Why marketers are moving beyond vanity metrics on social media

For years, social media success was measured through vanity metrics like likes, follower counts and impressions. But marketers are increasingly realising that these numbers reveal little about whether audiences are actually paying attention, remembering content or acting on it.

Today, deeper engagement signals such as saves, shares, watch time, repeat views, comments, profile visits and DMs are emerging as the real indicators of audience connection. Across platforms, brands are shifting focus from reach alone to retention, resonance and intent, fundamentally changing how social media strategies are being built.

Industry experts say the shift has been accelerated by evolving platform algorithms, rising content saturation and changing consumer behaviour, especially among younger audiences who engage more selectively online.

According to marketers, a “save” now often signals higher intent than a like because it indicates that users found the content useful enough to revisit later. Similarly, shares and DMs are increasingly being treated as indicators of trust and cultural relevance, while watch time and repeat views are helping platforms determine whether content deserves wider distribution.

Ekta Dutta, Head of Marketing, Biba, said, “The conversation on likes/reach v/s saves and shares is one that remains consistent when discussing the effectiveness of social media content. Reach and likes have their role, particularly for brand awareness, but they are not sufficient indicators of meaningful engagement. Saves and shares are far more instructive because they reflect intent.”

Dutta noted that saves are proving to be a stronger indicator of purchase intent than passive likes, especially for styling-led content that consumers revisit with purpose. She added that the brand is now focusing more on utility-driven content such as styling references and product context, as these formats drive higher saves, shares and longer content relevance across platforms.

Experts note that this evolution is also reshaping content formats. Instead of optimising purely for virality or aesthetic appeal, brands are now creating content designed to hold attention longer and trigger repeat consumption. Educational explainers, storytelling-led reels, behind-the-scenes content, relatable humour, creator collaborations and utility-driven posts are seeing increased importance because they encourage audiences to spend more time with the content.

For marketers, the focus is no longer just on attracting clicks, but on creating content that audiences actively engage with and return to.

Echoing this sentiment, Chetan Siyal, CMO at SNITCH, said metrics like saves, shares, watch time and DMs have become far more valuable than likes as they reflect genuine audience intent and engagement. He noted that saves indicate users want to revisit content, while shares and strong retention signal deeper relevance and connection, making them stronger indicators of impact than passive reach or vanity metrics.

“It’s changed the way we think about content completely. Earlier, the goal was mostly attention. Now it’s retention. We spend more time thinking about how to keep people watching, rewatching or interacting rather than just stopping the scroll for one second,” he added. Siyal further noted that the shift has pushed the brand towards more personality-led, conversational and platform-native content focused on strong hooks, storytelling and styling inspiration that audiences genuinely want to save or share. He added that polished brand content alone is no longer enough, with consumers engaging more with content that feels authentic, culturally aware and emotionally relatable. 

Explained Rupali Shrivastava, Chief Marketing Officer, Limelight Lab Grown Diamonds, “In jewellery, especially in the lab-grown diamond category, purchase decisions are highly considered and inspiration-led. When someone saves a styling reel, shares a bridal look with a friend, or watches a video till the end, it signals aspiration, trust and future purchase intent.”

Shrivastava said deeper engagement metrics help the brand identify which stories are resonating emotionally and driving genuine consumer consideration. He added that content with stronger watch time and shares tends to deliver better long-term organic performance, making it more valuable than temporary spikes in likes. 

According to her, the shift away from vanity metrics has significantly changed the brand’s content strategy, with greater focus on storytelling, retention and relatability over aesthetic-led quick engagement. For Limelight Lab Grown Diamonds, this has translated into more reel-first, styling-led and educational content designed to drive repeat views, saves and shares. She added that the brand is prioritising emotionally engaging narratives, behind-the-scenes moments and utility-driven storytelling as platforms increasingly reward watch time and audience retention.

Agencies perspective

This has also started influencing how marketers evaluate influencer partnerships. Instead of looking only at reach and follower size, brands are increasingly assessing creators through metrics like average watch duration, audience interaction quality, saves-to-views ratio and community conversations.

Experts believe the shift reflects a broader change in how digital influence is defined. In an oversaturated content environment, attention alone is no longer enough; sustained attention and meaningful interaction are becoming the internet’s most valuable currency.

“For the longest time, brands chased likes, follower counts, and reach that looked impressive in reports. But content is now so saturated that visibility alone means very little. Just because someone saw a piece of content doesn’t mean they cared about it, remembered it, or acted on it,” said Surbhi Arora, Client Strategy & Growth Leader, KlugKlug.

Arora noted that unlike passive likes, saves, shares and watch time reflect stronger audience intent and meaningful engagement. She added that this is increasing the value of micro, niche and regional creators, while platforms themselves are increasingly rewarding retention and repeat engagement over passive consumption. 

She added that algorithms are now rewarding retention over interruption, pushing brands towards creator-led, platform-native storytelling instead of overly polished ad content. According to her, formats such as behind-the-scenes videos, edutainment reels, memes and recurring creator-led narratives are gaining traction because they drive stronger watch time, retention and repeat engagement. She also noted that brands are increasingly giving creators more creative freedom, leading to a rise in long-term, performance-led collaborations over one-off campaigns. 

This was further reiterated by Aryan Anurag, Co-Founder, Binge Labs who said, “The shift is less about platforms changing and more about audience preferences constantly evolving. Every few years, the style, tone and format of content people consume changes, and brands need to adapt accordingly.”

According to him, metrics such as watch time, shares and saves have always mattered because social platforms are fundamentally designed to maximise audience attention and engagement. Anurag added that while formats may evolve, genuinely engaging content has consistently been rewarded by both audiences and algorithms. 

As platforms continue prioritising content that keeps users engaged for longer periods, marketers say success on social media will increasingly depend not on who can generate the most visibility, but on who can build the deepest audience connection.