A quarter of the 21st century, the mid-point of the decade, just over two years since Musk bought Twitter...whatever marker you think of, now feels like as good a time as any to consider how the social media landscape has evolved in recent years. From TikTok overtaking Insta, to Twitter becoming X - there’s been no shortage of changes to keep marketing professionals on their toes, but today we’re taking a closer look into the world of paid social media spend.

‍

Spending across social media has been experiencing a remarkable boom

When we look at advertising trends in recent years, spending across social media has been experiencing a remarkable boom, with an increasing number of companies shifting their focus to popular paid social ad platforms such as Meta, and LinkedIn. Over the past six years, annual spending on social media ads has quadrupled, with projections showing that spending will soar to $255 billion by 2028, up from $207.10 billion in 2023.

‍

So, what’s driving this growth?

There’s no denying that the pandemic acted as a major catalyst in accelerating the shift towards greater digital advertising spend. With people spending more time online than ever before, many traditional advertising channels became less relevant. As a result, we saw an increasing number of brands stepping more significantly into digital marketing, with paid ad platforms such as Meta and LinkedIn seeing a dramatic rise in ad spend during this period.

While things would start to return somewhere close to normality, by the time 2022 rolled around, many brands now better understood paid social and continued to invest in it heavily post-pandemic. Another key factor driving paid social spend, is the steady decline in organic reach rates (ORRs) across social platforms (meaning the percentage of people who see a social media post without any paid promotion). For example, on LinkedIn, the average ORR in November 2024 was just 2.07%, meaning only a minute fraction of a page’s followers will see a brand’s organic posts without paid promotion. This drop in ORRs is a result of two related factors: platform algorithm changes, and the influx of new LinkedIn users - with growth across the platform predicted to rise 22.92% to 943 million in 2028. As more individuals and companies turn to LinkedIn to enhance their job search, increase brand awareness, or drive traffic to their site - the LinkedIn newsfeed is getting busier and busier, making it harder than ever for organic content to be seen. To combat this rise in content, LinkedIn is always updating its algorithm to ensure newsfeeds aren’t full of poor-performing posts, but rather content that is engaging and suited to each user’s preferences - leading to a decline in organic impressions (per post) on the platform. 

This decline in organic reach (across LinkedIn and other platforms) means that companies are no longer seeing the return on investment (ROI) they once did from organic posts. In contrast, the ROI from paid social ads is increasing, with businesses now earning, on average, 2.3 dollars for every dollar spent on LinkedIn ads. Beyond a stronger ROI, paid social ads offer the added benefit of easy tracking. Metrics for paid social ads provide clear insights into campaign performance (views, clicks, time watched etc.)  and allow you to precisely target audiences based on demographics such as company name, job title, interests, and more - ensuring your content gets in front of the right people.

Given these factors, it’s no surprise that businesses are increasingly integrating paid social into their marketing strategies, alongside organic social, email, and search ads.

‍

How do I start with paid social?

There’s no denying that paid social campaigns can be complex when compared to the surface-level simplicity of posting organic content. With paid campaigns, the audience scoping and the effective management of the budget can be just as important as the message itself. To run a paid campaign, it’s best to start by defining clear objectives, then selecting the right ad type, and defining your target audience utilising the advanced options available such as demographics, interests, behaviours, and locations. Once you’ve crafted your ad creatives, set a budget that allows for optimal reach and performance, and set the campaign live - it’s vital to closely monitor performance throughout for key metrics like cost-per-click, click-through rates, and reach, while making adjustments as needed to optimise performance. 

One simple and effective way to integrate paid ads into your social media strategy is by using an ‘always-on’ content approach. At the end of each month, we recommend selecting your top-performing posts and promoting them through a paid campaign to extend their reach beyond your followers. This ensures consistent visibility for your brand while maximising the value of content that already resonates with your audience. By amplifying your top relevant posts, you can boost their engagement, drive more website traffic, and strengthen brand awareness over time without the need for creating bespoke paid social campaigns. 

‍

Does this mean organic social is a waste of time?

Absolutely not, a balanced mix of paid and organic social media content is crucial for a well-rounded social strategy. Organic content helps build long-term relationships with your audience by providing consistent, valuable updates. Meanwhile, effective paid social campaigns can amplify reach and engagement, while also getting your message in front of a specific audience (for example, the senior decision-makers at tech companies in London). We recommend a ‘Hum, Sing, Shout’ content approach, which can help structure this mix effectively.  

‘Hum’ represents the bulk of your organic content - posts that steadily build awareness and trust, like industry updates, informative articles, or posts showcasing your company culture and team members.  

‘Sing’ content is less frequent (think monthly, not weekly) and promoted via paid campaigns that target a specific audience with a key objective in mind, this could be downloads of your latest Whitepaper, subscribers to your new LinkedIn newsletter, etc.  

‘Shout’ content is a larger-scale version of ‘Sing’ campaigns, often with higher budgets and bolder, high-impact content. These campaigns are typically used to promote significant events, such as new product launches, and usually involve dedicated landing pages, multiple phases, and various ad types to optimise performance.  

Combining these three elements can help you create a content strategy that maintains consistent organic visibility while leveraging paid ads to maximise reach and drive immediate results when necessary.

‍

Is your budget increasing for paid social in 2025?

If it’s not, it should be. With organic content reaching fewer users and its ROI decreasing in turn, it’s no wonder that paid social media spending is predicted to increase by 23% by 2028. However, it’s also no secret that crafting a paid content strategy is more time-consuming and requires more expertise than traditional, organic posting. 

That’s where brandformula can help - we specialise in delivering high-impact paid social media campaigns that drive measurable results. By leveraging cutting-edge strategies and data-driven insights, we ensure your brand reaches the right audience at the right time. Whether you need support through a monthly retainer or ad-hoc project work, our team of experts is dedicated to helping businesses achieve sustained growth.

‍

Interested in developing your paid LinkedIn strategy? Contact us today or share your details below for your free step-by-step guide to LinkedIn ad success.