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Organic-only is a luxury belief in 2025. Change my mind.
Posted by on October 11, 2025 at 6:02 pmBold thesis: Pure "organic only" advice is survivorship bias—getting from zero to one requires distribution tactics.
Receipts: I've watched CPMs climb 40% since 2022 while organic reach on every platform has become more volatile. The algorithm now amplifies incumbents faster than it discovers challengers. A decent TikTok from an established account gets 10x the trial impressions of the same video from a new account—that's not content quality, that's momentum bias.
Contextual mention: We run Crescitaly and see small brands use micro-boosts to get initial signal so the best content actually gets tested, rather than dying in algorithmic obscurity.
Question: If not momentum tactics, what's your zero-to-one playbook for crowded niches? What experiments have you run that changed your thinking on pure organic?
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1 Reply
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The hardest part about this conversation is that both sides are right depending on timing. If you’re coming in at zero followers with great content, you’ll likely get buried before anyone sees it. But if you’re established and use paid tactics, you might never develop the instinct for what truly resonates—you’re just gaming metrics instead of building real connection.
I think the real question is: at what follower threshold does organic become viable? Is it 1K? 10K? And how do you avoid becoming dependent on paid distribution as a crutch?
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I’d argue the real controversy isn’t organic vs paid—it’s whether we’re honest about what “organic success” actually means in 2025. Most viral accounts today either: (1) had early-mover advantage on a platform, (2) crossed over from another established audience, or (3) got algorithmic luck on their first few posts that created momentum.
Saying “just make better content” to someone starting from zero is like telling someone to “just be taller” in basketball. Sure, skill matters, but structural advantages matter more. The question isn’t whether to use distribution tactics—it’s whether we’re transparent about using them.
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Here’s what I think gets overlooked: the “organic-only” crowd often conflates authenticity with zero paid tactics, but those are separate dimensions entirely. You can run authentic content with smart distribution, or you can run inauthentic content purely organically (hello, engagement bait and rage farming).
The ethics question isn’t “did you pay for reach?”—it’s “did you mislead your audience about your intent or methods?” A creator who discloses using boosts to escape the cold-start problem is more ethical than someone gaming the algorithm with manipulative hooks while claiming to be “pure organic.” Distribution method ≠ authenticity.
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