worked 10 years ago don't work anymore, and how to know if you're actually ready to invest in paid advertising (spoiler: it's not just about having a budget).

I'm also sharing a client story that might surprise you about what happened when we added paid marketing to a business that was only relying on word of mouth.

If you've been confused about whether ads are right for your business or frustrated that your organic efforts aren't moving the needle, this episode is going to give you clarity on what you actually need right now.

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Transcript

[00:00:00] It's not organic or paid. It's understanding what each one does, when you should use them, and how they can actually work together. 

Hey friend. Welcome back to In The EllaMents. I am Alishia Egenhoff digital ad strategist, mentor, and the heart behind Social EllaMents Marketing. Around here we talk about marketing motherhood and what it really looks like to build a business while also being a human with limited time, energy, and capacity.

Today we're going to dive in to something that I hear all the time is a question that gets asked to me frequently, which is, do I really need to run ads? Can't I just grow organically? And here's the thing that's kind of the wrong question to be asking because it's not organic or paid. It's understanding what each [00:01:00] one does, when you should use them, and how they can actually work together. So if you've been pondering whether you should invest in paid advertising or if you are currently doing just all organic and wondering why your growth feels so slow. This episode is actually going to give you some clarity on what your business might actually need right now.

Before we dive in, let's make sure that we're all on the same page about what organic and paid marketing actually are, because I know this seems super low level, but I get this question a lot and I don't think that everybody fully understands the difference. So when I say organic marketing, I'm talking about any marketing effort that doesn't require you to pay for that placement or for reach.

This would include things like [00:02:00] posting on social media, sending emails to your list, SEO on your website, word of mouth, referrals, networking, podcast appearances, blog content, basically anything where you're not paying a platform to show your content to people. Versus paid marketing is when you pay to get your message in front of people.

I feel like that's a little easier to understand. So this is your, your Facebook ads, your Instagram ads, your Google ads, YouTube ads sponsored posts, any boosted content that you're doing, and then this could even go into print advertising. But we're going to specifically focus on digital today. So anywhere you're investing money to reach a specific audience.

And here's what I want you to understand right from the start. Both have a place in your marketing strategy. They serve different purposes, and the best marketing strategies actually use both. So let's start with [00:03:00] organic, because that's usually where most business owners begin, and honestly, that makes sense.

You've probably started here. This is where I started with my business, and this is where I started when I was a marketing director for other businesses. Organic marketing is relationship building. It's how you establish trust, how you show expertise, and create connection with your audience over time.

When someone follows you on Instagram or they join your email list, or they hear about you from a friend, that's organic reach and the beautiful thing about organic is that it compounds. Every piece of your content that you create, every email you send, every conversation you have, it builds on itself.

Organic marketing is also how you figure out your messaging. It's where you test what is resonating with your audience, what problems they're actually facing, and how you can serve them best. [00:04:00] And for a lot of businesses, especially in the beginning, organic is how you get your first clients. You show up consistently, you provide value, you build those relationships, and people start to trust you enough to want to work with you. For me, if I were actively looking for clients right now, my first move would be tapping into my email list because I've already spent that time building a relationship and providing value and showing up consistently, and that's where organic marketing works really well.

But there is a limitation of organic marketing. Number one is that it's super slow, and in today's online landscape, it's getting even slower and even harder to reach audiences, especially if you're looking for a really niche audience. So there was a time, maybe 10 years ago where having [00:05:00] a very solid, organic social media presence and a good website was enough.

That's it. That's all you needed to do. You could post consistently and grow your following and that would translate into real business growth. And I have talked to so many business owners who went through that phase and they're here now and they're like, it doesn't work anymore. And the reality is, is that 10 years ago the competition online was not anywhere near what it is today. Today it is so much heavier and diverse and everybody's there. So you, your competition is way harder than it was 10 years ago. On top of that, social media algorithms have changed, and I know, I know here she is talking about the algorithm, but it's true. Organic reach has plummeted everyone and their cousin is creating content. And standing out [00:06:00] in that noise it's getting really, really hard. This doesn't mean organic marketing doesn't work. It absolutely does. But if organic is your only strategy, your growth is going to be much slower than a business owner who is also leveraging paid marketing.

And I want to kind of bring you back here. I'm not saying that paid traffic is the right fit for everyone. Some businesses just aren't there yet from a financial standpoint, and that's fair, that's okay. But understanding the role paid marketing plays is important even if you're not ready to implement it yet.

On my note with organic marketing, one of the things that you can do really well, and this is just kind of a tip for you, is to make sure that your organic marketing is actually true to you and what you want to be sharing, and [00:07:00] not just generic. That is going to help set your organic marketing apart from other businesses, anyway.

So what does paid marketing actually do? Paid marketing is reach and its speed. It is how you get in front of people who don't already know that you exist.

It's how you scale past the limitations of organic growth. When you run ads, you're not waiting for the algorithm to show your content to people. You are not relying on a third party anymore to push your content out. You are not hoping someone shares your post. Instead, you're intentionally putting your message in front of a specific audience who matches your ideal client profile. And hears what's super powerful about that.

You actually get to control who sees it, when they see it, and what you're asking [00:08:00] them to do. Let me give you a real example from my client work. I started working with a local dental office who was not running any type of paid promotion before me. Their only marketing was word of mouth and their website, they were doing fine.

But they wanted to grow, so they brought me on board and we started running local Facebook and Instagram ads targeting people in the area who were likely to need dental services. And now outside of word of mouth. Paid ads are their number one driver for new patient appointments. That is the power of what paid marketing does.

It creates a predictable, scalable way to generate leads and appointments. But here's the thing, and this is super important. Paid marketing does not replace the need for organic. They actually [00:09:00] work together. And I think this is a common misconception is that once I start paying for paid advertising, I can just let my organic marketing slack off, but you're actually hindering yourself, and I'll tell you why.

The best marketing strategies actually use both organic and paid in tandem. And here's what that looks like in practice. Your organic content builds trust and authority. Someone sees your Instagram post reads, your email, hears you on a podcast. They start to know who you are and what you stand for.

Your paid marketing amplifies your reach and gets you in front of new people who haven't found you yet. Maybe they see your ad click through to your website, and then they start following you organically. Or maybe they see your ad, but they're not ready to buy yet, so they don't click. But a week later they see your organic post in their feed and think, oh, I've seen her before.

That's the power of showing up in multiple places. [00:10:00] Organic builds the relationship, paid, accelerates the growth. And when you're using both, you're not just relying on one channel, you're diversifying your marketing so that if one slows down, you're not left scrambling. I want to share my own experience with this because I think it is helpful for context.

When I actually first started my business, I did run Facebook ads and my goal was to build my email list and get calls with potential clients. And the ads did work. They, they did what they were supposed to do. I got people on my list, I got discovery calls booked, but I didn't close any of those leads. Now looking back, was that a failure? Absolutely not, because running those ads taught me so much more about my own messaging, my offer, my audience, and what actually converts. And since then my business has changed. My positioning is different, my services are different. And if I were to [00:11:00] run ads now they look completely different than they did back then. But that experience was valuable. It showed me how paid marketing works, what it can and can't do, and how to think strategically about investing in advertising. Right now, I'm not actively looking for clients, so I'm not running ads for my own business. But if I were, I'd absolutely be using paid marketing alongside my organic efforts.

And for my podcast right now it's all organic growth, but that's the strategic choice based on where I am in my business and what my goals are for the show. So here's the question you're probably asking. Okay, that's all great and wonderful, Alishia, but how do I know if I'm ready to start running ads? And that's a great question for you to be having.

And here's what I generally look for when I am meeting a client for the first time. First, do you have your numbers figured out? Like. When I say numbers, I'm talking about finances, and if you listen to my profit first [00:12:00] episode, you know why this matters. You need to know what you can and cannot afford to invest in marketing. And you need to have a budget set aside that you're comfortable spending without it causing you financial stress. And I cannot stress this enough because I talk to so many business owners who have an unrealistic expectation of what they should be investing in paid marketing. And it's not, it's not $200.

I will tell you that it's much, much more, and it's totally doable. But you need to have a budget that you can spend and feel comfortable spending. Because it doesn't happen overnight.

Second, do you have clarity on your offer and your audience? Because if you don't know who you're trying to reach or what you're offering them, throwing money at ads is just going to be expensive guessing, and that's stressful [00:13:00] for you and for me.

Third, do you have a system in place to handle leads? If someone clicks on your ad and reaches out, what happens after that? Do you have a way to follow up? Do you have a sales process? Because ads will bring people to you, but if you're not ready to convert them, you're just wasting money.

And last, and this is a big one, are you ready to look at data and make decisions based on what it tells you? Because here's the reality, marketing is actually about 95% data and information. We have this idea in our heads that marketing is all fluff and pretty graphics, but the real parts of marketing, the marketing that actually moves things along is actually being able to analyze the data that you're getting out of running ads. And when you run ads, you're going to get metrics. You're gonna get things like click through rates, cost per lead, conversion rates, [00:14:00] and you need to be willing to look at that information and adjust accordingly and make decisions based on that information. This is where knowing your numbers and knowing your traffic sources is going to really help you make a decision on when to start.

There will always be a risk of running paid advertising, and that's part of running business. I'm not going to lie to you, there's always a risk, but when you have information and data to back you up, when you're financially ready, and when you want to grow, that's when you know that you are ready.

So what if you are not ready for paid yet? And listen, if you are hearing this and thinking, I'm not there yet, that's completely okay. Focus on your organic marketing. Build up your email list, show up consistently on social media, create valuable content, network, ask for referrals. There's so many ways to [00:15:00] get clients and traffic organically. But also try and be a little bit strategic about this. Track what is working. Pay attention to where your clients are actually coming from. Build the foundation so that when you are ready to add paid marketing into the mix, you know exactly what you're doing because the worst thing you can do is throw money at ads when you're not ready, watch it not work. And then convince yourself that ads don't work for my business. Ads work, but they work best when you have the foundation in place to support them.

So here's what I want you to take away from this episode. Organic and paid marketing are not enemies. They're not even competitors. They're complimentary strategies that work best when used together. Organic builds relationships, it establishes that trust, and it creates long-term sustainability. I cannot tell you. How many times I've [00:16:00] gone to a social media page and thought, is this business even open? Because they're not posting any kind of information on their social media page. So there is a a portion of that that works and your clients are noticing.

Paid ads are going to accelerate your growth, they're going to expand your reach and give you control over who sees your message.

And the question isn't which one should I use? The question is, where am I in my business journey and what does my marketing strategy need right now? If you are just starting out and you don't have the budget for ads yet, lean into organic, build those relationships, figure out your messaging, create content that serves your audience, but don't stay there forever just because it feels safe. When you're ready, financially, strategically, and emotionally. Adding paid marketing to your mix will change your growth trajectory.

And if you're [00:17:00] already running ads but you're not seeing results, take a step back and look at your organic strategy. Are you building trust? Are you creating content that reinforces your message? Are you nurturing the leads that the ads are bringing to you? It's all interconnected. It's an ecosystem. You have to nurture all of it.

Here's what I want you to do after this episode. This is my challenge to you. Take an honest look at your current marketing strategy. Write it down. What are you doing organically? Are you doing social media, email, networking? What efforts are you making there? And then what are you doing with paid marketing? Are you running ads? If not, why not? And then ask yourself, where is there room for growth? Are you maxing out your organic efforts and ready to scale with paid? Or are you running ads but not building the organic relationships that make them more effective? Be honest with yourself about where you are and where you want to go because that clarity is what's going [00:18:00] to help you make the right decision for your business.

If you want to stay connected with me, I'd love to have you on my email list. I send two to four emails a month with encouragement, clarity, and honest thoughts about marketing and business, the kind of content that doesn't always fit on social media. You can join through the link in the show notes.

Thank you for spending time with me In the EllaMents. Until next time, keep building with intention and give yourself grace as you grow. [00:19:00]