Social media advertising has entered a new era, one where the traditional benchmarks of success have changed, and the metrics that once defined the channel no longer tell the whole story.
With the fragmentation of platforms, the rise of short-form video, and the flood of AI-generated content, advertisers are confronting a new reality. Gone are the days when a surge in likes or a viral hashtag was enough to claim victory in the social space.
Today, the metrics that matter are more nuanced, more challenging to measure, and, ultimately, more meaningful. If social is now where culture lives, engagement is no longer about surface-level interaction, but about driving value and relevance, both for brands and consumers.
In response, a new wave of measurement thinking is emerging. One that puts outcomes at the centre. Interestingly, DoubleVerify, best known for its roots in verification, is quickly becoming one of the more prominent players in helping brands navigate this shift and place performance at the heart of their social media strategies.
Paradigm shift in social
It’s a shift that can be witnessed across several major agencies and brands. This, in turn, points to a growing impatience with social platform dashboards that offer surface-level stats, but little accountability. Instead, there’s a demand for independent, cross-platform insights that provide a genuine understanding of where spend is working, and where it’s wasted.
The change reflects a broader pivot from efficiency to effectiveness. Company strategies have evolved to prioritise long-term brand building over short-term wins. In many cases, this means moving beyond the basic metrics and toward measurement frameworks that reflect real business outcomes, sales, brand equity, and return on investment. This is not just a marketing message, it’s a necessity in a macroeconomic environment where every pound (and dollar) needs to prove its worth.
Fortunately, the growing sophistication of social platforms, which increasingly serve content based on user interests rather than who they follow, is helping in this regard. This transition to interest-based media provides a richer set of signals, allowing advertisers to serve content that resonates based on context and behaviour rather than outdated follower dynamics.
Social media, in other words, is becoming less about noise and more about nuance, and that means the way advertisers measure success must mature accordingly.
Culture-first, not platform-first
Rather than beginning with platform priorities, advertisers would be better served to start with social insights, i.e. what people are talking about, what matters to them, what cultural currents are rising, and then to build campaigns out from there.
This is more than a semantic shift. It signals a fundamental realignment in how advertisers think about the value of social media. Instead of treating social as a distribution channel, brands are increasingly treating it as a behavioural lens, a means of observing, understanding, and ultimately engaging consumers on their own terms.
This is where DV’s approach gets interesting. Rather than simply flagging “unsafe” content using blunt keyword tools, they’re leaning into AI-driven semantic analysis to understand tone and context. It’s a move many advertisers I speak to are crying out for. Rather than beginning with platform priorities, brand marketers should start with social insights, what people are talking about, what matters to them, what cultural currents are rising, and build campaigns from there.
Moving beyond vanity metrics
However, cultural alignment alone is not enough. Brands need a way to quantify their impact, and it’s no longer acceptable to rely on likes, shares, or impressions as proxies for effectiveness.
After all, not all engagement is good engagement. While a high number of likes might mean your ad resonated, without context, the metric becomes meaningless. A broader view that includes sentiment, audience behaviour, attention, and ultimately, business outcomes is required. Social platforms host a diverse range of users, from lurkers to likers to leaders. Focusing solely on one type of interaction gives a distorted view of campaign performance.
Attention metrics have also become central to determining quality. How different formats perform, and how attention correlates to business results, has become a greater focus for advertisers, as there’s a significant variance, even within platforms. Advertisers now want to know how much attention they are buying, and at what cost.
DV is making significant progress to bridge this gap. Through its AI pre and post-bid solutions, we can start to make sense of the disparate datasets, to see what’s working and what’s not across different placements, platforms, and markets. This type of cross-platform intelligence is becoming increasingly essential as brands expand their social media investments. Whether it’s exploring platforms like Pinterest and Snap or even China’s Douyin, understanding performance across such a fragmented landscape requires new tools and new thinking.
Balancing risk and authenticity
Even with better tools, navigating social media requires judgement, especially when it comes to real-time engagement. Social can be a powerful lever for brand building, but only when the content is authentic, relevant, and adds value. Brands that engage thoughtfully are seeing success. Those who chase virality for its own sake risk alienating their audience.
Ultimately, the future for advertisers on social media appears both promising and challenging. Hopeful, because brands now have the tools, talent, and insights to move beyond vanity metrics and toward meaningful measurement. Challenging, as it requires new levels of scrutiny, sophistication, and strategic thinking.
Likes and shares might still have a place, however, the future of social success belongs to brands that can measure what truly matters: relevance, resonance, and results.
*DoubleVerify is a client of Bluestripe Communications, owned by Bluestripe Group, the owner of NDA.
