Marketers can no longer reasonably expect to reach their audience organically through social channels. Facebook's News Feed Algorithm updates have restricted the reach of organic content, and platforms like Twitter have the challenge of over-crowded content timelines with tweets getting lost amongst countless others. This trend is only going to continue with other social platforms.

Today, the most efficient and guaranteed approach to reaching an audience on social channels is paying to promote engaging content, but that's just the first step.

Pay to Reach Users Once with a Plan to Reach Them Again.

Paid social works. It's effective, but too often it's short-sighted and focused on impressions when it could be so much more. The need to pay to access social users through content promotion will only become more commonplace unless businesses set themselves up with a long-term plan to get the most out of those they pay to reach the first time they reach them. Pay to reach people but with a strategy for long-term, ongoing engagement.

This is really where owned brand channels, including communities, email databases, websites, loyalty programs and so on have the opportunity to augment brand social channels. They offer spaces marketers can drive consumers to and then control the experience without risking changes to algorithms, restrictions on content and competition for attention.

Pay to reach your audience but drive them to your owned brand channels. Of course, this is easier said than done because they need a reason to connect with and sign-up for your brand channels:

The experience must be desirable and easy to access and sign-up for.
It needs to deliver value that is new and useful on an ongoing basis.
Marketers need to be committed to building, evolving and optimizing these channels over time.

Social media channels offer an incredible way to connect with consumers, but they should be one part of a long-term consumer experience. Get the most out of your social media advertising spend by reaching consumers and giving them reasons and means to seek out and consume your content in the future.