The year 2019 marked a turning point for social media marketing as organic reach continued its dramatic decline. With Facebook’s algorithm reducing non-paid content visibility to just 2.2% for business pages (Social Media Today, 2019), brands had to fundamentally rethink their social strategies. This shift forced marketers to develop sophisticated paid approaches that could deliver measurable ROI in an increasingly pay-to-play environment.

The New Reality of Social Media Marketing

  1. Platform-Specific Reach Decline
    • Facebook: 2.2% average organic reach
    • Instagram: 5.3% (down from 15% in 2017)
    • Twitter: Even lower visibility without paid amplification
  2. Why Organic Reach Died
    • Platforms prioritizing personal connections over brand content
    • Increased competition for limited newsfeed space
    • Algorithmic preference for paid content
  3. The Silver Lining
    • Paid targeting became more precise than ever
    • Lower-funnel objectives (conversions, leads) became achievable

Winning Paid Social Strategies for 2019

  1. Micro-Targeting with Lookalike Audiences
    • 1% Lookalike audiences outperformed broader targeting by 3-5x
    • Custom audiences from email lists drove highest conversion rates
  2. Story Ads Domination
    • Instagram Stories ads achieved 15-25% swipe-up rates
    • Full-screen vertical creative performed best
  3. Conversational Ads
    • Facebook Messenger ads saw 70% open rates
    • Chatbot sequences qualified leads before human contact
  4. Video-First Approach
    • 6-second bumper ads achieved 80% completion rates
    • Square videos outperformed landscape in feeds

Budget Allocation Guidelines

  1. Platform Priorities
    • 50% to Instagram (highest engagement)
    • 30% to Facebook (best targeting)
    • 20% to testing (LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest)
  2. Objective Breakdown
    • 60% to conversion campaigns
    • 25% to engagement/awareness
    • 15% to retargeting
  3. Creative Spend Ratio
    • 70% budget to proven performers
    • 30% to testing new formats

Case Study: MVMT Watches’ Paid Strategy

  • Shifted 80% of social budget to paid
  • Focused on Instagram Story ads
  • Results:
    • 3.5x increase in ROAS
    • 40% lower cost per acquisition
    • 15% higher average order value

Organic Content’s New Role

  1. Community Management
    • Responding to comments within 1 hour
    • User-generated content curation
  2. Platform-Specific Content
    • Facebook: Live videos
    • Instagram: Carousel posts
    • LinkedIn: Long-form articles
  3. Hashtag Strategy
    • 5-7 relevant hashtags per post
    • Branded hashtag campaigns

Key Takeaways

  • Paid social became mandatory for reach
  • Creative quality mattered more than ever
  • Testing and iteration drove success
  • Organic efforts shifted to community-building

References

  1. Social Media Today (2019). “Facebook Organic Reach Study.”
  2. Hootsuite (2019). “Paid Social Benchmarks.”
  3. AdEspresso (2019). “Instagram Advertising Report.”
  4. Sprout Social (2019). “Social Media Advertising Trends.”