Traditional Social Media Lesson

The Vanity Metrics Trap: My Real-Life Lesson in Wasted Engagement

A few months ago, I decided to test the power of social media “reach.” I hired an Instagram promoter, boosted a reel, and used AI-generated video content. The goal? Drive awareness and book more calls.

The results were… eye-opening.

The reel hit 3,061 views. Not bad, right?
The average watch time was just 2.1 seconds. That means my audience's total attention span barely outlasted a sneeze.

Even worse, the campaign produced zero booked calls and cost $600 over three months. It was the perfect example of what I now call the Vanity Metrics Trap—the illusion of traction without any actual business impact.

The Deceptive Numbers

• High view counts made it feel like progress, but engagement told another story.

• No likes, comments, or shares.

• Zero inbound leads.

We’d boosted the algorithm, not the bottom line.

The Hard Truth

Social media is full of empty stats. Watch time and follower counts might make you feel good, but they rarely convert into revenue. In today’s fast-scroll environment, attention spans are shrinking—and superficial engagement doesn’t pay the bills.

What does? Real conversations with real prospects. The kind that happens when you focus on intent-based lead generation, not viral metrics.

At PRSTO LeadGen, we’ve built our entire philosophy around this: turning engagement into action. Because while likes are nice, booked calls are better.