Online advertising through social media posts has been on the rise recently. Recent industry growth has been geared toward developing innovative ways to enhance advertisement effectiveness. This is because online advertising has proven to be the most efficient method to get to target markets, especially when the adverts are customized for a specific audience.
Online advertisements can, however, take different forms. Many people don’t know the difference between paid/sponsored social media content and unpaid social media content.
Organic social media posts refer to content put on social media without any payment being made to the platform. Paid posts refer to advertisements on social media platforms that have been paid for. They are usually tagged on the newsfeed of the user as “sponsored” content. In this article, we will share what to look for in determining if a post has been paid for.
Type of the social media post
If you come across a post prompting you to like or share, most likely it’s a paid post. Paid advertisements are found between posts in the user’s newsfeed or on the side of the feed. They will always aim to attract the attention of the user and urge you to click on the ad to be redirected.
Native advertisement
This refers to the use of social media posts and advertisements that mimic the natural setting of the forum that the user is currently using. It is mostly used in a paid advertisement as users tend to be more responsive to a native advertisement. This is because native adverts are mainly related to the content that the user is viewing and may tend to be relevant at that particular moment. Native social media posts use disclosure words such as “recommended for you” or “suggested post” and appear quietly on the newsfeed without interrupting the user.
Sponsored Content
This involves collaboration between a firm that wants to promote its services and products and a second party who is influential in social media. The influencer is paid to post branded content to create awareness and increase the traffic to the brand’s website. This is achieved mainly by using catchy captions and posting interesting and entertaining information. Sponsored content is a great tool to reach certain target markets as well.
Branded Content
Branded content refers to a social media post that appears on the website of a particular company. It contains catchy information that leads the user to a more detailed section on the same website. Although paid for, branded content is not as effective as sponsoring content with an influencer.
