What is paid social?

Paid social is any social media content that a business pays to show to a wider or more targeted audience, such as ads and boosted posts.

Paid social lets you reach people beyond your current followers. You can target by location, interests, age and other details, which helps small businesses put offers in front of likely customers. It can also give a fast result when organic reach is slow.

Most major networks, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Pinterest, X and YouTube, run their own ad systems. You set a budget, pick a goal like clicks, sales or awareness, choose your audience and create the ad. Prices change depending on competition, timing and how well people respond. Each network has its own rules for what ads may show.

Start with a small budget and one clear goal. Use your best organic posts as a guide for what to promote. Watch your costs and results closely, and stop ads that are not working. Make sure the page people land on matches what the ad promised.

Example

A local moving company runs a small paid social campaign targeting people in its city who recently showed interest in new homes.