Paid social
Also called social media advertising, social ads, paid social media
What is paid social?
Paid social is advertising on social media platforms, where a business pays to show its posts or videos to people it chooses. It includes Meta ads on Facebook and Instagram, TikTok ads, LinkedIn ads, YouTube ads and X ads. You set a budget, an audience and a goal, and the platform delivers the ad.
Paid social sits next to organic social. Organic posts reach the people the social media algorithm decides to show them to, mostly your followers. Paid posts reach whoever you target and pay for, including people who have never heard of you. Many ads look like normal posts, with a small "Sponsored" label.
Most platforms sell ads in an auction. You pick an objective (awareness, traffic, leads, sales), and you are charged by CPM, CPC or per result. Targeting can use interests, demographics, your own customer lists, retargeting and lookalike audiences.
Why paid social matters
Organic reach on most platforms is limited, especially for new accounts. Paid social lets a small business put an offer in front of a precise audience the same day, test messages quickly and measure what each sale cost.
It also gives fast feedback on creative. An ad that wins in paid tests often makes a strong organic post, and the reverse is true too, so the two channels feed each other.
How to start with paid social
- Pick one goal for the campaign, such as sales, leads or site visits, and one platform where your customers already spend time.
- Define the audience: location, age range, interests, or a customer list you upload.
- Make 3-5 pieces of ad creative in the sizes the platform asks for, each with a clear hook and call to action.
- Set a small daily budget and let the campaign run for at least several days before judging it.
- Compare results by CPA or ROAS, pause the weak ads and put more budget behind the winners.
Paid social example
A yoga studio called Still Point runs an Instagram ad for a first-class-free offer, shown to people aged 25-45 within 5 miles. It spends $20 a day for a week, gets 31 sign-ups and keeps the two ads with the lowest cost per sign-up.
Paid social FAQ
What is the difference between paid social and organic social?
Organic social is what you post for free, shown mainly to followers. Paid social is posts you pay to show to an audience you choose, including people who do not follow you.
How much should a small business spend on social media ads?
There is no fixed rule. Many start with a small daily budget they can afford to lose while testing, then raise it only on ads that bring customers at a cost that leaves a profit.
Which platform is best for paid social?
The one your customers use. Meta (Facebook and Instagram) suits most local and consumer businesses, TikTok suits younger audiences and video, and LinkedIn suits B2B, usually at a higher cost per click.
Related terms
Ad creative is the visible part of an ad: the image, video, headline and text people actually see, as opposed to targeting and budget.
CPM, or cost per mille, is what an advertiser pays for 1,000 ad impressions. It is the standard way to compare the price of reach across platforms.
ROAS, or return on ad spend, is the revenue earned for each dollar spent on ads. A ROAS of 4 means $4 in sales for every $1 of ad spend.
Retargeting shows ads to people who already interacted with your business, such as site visitors or video viewers, to bring them back to buy.
Social media marketing is using platforms like Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and YouTube to build an audience, earn attention and drive sales.
Organic reach is the number of unique people who see your content without paid promotion, through feeds, search, shares and recommendations.