Social media remains all the rage with communicators at the moment. It is effective in some cases, no doubt, but how effective is the question.

Advertising great, David Ogilvy is quoted as saying the advertising business is infested with idiots who try to impress by using pretentious jargon.

Social media is infested with wannabes who don’t believe in what they are selling. Many ‘influencers’ will post anything for a price.

Ogilvy also said one in 100 advertising campaigns were a success. I would think this number is stretched even further with social media campaigns. Maybe one in a thousand.

So is it worth trying to sell through influencers?

Nearly three-quarters of buyers who are connected online use social media for guidance on purchase decisions, some studies suggest.

Other data is used to claim that 4 in 10 people say they purchased an item online, following support by an influencer. If this is true, it means that social media and influencer marketing are potentially very powerful tools that cannot be ignored.

Some online influencers have traction in informing consumers on how they view brands, at least with some audiences.

In using online influencers and social media, it is important to ensure that the influencer reflects the same values as your brand and that they are in-tune with the people with whom you need to connect.

But most importantly, you have to understand what success looks like. Is it likes or followers or sales or increased awareness? If you don’t have meaningful key performance indicators for an influencer campaign, you might as well keep your money in the bank.