Organic social media refers to content posted without paying to boost its reach — growth comes from consistent posting, engagement, and platform algorithms favoring good content. Paid social media (like Meta Ads, covered in a separate course) involves paying to guarantee reach to a specific audience. This lesson covers how the two work together — organic builds trust and community over time, while paid can accelerate reach and target specific outcomes faster — and why most successful brands use a mix of both rather than relying on just one.