Social Media is Not for Advertising
For businesses, it can be used as a tool to build brand identity and loyalty.
I recently started Marketing Management in my MBA program at SacState. Our professor is having us pick a recent article from a credible business media source and analyze the article in tandem with each chapter we review this semester. The first chapter of our book is titled “Marketing in Today’s Business Milleu” from the book Marketing Management (McGraw Hill). The article I chose was “Why Marketers Are Spending Less on Social Media” by Christine Moorman and Koen Pauwels on HBR.
This article discusses the current pitfalls of social media use in tactical and strategic marketing. Why social media isn’t doing well is discussed as well as how it can do better. The book discusses marketing as big M, strategic, inclusive of little m, tactical. This concept of Marketing brings in more than just advertising or pushing sales. There is a broader connection to the consumer and their desires.
Spending on social media has dropped to its lowest in the past 7-years, 11% of investment for 292 marketing leaders in 2024 compared to 23% in 2020.
Why is social media marketing doing so bad?
Social media is crowded and noisy from the consumer’s perspective
- A digital and omni-channel world, as the book states, are part of the new agenda for marketing. However, a person only has so much attention and focus they can give and attention spans are at an all time low.
- Social media contributes about 3.5 out of 7 in company performance. There is misalignment between social media and marketing strategy. The book discusses how marketing needs to be an embedded philosophy at all levels. If each employee is not aligned with the value they derive to the consumer, then this can cause blows to the business’s overall objectives.
Failure to show quantitative value
- The book states that marketing is a fuzzy field but those days are over. In order to be managed, inputs and outputs need to be measured. Viewing marketing as an investment rather than a cost can shift how metrics are taken. Return on marketing investment (ROMI) can be a long-term framework to use.
Retail media (advertising on retail sites) competes with social media
- Customers are ready to shop on retail sites. They are not always ready to shop on social sites.
Stop advertising on social media — demonstrate.
When you log into Instagram, Titkok, Facebook, etc. you aren’t logging in to see what to buy. When you log into Amazon, Etsy, or other online marketplaces you are ready to buy something. When I scroll through my feed, I’m looking more for entertainment, cute animals, funny comedians, yummy recipes, updates from my friends. I’m not looking to be pushed a product. But the product can still be sold.
I purchased a pet grooming set of sheers that I saw being used on one my favorite cat Instagram accounts. I’ve purchased skincare products that I saw being demonstrated by financial influencers discussing how to navigate care-giving for elderly parents. These products weren’t overtly sold. Their quality and use was demonstrated and demonstrated by someone whose opinion I trusted. Have you ever scrolled and seen one of those dystopian ads with a robotic voice at 1.5x speed that’s talking about how great xyz is and why you have to have it? It’s disgusting and makes me think what’s wrong with the world…not let me buy that product.
The article discusses building relationships with influencers with smaller number of followers as being more effective than partnering with influencers who have large followings. The reason for this is that the smaller following tends to be more passionate and relates more to the influencer. Large following influencers don’t have as much of an intimate connection with their followers. There is value in one-to-one marketing and access to someone’s feed, gives you that opportunity.
Millennials, such as myself, are a growing customer segment as they become the age group with more influence on social and economic topics. Millennials tend to like more authentic marketing and tend to have brand loyalty especially with the ability to influence product development and interactions on social media. A deeper connection to consumers and what they want can create a stronger bond that results in brand loyalty and return customers. Giving them what they want and showing them that you care about developing what they want can enhance the relationship.
When I log into social media I might spend time on a few longer videos here and there but generally I don’t want to spend too long holding my phone or staring at a screen. I might scroll a little to stay distracted from something boring, get a quick dopamine release by seeing something hilarious, or generally see what’s up with designers and artists. The article discusses how an effective use of social media is timeliness, humor, and unexpected responses. Shortly after Tesla released the Cybertruck, the vehicle’s window was shattered during a formal demonstration of its strength. Tesla failed to respond quickly, but Lego did with a snarky tweet stating, “The evolution of the truck is here. Guaranteed shatterproof,” with an emoji displaying a grimace. This got Lego tens of thousands of retweets. The timeliness and wit of the commentary got Lego lasting positive attention and spread the unfortunate Tesla demonstration across the internet.
The book talks about relationship orientation, and how keeping and cultivating profitable current customers, instead of trying to keep up with new customers, can be a sustainable marketing strategy. The article talks about how social media is often thought of to promote new products when a lot of opportunity is missed on other uses that can retain consumers. “…fewer than 20% of companies leverage social media to improve current products or services, identify new product or service opportunities, or connect with new customer groups. Those companies that exploit this opportunity can develop an experience that responds to and retains consumers, increasing revenues and profitability.” Social media can be used in a way to educate customers about after sale services, product upkeep, and other benefits of being a customer of a brand — not desperately trying to get their attention about something new and trendy.
Social media is a tool that most people use to escape the day-to-day or to glimpse into parts of the world extending past what they could normally access. Companies should try to adapt to the consumer’s environment, work in sync with the way people want to use social media, rather than push their agenda in an already pushy world. If they really are customer-centric, they will understand that humanity is not just a set of eyes or clicks or time spent on a post. Humanity is complicated and full of emotions and desires that go beyond the latest trend.
Investing in the customer’s experience and relationship can go a long way, generations deep. Much further than the length of a trend or 10 second clip. Depth creates valuable institutions that last lifetimes. We need more depth in our world.