Is Social Media Engagement worth it? Should you worry about engagement?

The Answer is an undoubtedly NO.   Here's why:

Social Media Engagement is the New Red Herring - Don't Fall For the Trap

By Andy Desai

Today I got out of a meeting matching a brand with a celebrity for some influencer marketing. The celebrity was very gracious, even said he didn't need any money upfront and wanted to see how he and the brand worked together first. I thought it was a match made in heaven.

HOWEVER - After ironing out details and setting everything up, I get the message that the brand had to pull the plug because the celebrity did not have enough "social engagement" on their posts. NOW, any of us who have been around long enough know that social engagement "at best" is a tactic not a strategy. It is definitely not a measurement tool for public relations success.

This is extra comical, because this celebrity was at the Oscars this year. He could have delivered Instant brand value. YET, the brand didn't even want to part with sending him a good faith sample of the product because there aren't enough likes on his pictures. I actually laughed out loud. Now, keep in mind, even though this is an established brand, their director of performance marketing seems to be in his early 20s. [which is another topic: just because someone is younger doesn't mean they are more relavant - use your brain and business logic before embarking on a Ponce De'Leon style hiring spree]. Not that there is anything wrong with that, I employ some great young minds - but I don't allow them to make narrow decisions based on fads. You shouldn't either.

Anyway, back to the topic of Social Media Engagement. Over my 10+ years of experience working on influencer marketing and celebrity endorsements I've seen campaigns where there were only a few "likes" on a post but the click rate on the links, and the purchases made from the links were FANTASTIC. I have even worked on a campaign where even though there was almost zero social media engagement - everywhere you went (In person, off-line) people were talking about it! And let's face it, the real world STILL happens off-line. Those campaigns were HUGE successes for the brands - social media engagement #s had no correlation.

Conversely, I've seen campaigns where there were an enormous amount of "likes" and comments - but not One single useful click, nor any impact on brand awareness let alone revenue. Seriously! All they got out of the deal were some "likes." I know it is hard for the social media engagement lovers to admit, but it happens. And it happens more often than you think.

Social Media Engagement is a RED HERRING (A red herring is something that misleads or distracts from a relevant or important issue. It may be either a logical fallacy or a literary device that leads readers or audiences towards a false conclusion. - Wikipedia)

Anyone who makes business decisions based on Social Media Engagement is not only wasting their time, but while you are distracted by the herring - your real opportunities are slipping past you undetected. 

This is a public service message,I hope you are one of the few that will heed it. In fact, at this moment in time - IGNORING social media engagement might give you competitive advantage. While everyone is busy digging for fool's gold, a few will know better and dig elsewhere.