(un)Common Logic Insights

Social Media at Scale: What Enterprise Brands Are Getting Right

Written by Emily Radcliffe | Sep 17, 2025 12:58:14 PM

Social Media Isn’t Just a Channel — It’s a Mirror

Here’s the part no one likes to admit out loud: your social presence says a lot more about your strategy than your style. When someone lands on your feed, they’re not just seeing what you posted. They’re getting a clear picture of how aligned (or disconnected) your brand, content, and performance strategies really are.

And when you’re operating at scale, “just get something up” doesn’t cut it. High-growth brands aren’t guessing. They’re intentional. They treat social as an extension of business strategy, not just a place to post.

Whether you're focused on awareness, engagement, recruitment, or revenue, social media has become one of the most visible and dynamic ways to show up in-market. Which means that when it’s not working, it's rarely a visibility problem. It's almost always a strategy one.

What Enterprise Social Media Is (and Isn’t) in 2025

Let’s clear this up:

It is not

  • A content calendar with a sprinkle of brand voice
  • A feel-good "extra" for culture points
  • An awareness-only play with no measurable tie to results

It is

  • A measurable, revenue-connected channel
  • A driver of employer brand and talent acquisition
  • A major vehicle for authority, influence, and distributed insights
  • A space where creative and strategy need to be in lockstep

If your paid and organic social are living in different universes, or you’re seeing activity without outcomes, that’s not a fluke. It’s a sign of strategic misalignment.

What the Best Brands Are Doing Differently

At (un)Common Logic, we work with enterprise brands that are done chasing vanity metrics. These brands want real business impact from their social presence, and they want it integrated across every part of the customer journey.

Here’s what they’re doing right:

1. Paid + Organic Are Playing Different Roles (on Purpose)

Organic content builds authority, employee advocacy, and long-term trust. It’s where employer branding and thought leadership thrive. Paid, on the other hand, is designed to drive action. It generates traffic, identifies high-intent users, and fills your retargeting pool.

Expecting one to do the job of both is a fast track to disappointment. The brands that perform best know the value of each stream and structure their budgets and content strategies accordingly.

2. Content Strategy Is Aligned to Buyer Stages

Top-performing brands aren’t throwing product promos and holiday graphics into the feed and calling it a strategy. They map content intentionally across the full funnel, with clear distinctions between awareness, consideration, and decision-stage messaging.

That means different tones, formats, and KPIs depending on what you're trying to influence. A founder-led video post isn’t going to convert someone cold, and a how-to demo doesn’t build top-of-funnel trust. The smart brands understand when and how to use both.

3. Creative Isn’t an Afterthought

You could have the strongest insight, the smartest offer, and the clearest CTA — but if the visual doesn’t stop someone from scrolling, none of that matters.

Channel-native creative matters more than ever. What works on LinkedIn is different from what works on Instagram, and what performs in Stories doesn’t always translate to in-feed. Strong brands build assets for the platform, not just on the platform.

4. Social Metrics Are Tied to Real Outcomes

Likes and impressions might feel good, but they don’t prove business value. That’s why smart teams are tying social performance to outcomes that actually matter.

Here’s what we help our clients measure:

  • Social-assisted conversions, both directly and through multi-touch attribution
  • Retargeting effectiveness from organic and paid post engagement
  • Branded search volume influenced by social content
  • Share-of-voice in key industry conversations over time

If your reporting doesn’t include these metrics, you’re only seeing part of the picture — and likely missing what’s actually driving downstream growth.

What Senior Marketers Need to Hear (and Say)

If social still feels like a “check the box” function, chances are it’s either underfunded, under-owned, or disconnected from core marketing goals. That’s not a resourcing issue. It’s a positioning one.

Here’s how we recommend reframing social media in conversations with stakeholders:

  • “We’re integrating social across the funnel, not treating it as a silo.”
  • “We’re aligning content cadence with the full customer journey.”
  • “We’re measuring social’s impact on business results, not just engagement rates.”

These are the kinds of statements that shift perception. They reposition social as a strategic function that supports outcomes, not just optics.

Final Word: Social at Scale Requires Strategy, Not Just Scheduling

Let’s be clear. Your social presence is too public, too powerful, and too performance-linked to operate without a plan.

If your organic content is going live without intent, or your paid social is running with no connection to lifecycle marketing or retargeting, it’s time to reset. The channel isn’t broken — but your approach might be.

Social media, when managed strategically, is one of the most adaptable and valuable levers for growth. But that only happens when it’s resourced, aligned, and measured with the same rigor as every other major channel.

Let’s build a social program that delivers more than likes. Let’s build one that delivers momentum.

FAQs

What’s the biggest mistake enterprise brands make with social media?
Treating it as a siloed channel with disconnected strategy and goals — especially between paid and organic.

How should paid and organic social work together?
Organic builds brand and authority; paid drives specific outcomes. They should share strategy but play different roles.

What metrics matter most for enterprise social media?
Assisted conversions, engagement-to-retargeting lift, social-influenced branded search, and share-of-voice — not just likes or impressions.

Can social media drive revenue?
Yes — when aligned with funnel stages, paired with the right creative, and optimized for clear next steps.

What’s the ROI of social media management?
Higher-quality traffic, stronger brand positioning, better retargeting performance, and deeper audience insights — all of which support revenue and retention.