What is Paid Social?

Paid social refers to any form of sponsored content or advertising on social media platforms that requires financial investment for distribution. It involves placing ads (or boosting organic content) through a social platform’s advertising tools, which allows businesses to reach specific audiences beyond their existing followers.

Unlike organic social media, which relies on natural audience growth and engagement, paid social guarantees placement and targeted reach through platform advertising systems.

How Paid Social Works

Most major social networks support robust advertising options. Paid social campaigns work by using the native ad managers on platforms like Facebook Ads Manager, Instagram Ads, LinkedIn Campaign Manager, TikTok Ads, or Twitter Ads. You choose:

• Your objective (traffic, conversions, video views, etc.)
• Your audience (demographics, behaviors, interests, locations)
• Your budget and schedule
• The creative assets (images, videos, copy)

Once published, the platform’s algorithm delivers your ad to users who match your targeting criteria and are most likely to take the desired action.

Paid Social can take many forms depending on your goals and content strategy, being mainly divide into:

1. Sponsored Ads
   ‍Fully customized ads created inside the platform’s ad manager. These can appear as stories, videos, carousel ads, lead forms, and more.
2. Boosted Posts
   ‍Pay to amplify your organic content’s visibility (e.g., a Facebook or Instagram post). Great for engagement or awareness.