Member Avatar for InsightsDigital

I read somewhere that social media is advertising - I dont think it is but I do think that social media is non-blatant advertising because it allows you to still advertise yourself or your product and social media can help you with your branding.

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Short answer: social media often functions as advertising, but it usually does so in a different register than traditional ads. ’s instinct that social activity isn’t a hard sell is correct in form: social platforms reward relevance, helpfulness and conversation. That doesn’t remove the advertising function — it changes how promotion is delivered (content-first, permission-based, community-amplified) and how success should be judged.

A useful way to think about it is by marketing stage. For awareness, content should be shareable and brand-forward; for engagement, it should invite two-way interaction and solve real problems; for conversion, it should include clear, modest CTAs and friction-free follow-through; for retention, it should enable advocacy and support. Tactics that match those stages include short how-tos, customer stories, timely responses in comments, and targeted boosts — each with different creative and cadence.

Measurement must follow purpose. Track reach and share velocity for awareness, engagement rate and conversation depth for community value, CTR/lead rate for direct response, and repeat behavior or sentiment for loyalty. Attribution in social is noisy; run short experiments, use campaign tagging, and compare outcomes across paid, organic and referral channels to learn what actually produces business results.

Points raised by , and about branding and relationship-building are on target — the community becomes an asset when treated well. ’s “soft” label captures the tone, but whether social is “advertising” comes down to objectives and measurement. Common pitfalls: feeds turned into billboards, ignoring feedback, and failing to test. When social activity is tied to clear goals, respectful content and repeatable measurement, it becomes subtle advertising that builds real value rather than noise.

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Member Avatar for jennypitts

No matter which may you look at it, Blatant, or Non, it is still advertising. You just have to know how to use it and what to expect out of it. You heard right with regards to Branding. It definitely helps in branding your site. Keep in mind however, that when you create an account with a social media, most of the people are there to SOCIALIZE. AS long as you set yourself some parameters and only accept friends and followers who are interested in what you have to offer, then you can have certain level of success.

Member Avatar for mauconline

@jennypits: I like the way you've analysed it. What is important is the strategy you use in creating a 'social' community around your brand.

The persons that follow you on social media sites would sooner or later become your brand custodians. Whether or not they become 'paying' customers is not the point. Its about 'pulling' people to your brand rather than 'pushing' your brand in front of people.

Member Avatar for jay 11

@jennypits: I like the way you've analysed it. What is important is the strategy you use in creating a 'social' community around your brand.

The persons that follow you on social media sites would sooner or later become your brand custodians. Whether or not they become 'paying' customers is not the point. Its about 'pulling' people to your brand rather than 'pushing' your brand in front of people.

Well said! I agree. For the most part - when i think of using 'social media' for business, i think of it as a tool for branding and expanding reach. It can also serve as a good PR tool. Most followers and friends like to see a business that takes issues, makes them public and provides a resolution.

Member Avatar for audreysolo

In actually, social media is a soft way to advertise our product.

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