Factors to Consider When Deciding Between Organic and Paid Marketing
Article by Victor T. Miller
This question might not be age-old, but it is certainly right up there with the ancient times of the rise of the search engines. Online supremacy has become one of the most important measures of success and how you fare among similar business and websites can be the difference between astronomical success and poor performance. It is difficult to decide between organic and paid marketing for the very reason that it might seem to be a gamble – but you will find that if you work with serious companies on both sides of the coin you may achieve success. The question is: which to choose? Let us help you make that decision.
Establishing The Baseline
First, for those who are perhaps confused as to the differences between the two, let us take a look at what we are dealing with here. Organic marketing refers to the help in achieving a high position in online searches that have to do with your line of work. This is done “organically”, which means that search engine algorithms recognize the efforts put in with organic marketing. On the other hand, paid marketing requires constant payment for the service of placing you higher than other, “organic” results. Keep that in mind at all times.
How Fast Can the Results be Achieved?
This is pretty much the major bone of contention when people consider these two options. With organic marketing, you are bound to have a period of building up your online presence. The results will most definitely not be instantaneous, but they will gradually improve over time. Again, with paid marketing, the results happen pretty much the moment you pay for your marketing, however, that does not mean that also means that no work is being done on improving your general online presence. Think of it this way – have you studied at school or cheated at all your exams? To an outsider, there is no difference as to your actual diploma.
How Long Does the Effect Last?
That’s where we have another catch. Paid marketing has instantaneous results and you will be ranked at the top, but only for the duration of your campaign. This is a clear advantage of paid marketing. Once you stop paying, your website goes back to whichever position it held in the search engine prior to that. With organic marketing, your website will remain highly ranked for some time even after you stop using organic marketing services. The thing is, if you are trying to develop your brand you should not be focusing on paid marketing only, as any brand agency in Melbourne area can tell you. Both the paid and organic marketing play a role and achieve a certain result, but the effects of the efforts dissipate faster with one than the other.
Comparing the Costs
The cost structure is another point where the differences are significant. As with any other paid option, paid marketing means that you will be paying a fixed price that is usually based on the new customers acquired each month. If you would like that number to go higher, you will have to splash some more cash, it’s simple math. In contrast, the organic marketing does not guarantee a certain number of new customers in a certain time period. However, what it does is keep bringing the customers in a sort of snowball effect, even after the actual period of working on organic marketing is done. The effects are felt for much longer and can sometimes sustain themselves for a very long period of time.
Can I do both?
You not only can, but if you are undecided you actually should do both the paid and the organic marketing campaigns. You can do them even at the same time. As you might have realized by now, each of them has its advantages and drawbacks, but they are actually quite supportive of each other. You can also use them one after another, utilizing the fact that organic marketing has a long aftereffect which you could then boost with some paid marketing to make it last even longer. Regardless of whether you keep doing it or not, this combination will allow you to see for yourself which of them you would actually consider as a staple of your marketing activities in the future.
If you Choose Only One
In the end, if for whatever reason you decide to go with only one line of marketing, then you should definitely go with organic. Why? Mainly due to the way it builds your presence and your audience in a way that feels realistic, both to you and to them. It influences the way you think about presentation and it will make you a better brand-builder than you have been before you have tried it. The same cannot be said of the paid marketing – which is indeed faster, but its instantaneous results do not provide the same long-standing benefits to your brand. In the end, it is the customers that make up the company’s success and they will recognize whether what you have for them seems like a genuine effort or just a pipe-dream that has been purchased from someone else.