The 1% Problem
How to stop chasing vanity metrics in vain
I don’t care how many likes you got.
I don’t care how many views your “viral” post pulled in.
I don’t care how many followers you’ve managed to hoard over the years.
What I care about is:
How many of them actually moved?
How many booked a call?
Filled out a form?
Inquired? Bought? Showed up?
Advocated?
Because that’s the number that matters.
That’s the one that keeps your business going.
The Numbers
You post content all year.
Say you average 50,000 views a month.
That’s 600,000 impressions in a year.
Cool.
Now ask yourself:
How many inbound leads did that actually generate that year?
If your answer isn’t at least 1% of your total annual engagement—you’ve got a problem.
That’s 6,000 leads from 600,000 views.
Not likes. Not comments. Not shares.
Actual people expressing actual interest.
Even just a fraction of that:
If you're not converting even 0.5%, your content might be cute—but it isn’t working.
And if you’re under 0.05%?
You're not using social media. Social media is using you.
The Game
We’re not here for performance theater. To posture. To go viral just to feel something.
We’re here for results.
Not just results.
Results proportional to the noise we’re making.
And that’s the problem.
Most of the industry is still playing the wrong game.
Chasing vanity metrics. Obsessing over follower counts.
Treating engagement as a win—even if nothing actually converts.
If you’re generating attention without earning action, you’re not building momentum—you’re burning resources.
And it’s not always the content team’s fault.
In most orgs, social is still siloed.
We want the metrics of a high-performing department, but we treat it like a half-baked side hustle. Then act surprised when it doesn’t drive revenue.
It’s time to change that.
Because if you’re going to show up—show up well.
What’s the point of making content if it doesn’t make contact?
Accountability isn’t the enemy.
It’s proof.
The Performance
Let me clear:
This is not a plea to chase quick wins at the cost of long-term equity, nor to worship the altar of short-termism, or demand instant ROI from every post.
That burns out teams, flattens substance, and annihilates trust.
What I am saying is: if you claim to be community-led, customer-first, or strategic—you better be able to prove people are showing up because of it.
Accountability doesn’t mean abandoning long-term equity.
It means aligning what you say, what you do, and what actually happens.
The 1% Formula
Not a vanity number.
Not a fluff stat.
A reality check.
“We got 30 leads from a post that got 100,000 impressions.”
“We want 100 leads—let’s shoot for 300,000 impressions on the next one.”
Excuse me?
30 out of 100,000?
0.03%
That’s not performance. That’s probability.
There is no universe where a financial advisor would tell you:
“You’re getting a $30 return on a $100,000 investment?
Let’s triple the spend and see what happens.”
So why is marketing in a digital world any different?
We’re bleeding attention and we’re calling the leak a funnel.
Parting Words
This isn’t about “doing more.”
It’s about making what you’re already doing matter more.
Because if you’re getting eyes but not earning trust…
If people are watching but never reaching out…
If the numbers look good but revenue feels off…
The fix isn't more views or more content. It's better conversion.
Calculate your engagement-to-inquiry rate for the previous fiscal year.
If it's under 1%, don't create another piece of content until you've fixed what's broken.
Attention without action isn't marketing.
It's expensive entertainment.
What numbers game are you playing?