Most social media content is doomed to fail

The first thing anyone does when posting on social media for the first time is talk about themselves.

True to form, my first posts since launching Chapter have been about me, my goals, and my plans for the business.

(That will soon change, don't worry).

Generally, this is fine as its often the beginning of something new – whether that's introducing ourselves or sharing expertise, or announcing the launch of a brand new company and its unique services (ahem).

What often follows is where it quickly starts to go wrong.

Social doom

I stand by this post's overly-dramatic title.

When you look through the bulk of social media content (not the tip-of-the-iceberg viral stuff from big brands) – but what lies beneath, you see the doom.

Content that is posted for the sake of it. Content without meaning or strategy. Content that's overly salesy.

All of it makes me wince.

None of it gets any engagement because its not stimulating the audience in any way. And it never will.

This isn't a social media manager blame game either. I know the pressures of managing big social media channels where there are multiple opinions and requests from across the business – typically senior, and on a few occasions from the very, very top.

However, in nearly all of those instances, these views were from people who don't understand the real purpose of social media. They view it as another channel to push sales messages, without considering audience needs and wants, engagement signals or general appropriateness.

No one wants to see sales messages all the time. After all, how often does anyone buy from any business on a daily basis? Unless you go to the supermarket everyday, it's almost never, for anything.

Yet why do so many brands insist on treating their social channels like this is the reality? The 95/5 rule shows this isn't the case and if you ignore it, you're ignoring the majority of your market.

Doing social differently

The brands that 'get social' – specifically organic – use it as a platform that makes them memorable and trustworthy. Their strategies are designed to steer away from direct sales-messaging, focusing more on the bigger brand picture.

Their efforts are designed to achieve maximum awareness through audience understanding, channel awareness and creativity. So when someone is ready to buy, that brand's highly engaged content sticks in their mind (subconsciously or otherwise) and they choose to buy from them.

Yes, we can choose to occasionally post content that nudges potential customers towards a sale, and the odd well-timed sales post – but these are minority exceptions. The rest of the content should be be posted with the intention of resonating with the audience – whether it's to make them laugh through escapism, remind them of their own lives, or trigger something a little more meaningful.

All of this is underpinned by a brand's purpose for posting – their why.

This might be to build a loyal community of superfans, educate customers or change mindsets.

Make no mistake, the goal of any marketing activity is ultimately sales, but that comes way down the line, where social sits as one ingredient of the wider marketing mix.

What's important to understand is that the brands that do it the best – whether they're big players such as ALDI, Ryanair or Duolingo – are not pushing their products or services on a daily basis. They might be infrequently referencing them, but they're doing it creatively and with meaning.

Most importantly, what they're doing works.

Making it work for you

I write all of this knowing full well the challenges faced by social media managers.

Making it work for you, in the context of your own internal challenges, is easier said than done.

However, in the world of Gen AI and Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO), building a social media presence with purpose – that goes beyond sales – is more important than ever.

It's time to give your brand more kudos, more awareness and affinity than ever before – developing content that resonates. This time, without pushing your product or services and instead focusing on the reasons why your audience connected with you in the first place.

If you don't know, it's time to find out.

If this post has resonated with you, please let me know. Or, if you'd like to chat more about how I might be able to help your business, please get in touch.