By now, you probably already know that Facebook has shifted to a pay to play platform, and it’s expected that other social networking sites will follow after. “Pay to play” in the social media world means that marketers have to pay for advertising rather than relying on the organic method to get reach and visibility.

Up until this point, businesses have been posting content on their Facebook pages and reaching their audience organically. With so much content on the web these days, Facebook has admitted that organic reach is falling short. So, in order to make sure that marketers are getting their content seen, it’s suggested that they pay to boost the post.

Of course, this news hasn’t set well with many people, especially small businesses that already have limited advertising budgets. But, there are many advantages to this model, and they shouldn’t be overlooked. After all, it takes time and money to create and publish content, so you want it to do your business justice, right?

Advantages to Pay to Play>/strong>

You’re reaching a lot more people
You can pinpoint a specific audience
You can accomplish multiple goals at once
You can feature your best content
You create more engagement, more sharing and more branding
Increased sales and ROI
Measurable results

Disadvantages to Pay to Play

You have to pay for it
Your post will be listed as “Sponsored”

The good news is that overall, Facebook is very affordable, so you can reach a lot of people for a small amount of money. And, you see that there are many pros to paying for reach, as you get a bigger, better and higher quality audience to work with. Thanks to insight and statistics offered by Facebook, you can also track what’s working so that your advertising dollars are well spent.

There are a few things to remember, too. You don’t have to pay for everything. It’s a good idea to have a balance of both paid reach and organic reach. So, choose some of your best content to promote. Second, you don’t have to find extra money in the pot to make a pay to play model work for you. Consider this as part of your advertising budget and leave room for sponsored posts.