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CHAPTER 10  MARKETING ON SOCIAL MEDIA 

further reading ...

The following links take you to content that supplements and updates this chapter of the book. Note that

I’ve included some articles that are a few years old  ... don't let their publication date put you off - they are

still relevant now. The most recent posts are at end of each section.

PREFACE

In the preface I say that there is a reasonable argument that YouTube is no longer a social media platform, but a video website. Wellllllllll ... Neilson now include the video publishing site as a streaming service along with the likes of Netflix. On the same theme, If TikTok is entertainment, does social media need a rebrand? follows the gist of what I’ve [and others] have been saying for some time.   

Similarly, the last words in the title of New Report Highlights the Decline of Facebook and IG, as TikTok Becomes the New Home of Entertainment suggest TikTok has moved beyond being part of social media.

10.1 INTRODUCTION

GO ONLINE *page 259*

More on the background to the development of social media.

Engagement and brand followers - six types of interactions.

How harmful is social media? and How harmful is social media?

are about social media rather than marketing on it, but I think the issue raised is relevant to all marketers who do – or intend to – use any social media

For more of my views on social media take a look at why people use social media.

SNIPPET

Little investment ... but any return? How a Dudley museum became a TikTok sensation.

Pew Research provides independent data, so Social Media Use in the US for 2021 is worth a read.

Influencer culture is everywhere — even in academia is an interesting article that is worth a read – particularly as it has a focus on universities, and most readers of the book will be students at colleges and universities.

I think Top 15 Brands on Instagram is a perfect example of the types of organization that will benefit from marketing on Instagram. Sadly, if you don’t work for any of the organization’s on  list –  or similar – this might suggest you’d be better spending your marketing budget elsewhere.

In the book - as I have always done - I make the point that using a social media platform the centre of your business is problematic [read ... 'stupid'] because the platform can change things without consultation or notification. Wellll ... if you were depending on sales via Instagram's shop tab, February 2023 saw you lose all your sales because Instagram closed it down.

What you didn't know about TikTok is and interesting - an sometimes concerning - video.

Although I covered this subject in my books that concentrate of marketing on social media, I didn't cover it specifically in this book - it's still worth a look however ... is employee advocacy right for your brand? My own experience is that it can be very problematic.

Although Social Internet Is Dead. Get Over It is not about marketing, it is about the environment in which some marketers choose to practice and so it is important that they understand that environment. I like this comment early in the article: 'In reality, the primary task of these platforms is not about idealism or even entertainment — it is about extracting as much revenue as possible from human vanity, avarice, and narcissism.'

Digital Media Experts Foresee Serious Challenges with Social Media This Year poses more questions than answers.

Updates on social media use ...

An Update on Teens’ Media Use.

3 Points About Influencers on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.

TikTok is Now Teens’ Favorite Social Media Platform.

Twitter Use Appears to Be on the Rise Among US Youth.

More on teens’ use of social media emphasizes what I say in the book about YouTube and TikTok being more entertainment-based video channels than social media. See Teens & Social: Who Likes What?

A guide to risk versus reward for brands on social provides a reasoned analysis.

Yet again, here’s a report which presents the data as being positive. I beg to differ – I find them disappointing from an objective marketing of social media perspective. What do you think? Brands Are Enjoying High Engagement Rates on TikTok?

Similarly, Do Consumers Engage with Brand Incentives on social media?  carries a positive tone – but are the numbers really suggest that the answer to the titular question is no, not really.  There is also the methodology [which isn’t available] … for example, the leading statistic is that 42% of respondents followed a brand on social media – but what if the question was simply ‘do you follow a brand on social media?’ then following just one [a car brand, perhaps] puts you in that 42%.

Interesting … YouTube is no longer a mostly mobile platform.

New Insights Highlight the Best Times to Post on Facebook and Twitter in 2022.

Twitter says it suspends 1m spam users a day as Elon Musk row deepens.

How brands are harnessing entertainment on-TikTok to drive sales.

I could have included I was on TikTok for 30 days: it is manipulative, addictive, and harmful to privacy in the chapter on ethics, but I’ve included it here because it is about social media. If you’re a TikTok user, do you recognise any of the elements?

Six travel and tourism brands using TikTok to connect with young consumers offers example of how TikTok can be used effectively. That said, is the target market for the campaigns able to pay for the services on offer?

Although it refers to a ‘content creator’, why people are spending so much on emotional support water bottles presents itself as a validation of the use of influencers in marketing. And, certainly, awareness of the product has been raised significantly – with the company that makes the product getting 123.7 million views on TikTok. If ‘views’ is your metric for success, there is no doubt that is a success. But – you knew a but was coming – the owner of that company goes on to say; “The bottle has increased total sales for our business by 15 per cent”. Welllll ... 15 per cent is better than nothing, but 15 per cent raise in sales from 123.7 million views? Is it just me that thinks that’s not too much of a success? That said, I suspect that a number of copycat manufacturers made plenty of profit by undercutting the original’s price with some well-placed advertising on TikTok – which is an inherent problem with social media success.

TikTok can work for some products - here's one example How Samsung is using the language of TikTok to sell its flip phones.

Elon Musk’s purchase – and subsequent managerial decisions – of Twitter is a story told all media. Although it is a business story rather than digital marketing, it gets a mention here because Mr Musk’s actions saw advertisers such as General Motors, General Mills, VAG [VW, Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley, Porsche] and Ducati, Mondelez [Oreos, Cadbury, Ritz ... etc] and Pfizer withdraw from the platform. So, for the digital advertiser, work was needed to re-allocate an advertising budget and prepare ads for other media. Or what about the business whose main source of income came from ads on Twitter. Or what if posting on Twitter was an integral part of your social media/content marketing efforts? Or if Twitter is your main point for customer service? A number of celebrities also left when Mr Musk took over - so reducing Twitter's attraction. The moral? Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

In the early days of the web 'It had just vanished' was an issue for website owners - now it's social media users who are most likely to be hit.

I think that if the author of Social Media Is Dead and I had a chat, we would agree on a lot of things.

Social Media is Becoming Less ‘Social’ and More ‘Media’ is something alluded to in the book.

The title of this piece is TikTok Deemed Trustworthy by Gen Zers, Who Use it for Search & Education -  and yet the data includes that; 'the study notes that 4 out of 5 Gen Zers and Millennials believe most lifestyles on social media are fake or overly perfected, and that close to three-quarters [73%] would like to see proof that people are living the way they claim to be on social media'. Hmmm ... read it and make your own conclusions.

The 30 Most-Subscribed YouTube Individuals.

Social media engagement hits a new low, except for TikTok.

Report: Pharma’s social media use is maturing, but opportunities abound is another one of those reports which presents the data in a positive light. What do you think?

EXERCISE: Consider the issues presented in ‘They filmed me without my consent’: the ugly side of #kindness videos. Where do you stand? Would you be OK with millions of people seeing you on TikTok without you knowing you had been filmed? What about your parents? Your grandparents? Your young child or sibling? Why is this issue raised here? It is marketers - you - who pays the influencers either directly or via advertising. Are you OK with that? Would you be OK seeing your ad next to a film of your grand mother which she hates?

In the book I suggest there is a limited number of products that can be successfully marketed on social media - the data presented in TikTok Provides New Insights into Best Performing Products reinforces my argument.

I also make the point that 'not everyone is using TikTok' - there's more evidence in  Social Media Usage Trends. Need I add that even if everyone on TikTok sees your ads and/or posts, the majority of the population definitely will not.

EXERCISE*  Discuss the findings presented in We’re Spending Less of Our Online Time with Social Media. Of particular interest for this section is the time spent on social media; do those statistics suggest that - as SM marketers would have us believe - folk are 'always on social media'? 

* I asked this question in chapter 2 - but you might have missed it :-).

I could have put Where Are Millennials Getting Shopping Inspiration These Days? in a number of sections of a number of chapters, but I've put it here because of how low in the list social media platforms appear.

How LinkedIn is changing and why some are not happy is a considered view from the BBC.

If you sell female teenager's clothes or cosmetics 51% of Gen Z women prefer TikTok, not Google, for search may be good news. However, check out the last paragraph. If I was marking a dissertation that research sample would not merit a pass.

The headline says; Social media data’s rising influence on business success, with the sub-heading; Three examples of real businesses successfully leveraging meaningful and actionable insights from social media.  However, before you decide that social media is the answer to all marketing problems, take a look at the three examples and see how relevant to all businesses - or, more importantly, your business or organization.

I've featured versions of Pew Research Center's Teens, Social Media and Technology 2023 in previous editions of the book ... and as I have done in the past - try reversing the numbers that are 'promoted' in the article. For example: if it says 51 percent of teenagers use this platform, change it to 49 percent of teenagers don't use this platform. What you may need to decide is which [roughly] half of teenagers is your target market. Also ... for those who said they did use the various platforms [as I also say in the book] just how much do they use them? Is the any distinction between those who spend hours watching TikTok videos and those who just dip in for a few minutes a couple of times a week? Furthermore, it is generally accepted that it is this age group that use social media most [particularly TikTok and Instagram] ... what does this all say about usage by older folk?

Ignore the examples used, just concentrate on the subject presented in Social media users say their Palestine content is being shadow banned – here’s how to know if it’s happening to you - it may impact on your marketing.

I think the title of What Do Consumers Want from Brands on Social Media? is wrong ... the article is about what folk don't want.

How would a TikTok ban impact influencer marketing?

12 New Social Networks for 2024.

I would not use any platform like this to promote my product, brand or organization ... Inside the TikTok documents: Stripping teens and boosting 'attractive' people.

Why nobody's engaging with your brand's social media was published [I think, see my comments at the end of this posting] ... do you think its author has read some of the stuff I included in a number of my books starting around 15 years ago?

Why do people not date website and/or blog content? For some articles/stories/comments without the context of a date, the content is nonsense.

Back when social media was kicking in - quite possibly before you was born :-) - and I was advising organizations on registering the right domain name I also strongly suggested that the organization should consider [and register] their name on the various social media platforms [even if they didn't intend using them]. The significant problem was that the various SM platforms had different naming limitations eg limited number of characters. Add into this issue that social media managers often registered their own organization's SM name without consulting the marketing team. It is for these reasons that I commonly see SM names that have little relevance, link or association to the organization's trading name and/or domain name. And so I applaud this message I saw on Bluesky:

Are you a social media manager running an account for an organization or high-profile individual? Or do you own a website and want a simpler username?

On Bluesky, you can verify your account by setting your website as your username.

Although Spotify is not social media [is anything? ...  Zuckerberg has made it clear that he sees Facebook and Instagram as no longer social networks but passive content verticals] but The Ugly Truth About Spotify Is Finally Revealed is a good example of what media owners might be up to.

The dynamics that polarise us on social media are about to get worse is not specifically about digital marketing, but if you're using social media to host marketing messages you need to be aware of how that media works.

10.2 BLOGGING

Most of the points raised in 14 Things to Do to Make Your Blog Post a Success, Both Before and After You Hit Publish are pretty basic, but still useful. However, I've included them mainly to show what should be done for each blog entry - and so, how long it takes if you are going to blog effectively.

Some of the advice in A 9-Step Process to Writing More Effective Blog Posts is a bit basic - but worth a read nonetheless.

5 Things to Keep in Mind to Use LinkedIn as a Blogging Platform is for serious blogging - more like articles than than tweets.

How to write a blog post that wins in 10 steps.

I can't see anything new in Top Ecommerce Blogs Are More Than Blogs ... but then again, I've been involved in this stuff for longer than the article's writer - and people reading my book and this website, so it's worth you reading it.

10.3 CONSUMER REVIEWS AND RATINGS

How to Track Customer Feedback: Your Guide to Designing a Killer System That Works has a focus on B2B, but is a excellent description of serious feedback collection and use for all organizations.

Note that the title of Facebook removes over 16,000 groups trading fake reviews doesn't say '16,000 reviews have been removed' - it's 16,000 groups trading fake reviews ... we can only guess or imagine how many reviews that covers.

Inside the Underground Market for Fake Amazon Reviews.

85% of Yelp survey respondents say they trust written reviews over stars only.

Terrible Tourists: 40+ Truly Petty Travel Reviews is an amusing article on why some reviews might not be taken seriously by marketers.

Google says it took down 45% more fake reviews in 2023 thanks to new algorithm makes you wonder just how many fake reviews are out there?

How Likely Are Consumers to Share Good and Bad Customer Experiences?

10.4 SOCIAL NETWORKING, SOCIAL SHARING AND COMMUNITIES

Baby Pics, Life Lessons, and Obits: What Happened to LinkedIn?

considers the platform’s move away from being employment focused.

10.5 CUSTOMER SERVICE AND SUPPORT ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Dark Social Falsely Attributes Significant Percentages of Web Traffic as “Direct”.

10.6 INFLUENCERS

If I was to be perfectly honest The Enduring Myth of Organic Social is what I would have liked to have written in the book about the use of influencers – but I have to be a little more objective in an academic text. PS check out its URL – I know what it’s all about, but that is excessive for such a blog entry.

Hustle and hype: the truth about the influencer economy.

Unilever won’t work with influencers that appeal to kids under new global marketing rules leaves me with one question – why did Unilever ever deals with such influencers in the first place?

Is influencer advertising the ‘scapegoat’ traditional media needs? offers a wider consideration of influencers within online advertising in general.

At the beginning of the section on influencers I try to identify just what ‘influencers’ are and give an opinion of the common interpretation of the term engenders. Why B2B influencers provide more brand value than consumer trend-setters is an example of why the situation is confused - and confusing. The article kind-of skirts around the B2C version of ‘influencers’, but then goes off on a tangent to describe something more akin to traditional influence as described in the book. The key to this is at the end of the piece where it says; ‘Influencers are industry experts with user experience’ – that’s not how you would describe popular reality TV-type influencers.

Consumers Ascribe High Purchase Influence to Emails is also in the section on email marketing – but it is more relevant here for two reasons. First is that it endorses my argument about the use of the term ‘influencer’, and second, take a look at what is bottom of the list of the list for influence.

In the book I mention ads on social media which don’t identify themselves as ads, well ... TikTok is full of shady secret advertisements and that is one of the reasons for Influencer Marketing Trade Body sets up regulation advice line.

I’ve included Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control: Inside Shein’s Sudden Rise here because of its mention of influencers [note how the influencers in this story are little more than models simply showing clothes the company sells], but it is an interesting read about business in general and ecommerce in particular.

More on virtual influencers - Forever young, beautiful and scandal-free: The rise of South Korea's virtual influencers.

The headline says; Influencer Collaborations Work Most of the Time, Marketers Say, but the devil, as they say, is in the detail – which is positive if you’re seeking engagement, not so if you’re looking for anything else.

According to Fortune magazine, The world’s most followed TikToker gets paid as much as $750K per post, but to reach his greatest business goal Khaby Lame is binge-watching American cartoons. Congratulations to Mr Lame - but I have wonder which organizations can afford to spend $750K on a single ad ... and get a return on that investment?

After Kim Kardashian’s SEC settlement, influencers working with brands could face more scrutiny – and fines is interesting for a number of reasons - not least that Ms Kardashian was found 'guilty' even though the offending post included the #Ad notice. In this case that was considered not to be enough - I wonder if the time will come when all influencer posts will have to carry a prominent 'this is an ad' notice?

The author of The influencer epidemic: How social stardom became marketing’s most exciting commodity has the same point of view as me. It's interesting how the title is positive, but the content is not so.

Despite the fact that the word influencer appears only once in Everyone Wants to Be a Hot, Anxious Girl on Twitter I think that is the subject of the article. It's a well-written piece ... which  I find a bit disturbing in parts.

Not strictly about influencers - but I just had to include K-pop: The rise of the virtual girl bands somewhere as I think it reflects the mindset of users that businesses might be targeting.

There's not too many academic articles linked-to from this site - but here's a good one; How Social Media Influencers Impact Consumer Collectives: An Embeddedness Perspective [though I'm not sure embeddedness is a real word :-) ]  

Male and Female Gen Zers Differ in Extent of Social Platform Use.

Filed under 'nothing's new' [we had 'anti-brand' websites back in the 1990s - StarbucksSucks.com was quite famous at the time], apparently we now have Deinfluencers:  a couple of articles on the subject ... The sudden dawn of the deinfluencer: can online superstars stop us shopping? and Deinfluencers: How These Hidden Dissuaders Are Changing Influencer Marketing.

You could read How Sky hijacked social media with the help of 200 influencers as an example of how effective they can be ... or something rather manipulative [use of the word 'hijacked' in its title suggests this might be the case].

Is De-influencing: how online beauty gurus get followers to trust them by posting negative reviews really new? Isn't this what influencers were always supposed to be? The sudden dawn of the deinfluencer: can online superstars stop us shopping? is another take on the same story - I particularly like its subtitle ... 'A backlash against over consumption is spreading fast on social media. Is this the beginning of the end for our rampant, destructive consumer culture – or just influencing by another name?' Note that both of the articles come from the mainstream media, not digital channels that might [are?] bias in favour of the use of influencers in marketing.

In the book I mention creators for two reasons; one as another term for influencers and also where I make the point that being a creator is a business model and so not part of marketing. However, The 2023 Creator Economy: A new direction is still worth a read as the the content has a potential impact on marketing.

Celebrity influencers are a turnoff for some consumers is interesting because it comes from an organization which doesn't seek to make money from influencer marketing. Compare it to the reports from those influencer-promoting companies.

Here’s How Often US Adults Say Social Media Influencers Sway Their Purchases is a [January 2024] update on data referred to in the book. Generally, the results are similar and I - once again - would encourage you to take a negative take on the stats, rather than following the article's positive stance. I would also be really interested in knowing the products that are influenced ... I wonder how different these results would differ if, say, cosmetics and beauty products were omitted?

In the book I make the point that for legal reasons influencer must say if they're being paid to promote something - effectively it is an advert. Well, this academic paper - How Much Influencer Marketing is Undisclosed? Evidence from Twitter - finds that 96% of influencer posts are not disclosed as such. Ouch!

Why you might start to hate the influencers you once loved is about societal  issues - but there might be an impact on marketers.

Targeted social media ads are influencing our behaviour – and the government uses them too could be in the chapter on advertising - but I think this section better suits the content. I'm pleased however, that its author recognizes that using influencers is actually advertising [as I point out in the book].

Virtual, virtual influencers ... TikTok testing virtual influencers for video ads.

The Reddit pages that investigate influencers.

Six ads by influencer Grace Beverley banned as part of ‘precedent setting’ ASA crackdown  - as I say in the book, would these ads be the same if [taking the example from the article's first picture] Ms Beverley had said ... 'I've been paid a sh*t load of money to tell you that this is the best coat the world has ever seen'.

Note that if you're serious about studying marketing ... why could her statement not be considered to be a 'puff'?

June 2027 saw TikTok announce that it was to enable brands to buy ads featuring deepfakes of creators [influencers] promoting their products. Oh dear. 

In the book I feature Trinny Woodall in a 'snippet' called Old meets new ... well now there is more old, see Why Trinny London is putting its faith in brand and physical stores to fuel its next chapter.

10.7 STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS FOR MARKETING ON SOCIAL MEDIA

I've included Facebook's Removing the 'Our Story' Section from Pages Next Month purely to reinforce the fact that social media platforms can change their offerings to suit themselves -  and so the marketer must always be aware that they may have to change their plans ... often at very short notice.

Apply Some #DigitalSense When You Learn From Weetabix's Big Moment is an excellent consideration of a 'classic' social media happening - note how its writer emphasizes that to be effective, any social media marketing cannot operate in isolation. I would also add that the product/brand - Weetabix - already has a reputation for light-hearted advertising, so making it right for social media.

I'm not going to agree or disagree with the elements in 15 Types of Content to Post on Social Media to Keep Your Feed Fresh, but it's as good a guide as any. What I suggest you do is use it as a guide for any organization that is considering using social media for its marketing. If you consider each objectively - that is; could content be created for each/any on a regular basis - you might discover that only one or two are relevant to the organization ... and so marketing on social media is not for that organization. Oh, I forgot to say ... one final check; will the organization's customers be interested in reading any of this content?

I’ve included 11 tips for using social to become an authority in your niche here because it highlight just how much work is required to do ‘social’ effectively.

It seems that I've been saying forever that marketers must be aware of building their house on someone else's land [using social media as the primary marketing channel]. Welllll ... it seems others have come round to seeing my point - With bans on the horizon, it’s time for brands to picture life after TikTok.

Dispelling myths and understanding realities of social impressions measurement.

EXERCISE  I use Twitter purely as a source of content for this website [and the occasional rant], though I do have some interesting ‘conversations’ with a small number of folk. Hardly anyone follows me, and I follow even fewer. Often no one reads my Tweets. This is not an issue for me. Like my books, it is more of a hobby than a commercial undertaking. However, the addition of the number of folk that have read/seen each Tweet interests me. Because I have few followers and few responses to any comments I make, my seen-to-response rate isn’t too bad [eg seen by only 10 - but with one 'like'].

Take a look at some commercial presences on Twitter and calculate the seen-to-response rates. It is not unusual for a Tweet seen by thousands – even tens of thousands – to have responses in single figures [the social media team?].

Now discuss [if you’re in a class] or evaluate [if you’re on your own] the value of each organizations’ Twitter presence versus its cost.

I read TikTok Marketing Is Hard Work in two minds. Firstly, it is good that someone who should know makes the point that social media marketing is not equal - but secondly, maybe the author is exaggerating the difficulties so that his agency might get more work?

I've included 11 New Social Networks for 2023 not as any kind of recommendation, but as a example of how social media changes and must be monitored and - perhaps - acted on.

I mention in the book about relying on particular SM platforms, FAQ on the US TikTok Ban: What Businesses, Advertisers, and Creators Need to Know covers what can happen.

10.8 LIMITATIONS OF MARKETING ON SOCIAL MEDIA

If you read Automated activity versus Authentic activity and how TikTok is cheating your campaigns you may read Dettol generates 50bn views with TikTok #HandWashChallenge

with a different point of view.

In the book I mention rates of engagement - here's an update, things haven't changed much ... Influencer Marketing Benchmarks: Which Industries Have the Highest Engagement Rates?

10.9 SOCIAL MEDIA USE AND USER BEHAVIOUR

Youth Enjoy Following Video Game Companies on Social Media is good news if you’re marketing a company in these industries, not so if you’re marketing a company that is not in this list.

In this - and earlier editions – of the book, the fact that most folk follow brands for discounts has always been the case – see Here’s What Motivates Gen Zers to Engage with New Brands on Social.

TikTok Expands Lead As Teens’ Favorite Social Media Platform - but are the overall figures as impressive as some would have us believe?

As with a lot of academic research, I'm not overly convinced by the depth of the research - but Social media scatters your brain, and then you buy stuff you don't need offers a different take on social media use. Perhaps this research explains why marketers advertise on social media platforms?

EXERCISE:  Consider TikTok food tourists leave a bitter taste in Amsterdam from a business context. I'll start the discussion by saying that I would - probably - be in the target market for some of these businesses [I've spent quite a lot of money in and around the De 9 Straatjes] ... but crowds of folk taking photos would put me off. There's plenty of other places nearby to spend money.

EXERCISE: [yes, another] analyse The Latest on the Demographics of Teen Social Media Use. To give you an idea of the sort of thing I would like to discuss - if I was still teaching - is the first 'total' line. If 90% use YouTube [see elsewhere for my argument that YouTube is no longer social media], that means all teenagers use other platforms ... but in what ratio? For example, it is conceivable from this data that a teenager could spend most of their social media time on [say] X and only minutes per day on YouTube ... is this reflected in this chart. For tips, follow the link on the page to the original article which includes further data.

10.10 EPILOGUE

SNIPPET *page 310* All your eggs in one basket.