The Art of the Social Media Sell

Most branded content on social media in Singapore is dreadful. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

The social media landscape is in a dire state. Our feeds have gone from looking like boutique fairs to crowded neighbourhood strata malls, and influencers resemble coupon books more than creatives. As The New York Times tech writer Tiffany Hsu puts it, we’re in “a junk-ad epidemic” because online, “ads are sometimes most successful when they are eye-catchingly terrible”.

As a content creator and social media consultant for companies, I witness the deterioration of both these camps daily. Beyond having over 140,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram, I have a company, Myriad Media, which consults clients on how to better their social media game. My day job is to help brands navigate this slippery slope of cringe and, well, it has not been easy.

ROI-OBSESSED

The issue, I reckon, is that the overcommercialisation of social media is being fuelled by companies overly obsessed with measuring Return on Investments (ROI). It is evident in their ads, which are often excessively flashy, salesy, loud, and, often have knock-on effects on how they work with influencers. As a result of pressure from their clients, many content creators are starting to lean into clickbait to push fast sales rather than selling through compelling narratives that make them attractive advertisers to begin with.

The fundamental issue at play is how social media marketing teams work. They are increasingly coerced by their companies to report relentless increases in sales and profits. As a result, they are losing sight of the big picture — that storytelling and brand building are at the heart of successful long-term marketing campaigns.

Let’s look back to the days when advertising primarily took place on billboards, TV, and radio. There was no way to track how many individuals who saw an ad on the train or during the breaks of their favourite sitcom were being converted into buyers or clients. As a result, creative agencies had to ensure their ads were so compelling that as many viewers as possible would become customers.

Today, the landscape has changed. With the advent of social media analytics, companies mistakenly believe they now have, at the palms of their hands, a shortcut to accessible (and cost-effective) advertising. We are seeing captivating ads being replaced by the magnitude of methods that give marketers the highest click-through conversions on posts. These methods — big discounts, catchy promotions, and hard-selling — will deteriorate a brand’s image without storytelling and compelling narrativebased advertising.

After all, in the words of marketing strategist Seth Godin, people do not buy goods and services. They buy relations, stories, and magic.

QUICK GAINS

The issue isn’t so much that click-throughs aren’t effective metrics of success. The issue is that they usually do less for a brand’s longevity and image than many think. Hard selling, for example, may bring in sales. But what has it done for the brand’s image? What story of the company have viewers left with? Do they know anything about the brand’s values, history, how far it has come or its beginnings?

There are so many more opportunities to give clients an idea of what a brand is truly about through ads that include forms of storytelling. And while these ads aren’t pushy about making sales, they bring them in regardless — just at different timelines. When you make storytelling content, both for yourself and with content creators, you are slowly, brick by brick, building a persona for the company. Eventually, this will reach the people who share the company’s values and, most importantly, need the product or service you sell, thereby increasing the chances of them becoming loyal customers.

For instance, my most effective campaigns as an influencer came from videos that were so authentic that you could almost not even realise they were ads. One of these — a campaign spanning multiple videos on both my profiles and the client’s account — doubled the company’s monthly sales in a few months.

This is not the same campaign as the one mentioned above, but this TikTok ad I made for Starbucks did very well, likely because it mixed narrative and humour, and featured a strong character (the Italian abroad).

This is where the art of “sandwiching” comes in, where you layer the product, service, or promotion between folds of compelling narrative. The story draws the viewer in and eventually converts into a customer. While the immediate gain in sales may be lower than a straight-forward promotional video, when done correctly, video after video, photo after photo, this method can grow your brand awareness so vast that the sales will inevitably follow through.

If this style of marketing is neglected, marketers will struggle to constantly stay afloat in the loud and ever-changing social media landscape. They will be continuously stuck constructing quick promotions and sales to be advertised and boosted online, then rinse and repeat when the last one loses relevance.

RETHINKING MEANINGFULNESS

Over the past few years, we have seen social media change drastically. Apps like TikTok and features like Instagram’s Reels and Shorts have gone from not existing to taking up colossal amounts of attention online. Still, despite these and countless more changes, KPIs in marketing teams have mainly (and strangely) remained the same.

The biggest mindset shift marketers need is to fundamentally remove the

notion that social media marketing literally means making advertisements — in the traditional sense — online. There are so many more ways to raise the status and awareness of a brand now without having to turn to commercials.

Embedding product or business mentions in storytelling is one way, but there are countless others as well. Marketing professional Coco Mocoe, host of the “Ahead Of The Curve With Coco Mocoe” podcast, explains that sometimes, the most innovative advertising campaigns are about indirectly creating a feeling in a consumer that your brand is the best, without spelling it out to them.

“It elevates your brand immediately,” she continues. “If there is something perceived of lower quality than what you offer, it establishes that you are higher than that thing,” a fellow marketer on her podcast chimed in.

INFLUENCING INFLUENCERS

Today, tech giants continue to gatekeep organic reach in hopes that brands spend precious ad dollars. Save your money, brands, because content creators like me have better chances at attaining that precious paid reach because consumers value interpersonal social authenticity.

But it doesn’t mean companies should work with a creator simply because that’s what everyone else is doing. Brand messaging is a critical consideration when partnering with influencers. Companies should identify influencers whose values and content align with their own and who can organically infuse their service or product in their content lineup.

Still, if fast-turning sales KPIs are the goal, then working with dedicated online sellers is an avenue they can explore. But companies that value sophistication and storytelling should always invest in influencers who turn to narrative content over hard selling, firm in their belief that the creator they work with is a direct reflection and representation of their brand.

Do you see yourself as a strong and sophisticated brand? Then, forking out a certain amount to work with creators with loyal followings and clever narratives should be budgeted in. If you’re only making coupon code ads that users skip with a flick of a finger, ask yourself: Is this all your brand is worth?

“The biggest mindset shift marketers need is to fundamentally remove the notion that social media marketing literally.”