Note: Those of you who are regular readers of my marketing and culture blog have noticed that it “went dark” for a period of time over the past month or so. The twin developments of health issues plus a death in the family (my mother, at the age of 96-and-a-half years), meant that I needed to be focused on recuperation and also estate matters. But I’m back … and hopefully back to my regular schedule of posting.
For my final blog post of 2019, it comes in the form of a resolution for us marketers. It’s to finally acknowledge how little “upside potential” there actually is for social media to build or maintain a brand presence … and instead to place renewed focus on tactics that’ll actually deliver a more measurable ROI.
Most of my business clients have put a degree of effort into social media over the years – some with more focus and fortitude than others. But whether the campaigns have been “full speed ahead” or only half-hearted, invariably the end-result seems to be the same: a sales needle that hardly moves, if at all.
Moreover, social media takes a deceptively significant amount of effort for that little bit of payoff. Companies that put in the effort devote human capital and in some cases substantive dollar resources to tap outside support, but frequently the results aren’t any more impactful than for our clients who merrily go on ignoring social medial platforms, year after year. At least when looking at bottom-line sales.
Plus, in our highly sensitized world, these days it seems that when social media actually has an impact, more often than not it’s a negative one. Too often it’s the sorry end-result of some sort of faux pas where even the best-laid plans for departmental or legal review aren’t carried out fully and the brand gets into trouble. (Sometimes that happens even with all of the checks and balances in place and being carried out religiously.)
So for 2020, we marketers could well be better off acknowledging how thin the promise of social media actually is. We should ignore the siren calls of “likes” and “engagement” and stop chasing the phantom pot of gold at the end of the phantom rainbow. Chances are, your company’s bottom line will look just as strong, even as you focus more of your time and budget on marketing activities that’ll actually make a positive difference.
What are your thoughts on social media for brands? Please share them with other readers here.
Nones Notes 
Back in the day of coffee-table magazines such as Life and Look, advertisements were not greatly targeted. Non-smokers would see the full page blurb for “Lucky Strike” and just flip the page. Children fascinated by the Edsel could cut out pictures of it. And maybe, parents interested in getting a new car would be motivated to do so.
Those publications differed from today’s social media in being deliberately pleasant and informative, meant to appeal to everyone. Social media are also meant to reach everyone. But the mood is quite different, because the purpose is different.
Too many social media sites encourage people to lecture, vent and accuse others of horrible inhumanity for the smallest things. They are essentially propaganda platforms for tribal hatred and bile. In that mood, who pays attention to branding and commercials?
The only advertisements which might work on social media would be for weapons to wipe out the bloggers you loathe. M60 machine gun, anyone …?