The Ultimate Guide To Organic vs Paid Social Growth (What Actually Works?)

In 2025, social media isn't just a luxury - it's the shop, customer help line and marketing billboard all in one place. But when it comes to growing your social media, one of the biggest questions is "Should I grow organically or through paid advertising?" 

Let's break down the differences and what you should choose when starting your journey with us.

What Is Organic Social Growth?

Organic growth occurs when people discover your social media channel without paid promotion. This method requires consistent, quality content that relies on engagement.

The pros of Organic growth are:

• Cost effective - You don't need to spend any money to get started and grow.
• Audience is authentic - People follow your account because they enjoy your content, not because of a promoted video.
• Builds trust - Organic advertising builds a loyal community over time.

The cons of Organic growth are:

•  Time consuming - Results can be slow and long without a strategy.
• Algorithm dependent - Visibility is often limited due to platform changes.
• Limited reach - Especially for start ups, breaking can be tough.

Organic social growth most effective on platforms like TikTok

What is Paid Social Growth? 

Paid advertising means using sponsored posts or reels to boost your chosen content to a specific audience or demographic. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok offer specific and detailed targeting tools which help your videos reach your potential customers at a shorter time.

The pros of Paid growth are:

• Immediate visibility - It can be thousands per day.
• Targeted reach - You can reach the exact target audience based on demographics or characteristics.
• Data driven - Easy to test and change campaigns to maximize efficiency and effectiveness of posts.

The cons of Paid growth are:

• It can be expensive - Poorly run ads waste money fast.
• Short term results - Growth often slows down once the post is being paid for.
• Achieve a less personal connection - It may feel less organic to your audience.

Paid adverts are usually most effective through platforms such as Instagram or Facebook

So what actually works?

The real magic happens when you combine Organic and Paid strategies!

At Proteus Digital, we utilize organic content to build trust and authenticity. Combining paid advertising to magnify the highest performing posts. This way, you aren't throwing money down the drain with random adverts. Your investing in content that is already proven to connect with your audience.

Our winning formula:

• Post 3-5x per week (Investing in high quality content)
• Test hooks organically using Instagrams trial reel feature.
• Boost the top performing posts effectively (Even with small budgets)
• Engagement with every interaction - Your algorithm will thank you!
• Run targeted adverts to maximize return on investment.

Final thoughts then?

Social media growth isn't a one size fits all dynamic where different accounts will receive different levels of engagement. However, combining authentic content with paid promotion helps you achieve the best of both worlds - Trust and reach.

If you're a local business that is looking to grow your brand online and you want help creating an efficient social growth strategy that actually works! Reach out for us - We will even give you a free starter to boost your social media channels without our help!