The reason why social media is valuable as an ad platform is because it actually is more measurable and more effective than straight-up Proctor & Gamble-style b

The reason why social media is valuable as an ad platform is because it actually is more measurable and more effective than straight-up Proctor & Gamble-style brand advertising that you see in magazines and on TV every single day. It's not for everyone, and yes, some people don't get an ROI on what they do. But that's not social media's fault -- that is the advertiser's. My wife works in online marketing for women's retail. Every time they spend a dollar on Facebook or Twitter, they make two, or sometimes four, or more. An ad click or promoted post results in a measurable real sale. Social media advertising is not that different from the kind of Google Adsense ads you see on blogs, at the end of the day. Sure, they convert less than Adwords and are less profitable since there's less intent, but these things are still a quantum leap beyond what was possible before the Internet. New channels spring up and they turn out to be valuable and help businesses make a lot of money and build real brands. My wife worked at Modcloth and now at Bebe. Modcloth is probably going to go public in the next few years, and all with an online-only, email and social media-based marketing machine. They're a profitable real business built on a new channel. Bebe was started in 1976 and also piggybacked on a new form of advertising medium that was unexploited. In 1976, it was bus terminals and bus shelter ads - they were cheaper than any other method (magazine, etc) and got their brand everywhere. Today it's a public company. It is in 2013 as it is in 1976. I'm sure some people made bad ads and lost money on bus shelters back then too.