We live in an era where social media numbers dominate conversations. Likes, followers, reactions, and views seem like the universal yardstick for determining whether a brand “works.”
But the truth is more inconvenient: likes don’t pay salaries, nor do they generate loyal customers. They’re a superficial, often misleading indicator that risks distracting companies from the most important goal: real, sustainable growth.
As Peter Drucker, the father of modern management, wrote:
“What gets measured, gets managed.”
The problem is that too often we measure what’s easiest to count, not what’s truly valuable.
Why Likes aren’t enough
A viral Facebook post can generate thousands of reactions, but:
- How many of those people remember the brand after an hour?
- How many visited the site?
- How many requested information or purchased a product?
Vanity metrics (likes, followers, impressions) are seductive because they are immediate and visible, but they rarely convey the impact on the business.
A company that simply chases likes often finds itself faced with a paradox: a large “online presence,” but few sales, little loyalty, and a poor return on investment.
Beyond Social Media: the web as a conversion tool
Social media is an excellent starting point for attracting attention, but the journey can’t stop there.
True value emerges when you lead people from like to action: visiting a site, subscribing to a newsletter, downloading content, requesting a demo or quote.
And this is where the web as a conversion channel comes into play.
A well-designed site, with effective calls to action, clear navigation paths, and useful content, transforms superficial interest into a qualified contact.
👉 Publishing isn’t enough; you need to guide the customer on a buyer journey that takes them from the first touchpoint to purchase and beyond.
HubSpot and the data-driven approach
Building this path requires method. This is where platforms like HubSpot make the difference:
- Integrated CRM: to know who your contacts are, where they come from, and how they interact with you.
- Marketing automation: to nurture leads with relevant content until they become customers.
- Advanced analytics: to understand which channels truly generate value and optimize strategies.
HubSpot is considered a world leader precisely because it combines in a single platform what too many companies manage in a fragmented way: social media, email, website, sales, customer care.
The role of “After”: service and customer satisfaction
Even when a like leads to a sale, the journey isn’t over. True marketing begins after the sale:
- A satisfied customer generates reviews, word of mouth, and repeat purchases.
- A disappointed customer, on the other hand, can undermine the brand’s reputation with just one negative comment.
This is why today we measure not only conversion, but also customer satisfaction and sentiment (brand perception).
Tools like instant surveys, NPS (Net Promoter Score), or sentiment analysis on social media and offline help us understand whether a brand is building authentic relationships or just accumulating empty numbers.
Inbound marketing and the new loop concept
Moving beyond vanity metrics requires a shift in perspective. This is where Inbound Marketing comes in, the method that puts the customer at the center and focuses on attracting them with useful content, guiding them through the decision-making process, and building loyalty over time.
It’s no longer about “shouting louder” on social media, but about creating relevant experiences that transform a like into a valuable relationship.
HubSpot has evolved this approach by introducing the concept of the Flywheel (or Loop):
- In the traditional funnel model, the customer journey ends with a purchase.
- In the Loop model, however, marketing, sales, and customer service form a continuous cycle in which each satisfied customer in turn becomes a promoter, fueling new opportunities.
In this way, growth depends not only on the acquisition of new contacts, but on the energy that comes from the customers themselves: the more value you provide, the more it comes back in the form of trust, word of mouth, and loyalty.
From SEO to AEO: the impact of Artificial Intelligence
Online search has changed radically in recent years. We’re no longer limited to typing keywords into Google: more and more people are asking complex questions to AI-powered answer engines, from chatbots to voice assistants.
This is why we talk about AEO – Answer Engine Optimization.
While traditional SEO (Search Engine Optimization) aimed to make a page stand out in search results, AEO focuses on being the best, most concrete, and fastest answer to the user’s needs.
- Traditional SEO: Optimize text and pages to rank on Google.
- AEO: Optimize content, FAQs, structured data, and customer journeys to ensure that AI (Google SGE, ChatGPT, Bing Copilot, etc.) chooses your company as a source of answers.
The business benefits are enormous:
- Companies that offer clear and relevant answers become more visible in conversational search engines.
- By providing immediate value, they increase the likelihood that the user will not only click, but also convert faster.
- AEO engages users at the decision-making stage, shortening the sales cycle and increasing profits.
In other words: the winners in the AEO era are not those with the most likes, but those who best meet customers’ real needs.
What really matters
In a world where likes are within everyone’s reach (even purchased for a few euros), other factors make the difference:
- Traffic quality: 100 qualified visits are better than 10,000 irrelevant ones.
- Conversion rate: how many people actually perform the desired action.
- Loyalty: how many customers return to purchase.
- Customer lifetime value (LTV): how much a customer contributes to the business throughout the relationship.
- Satisfaction and sentiment: how willing customers are to recommend the brand.
These indicators don’t always make a dashboard shine, but they are the ones that build A solid and growing company.
👉 Read also the article: Building Customer Loyalty: Mark Roberge’s Lesson and the Role of Immediate Feedback
Conclusion: from Likes to Value
Likes are fleeting applause, but they’re not enough to build a business. True growth is measured in the ability to attract, convert, satisfy, and retain customers.
An integrated approach is needed that combines:
- social media as an awareness channel,
- the website and web tools as conversion engines,
- platforms like HubSpot to orchestrate data and processes,
- AEO to intercept customers in new response engines,
- and constant attention to service and customer experience.
In other words, growth isn’t measured in likes, but in the value created for customers and the company.
 | Do you want to turn your numbers into concrete results?Work with a HubSpot partner like Kiosk and build a strategy that goes beyond vanity metrics to drive measurable and sustainable growth. |
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Do you want to turn your numbers into concrete results?Work with a HubSpot partner like Kiosk and build a strategy that goes beyond vanity metrics to drive measurable and sustainable growth.
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