A Seismic Shift in Organic Social Media: What Marketing Leaders Need to Know

The Challenge of Organic Social Media

When our brand partners approach us with requests for organic social media strategies, we often find that these efforts lead to a dead end. In today’s content-saturated world, organic social media may seem essential, but when compared to other marketing efforts, it quickly becomes clear that the returns often don’t justify the investment.

This is particularly true for channel by channel content calendars that emphasize constant publishing by large teams with numerous approval stages. These over-processed approvals, costly time investments, and poorly measured social media programs often fail to demonstrate significant impact.

For years, our platform partners have told us:

• Organic Reach is Limited
• Fans ≠ Business Value
• Engagements are Habitual, Not Intent-Driven

Despite these warnings, many strategies still focus on measuring Engagement Rate (ER) and Fan Growth.

Rethinking Organic Social Media Strategy

It’s time to elevate the conversation around organic social media. How can we create utility for the followers who genuinely engage with our brand? What value can we deliver that demonstrates real impact? How can we accurately measure this impact?

Introducing SearchFirst Content Planning

At Citizen, we go beyond traditional editorial calendars, basic success metrics, and siloed channel experiences. Instead of chasing trends and hoping for viral success, we’ve reimagined organic social media content as a tool for utility, informed by consumer behaviors and integrated into the customer journey.

By leveraging user-intent signals, organic search query research and online conversation mapping, we’ve developed a process that transforms typically disposable content into high-quality, evergreen material. This content has a longer shelf life and is readily discoverable by our audience as they search for valuable information on their path to purchase, re-purchase, and brand loyalty.

The Benefits of a Strategic Approach

This strategic shift changes everything. Rather than spending more and more dollars on throwaway content, we’re forging an intentional path for content planning, production, and deployment. This leads to more meaningful engagements that address the customer’s needs and priorities over a longer period.

And when integrating this critical user-intent research across core marketing channels in Earned, Paid and Owned, it can maximize the impact brands have on capturing consumer attention that leads to action. 

For example, when we know a brand offers a unique value proposition that is validated by user-intent research, we should aim to infuse those keywords and phrases into our Earned pitches to secure headlines and articles that will validate the brand’s differentiators, become discoverable for those searching, and ultimately resonate with what people are interested in through their digital searches. This is one of the ways we’ve seen SearchFirst work for us beyond the walls of organic social media content planning.

We’d love to show you how this approach can benefit your brand. Reach out to us at citizendigital@citizenrelations.com to start the conversation.

About the Author

Ben has over 15 years of experience in creating and deploying integrated marketing campaigns. His journey spans from early days social media to Web3 and AI, always focusing on delivering value for brands and enhancing customer experiences. He leads with strategic purpose, relentless curiosity, optimism, bold ideas, and a constant pursuit of better results.