--- title: Content Marketing vs Paid Advertising Relative to Company Growth Phase description: I’m convinced that creating original content is the best strategy over the long term, but there are times that the advertising programs make sense. image: https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hubfs/paid%20ads%20vs%20content%20marketing%202.jpg --- [Skip to main content](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/content-marketing-vs-paid-advertising-relative-to-company-growth-phase#maincontent) [ «  View All Posts ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog) # Content Marketing vs Paid Advertising Relative to Company Growth Phase October 10th, 2017 1 min read By [David Meerman Scott](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott) ![paid ads vs content marketing 2.jpg](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/paid%20ads%20vs%20content%20marketing%202.jpg?width=1200&height=892&name=paid%20ads%20vs%20content%20marketing%202.jpg) I’m frequently asked about advertising on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. While I’m convinced that creating original content and publishing it for free is the best strategy over the long term, I also believe there are times that the advertising programs offered by the social networks including [Facebook ads](https://www.facebook.com/business/products/ads), [Twitter ads](https://business.twitter.com/en/twitter-ads.html), [LinkedIn ads](https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/cx/17/06/advertise-on-linkedin), and other advertising programs make sense. When you are publishing an important research report or ebook or video on your blog or site, “boosting” on Facebook could be a great way to spread the news. For example, when I released my [New Rules of Selling](http://www.slideshare.net/freshspot/the-new-rules-of-selling-38281832) deck on SlideShare, I wanted to get the word out so I looked at a bunch of ways to push it out into the world including targeted advertising. That helped me to reach new people and accounted for a few thousand views. Those people then shared which is one of many reasons this deck has nearly 300,000 views as I write this. While most views came from my own efforts (like the CTA below), the advertising helped. When there is a specific call-to-action like a valuable slide deck, advertising can work well. ## Paid advertising can work for early stage companies ![paid ads vs content marketing 2.jpg](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/paid%20ads%20vs%20content%20marketing%202.jpg?width=400&name=paid%20ads%20vs%20content%20marketing%202.jpg "paid ads vs content marketing 2.jpg")On a recent HubSpot Academy Masterclass I discussed the ongoing debate among marketers in just about every market sector out there: What should the balance be between paid advertising and organic methods? While there is no “right” answer, I am biased towards delivering valuable content for free to generate organic results. I think of this as [owning your marketing real estate rather than renting](https://www.webinknow.com/own-your-marketing-assets-instead-of-renting-them). On the Masterclass, I discussed another place where paid may make sense -- with early stage companies that want to get noticed and generate leads to grow business. Early stage companies struggle with inbound marketing because they are new and haven’t had enough time to build their organic assets. Michelle Massa at [Bluehouse Group](https://www.bluehousegroup.com), a full service digital agency located in Burlington, Vermont, was tuned in to my HubSpot Academy Masterclass and my ideas prompted her to make this terrific graph to illustrate my point. Early stage companies may benefit from paid advertising early in their lifecycle and convert to a content marketing model over time as the business grows and matures. Read Michelle’s excellent post that elaborates on these ideas [here](https://www.bluehousegroup.com/blog/owning-vs-renting-your-content-marketing/). Yes I am still a fan of original content, inbound marketing, and organic search results to drive business. But there are situations where some paid help is the way to go. [![New Call-to-action](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/413105/9af7bb55-3c31-4b9d-8183-cd6b14ec3117.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/413105/9af7bb55-3c31-4b9d-8183-cd6b14ec3117) [ David Meerman Scott ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott) David Meerman Scott is a business growth strategist, advisor to clever entrepreneurs who are building emerging companies, and the international bestselling author of a dozen books published in 30 languages. David’s high-energy keynote presentations, masterclasses, and virtual events educate, energize, and inspire. Connect: [mailto:david@freshspot.com](mailto:david@freshspot.com) Topics: [ Marketing ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/marketing) [ Advertising ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/advertising) [ Best Practices ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/best-practices) Don't forget to share this post: ## Related Articles [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Fanocracy%202e.jpg?width=1500&height=841&name=Fanocracy%202e.jpg) ### New 2nd Edition of Fanocracy Publishes Today: Your Human Connection in a Polarized, Noisy World July 14th, 2026|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/new-2nd-edition-of-fanocracy-publishes-today-your-human-connection-in-a-polarized-noisy-world) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/bunnies%20and%20bees.jpg?width=1500&height=823&name=bunnies%20and%20bees.jpg) ### Bunnies and Bees June 22nd, 2026|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/bunnies-and-bees) 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