Traditionally, paid and organic strategies have been seen as separate entities: paid media focuses on driving fast results through advertising, whereas organic strategies are about the long game aimed at building visibility and trust over time.

In today’s competitive landscape, a holistic approach combining paid and organic efforts is proving more effective. Both paid and organic strategies share the same goal – search visibility and clicks – so when used together, they can maximise your brand’s visibility by optimising across both channels.

Data-Driven Insights from Paid Media

Paid media campaigns benefit from a wealth of data on audiences, keyword performance and content engagement. While this data is often used to optimise paid campaigns, it can also provide valuable insights for your SEO strategy. For example, paid media can help identify top-performing keywords and rapidly test copy and creative. These insights can then be applied to organic content in the form of landing pages, blog posts and social media updates.

Organic Metrics and Brand Awareness

Social media, display and video ads also play a significant role. Reaching a large audience with these ads increases exposure and drives immediate traffic. In turn, this boosts the likelihood of users searching for the brand at a later date, enhancing organic visibility. For example, a beauty brand running Instagram ads for a sale may notice an uplift in branded searches and website visits. We have noticed a correlation between this increase in interest signals and a subsequent boost in organic rankings for related terms.

Important metrics for organic ranking include click-through rates, session duration and engagement rates. Paid media can indirectly and positively impact these metrics by attracting visitors who are more likely to engage with your content.

Retargeting to Support Organic Growth

Retargeting is a powerful tool used by paid media experts and is an essential element of any paid media strategy. By retargeting users who have already visited your website or interacted with your content, you ensure your brand remains visible and top of mind. While these ads may not result in immediate conversions, they serve as reminders of your brand, increasing the likelihood that users will return to your website organically in the future.

Tips for a Holistic Approach to Paid and Organic Strategy

• Align goals and KPIs between teams
• Share keyword research and audience insights
• Use paid campaigns to test and validate organic ideas
• Ensure consistent messaging across channels so users can recognise the brand

There are many ways in which having a cohesive strategy across paid and organic, as well as a symbiotic relationship between the two teams, can benefit overall online performance – the list does not stop here! If you’re struggling with where to start, get in touch today.