How Much Should a Growing Business Spend on Paid Ads vs. Organic Social?

David Coslett
6 days ago
2 min read

When your business starts to grow, marketing costs can feel like a guessing game.

Spend too much on ads and you burn through cash fast. Spend too little and you miss growth opportunities.

So how do you decide what to invest in, and when, when it comes to paid ads vs. organic social?

Let’s break it down simply.

1. Understand the difference: traffic vs. trust

Paid ads buy traffic.Organic content builds trust.

You can’t scale one without the other.

Ads help you reach people fast, ideal for short-term campaigns, launches, or lead generation.

Organic social builds your brand’s reputation, community, and credibility, the things that keep people coming back long after the ad spend stops.

Paid gets attention. Organic earns belief.

Both matter, but the balance depends on your goals.

2. The 70/30 rule (and when to flip it)

For most growing businesses, a 70/30 split works well:

70% of your focus (and time) on organic social
30% on paid campaigns

Why? Because early growth comes from building audience and authority.You want people to recognise your brand, understand what you do, and trust your voice, before they see an ad.

Once you have consistent content and proven messaging, flip the ratio.That’s when paid ads amplify what’s already working.

If your organic isn’t converting yet, paid won’t fix that, it’ll just make more people see what isn’t landing.

3. What each one actually costs

Let’s get practical.

Organic Social: The cost isn’t in pounds, it’s in time and consistency. You’ll need:

Content strategy & creation (videos, posts, blogs, design)Someone managing engagement (comments, DMs, community)
Tools (Canva Pro, scheduling software, analytics)

Expect to invest £1000-£3,000/month in time, tools, or outsourced support.

Paid Ads: The cost is split between your ad spend and management.

Minimum effective ad spend is really dependant on what you are wanting to get out of the campaign. Remember, you have spend more to make more. Ask yourself: How much does it currently cost you to acquire a customer?
Agency or freelancer management: 10–20% of ad spend

4. The winning crossover ads strategy

The best-performing brands don’t choose, they connect the two.

Use organic to test your messaging.See what headlines, topics, and videos get the most engagement.

Then use paid to scale the proven content. Boost posts that already perform well. Retarget people who’ve engaged. That’s how you make every pound go further.

This approach creates what we call the Cost/Strategy Crossover:

Test organically → Validate message → Amplify with paid.