Behavior Tracking, Shopper Insights

  |   6 Min Read

Paid VS. Organic: Which Has Greater Influence Over Consumer Behaviors?

When creating an online presence and building brand awareness online, the two avenues you can choose from are paid advertising and organic marketing. One costs money, and the other features low-cost or even free methods, depending on how you approach it.
 

Many people ask which one will do a better job at influencing consumer behavior. That really comes down to the results you are seeking and what behaviors you are looking to provoke. If you are a new business or introducing a new product, you might find paid advertising more beneficial. If you have spent time building an online presence, you might find organic marketing more beneficial. Let’s start by discussing the differences between paid advertising and organic marketing.

Paid Advertising

Paid advertising, in a nutshell, is the act of purchasing internet user attention. This is generally done in a handful of ways. One of the most popular ways to advertise is through Google Ads. When you use Google Ads, you pay Google for each click they manage to get on your text-only advertisement, also known as pay-per-click advertising. You can also use social media websites like Facebook and Twitter to garner consumer attention with pictures and video content.

There are two advantages to paid advertising. First, you can choose who sees your advertisement. Second, you don’t need more than a functional website to begin to receive attention.

Organic Marketing

Organic marketing embodies the content you post online related to your business or brand. Organic marketing generally takes time to produce results because you have to build a following to see financial results from your efforts.

The two advantages of organic marketing are that it costs much less and is more personal.

 

Paid Advertising and Organic Marketing in Relation to Consumer Behavior

If you have the budget, you will want to go the paid advertising route when looking for fast results or when you have no online presence. As far as consumer behavior is concerned. Consumers can be turned off by paid advertising because who really likes seeing ads? The likelihood that your ad will be seen by someone who directly searched for that item or service is not great. This is why paid advertising can become expensive.

Organic marketing is more favorably looked upon by consumers because they choose to look at the content you have provided rather than it being pushed on them. Organic marketing is a great way to build trust and direct consumers through the path to purchase.

Paid advertising has less depth in comparison to organic marketing. Paid advertising may be valuable for some consumers, but through organic marketing, you can build value through your interactions with consumers.

Which One Has Greater Influence Over Consumer Behavior?

When it comes down to it, organic marketing gives you more power to influence consumer behavior. Consumers are choosing to read or view your content, and you are building a personal relationship with each customer through your content.

If you are just starting and have a budget, working on an organic marketing plan along with paid advertising could get things rolling quickly. Paid advertising can also be an excellent way to help launch a new service or product offering. Overall, if you can stomach the time it takes to build a successful organic marketing campaign, you will be paid handsomely in the long run.

How Do I Start an Organic Marketing Campaign?

You can start your organic marketing campaign by posting SEO-friendly content on social media sites and your blog. You can also use tools and data to help target your content and get higher search engine rankings. We've also compiled resources to help you to learn more about how to reach your consumers with better tools and data. Check them out today and start improving your marketing efforts!

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