In 2012, I wrote a response to an opinion piece claiming that social media had killed marketing. At the time, I disagreed — and in many ways, I still do. Social media didn’t kill marketing. It expanded it. It gave brands, small businesses, and individuals a voice that had never existed at that scale before.

But thirteen years later, I’m far less confident about what social media has become — and more concerned about what it has done along the way.

Back then, the danger I saw wasn’t social media itself, but the way businesses misunderstood it. Too many companies went all-in on social platforms expecting immediate sales, mistaking reach for readiness and audience size for intent. They forgot that social media was — at its core — supposed to be social. Engagement first. Value first. Conversation before conversion.

That observation aged well.

What I didn’t fully anticipate was how aggressively social platforms would evolve away from connection and toward extraction — of attention, emotion, outrage, and ultimately, human behavior. Social media didn’t just become a marketing channel; it became an environment that reshaped how people think, feel, compare themselves, and assign value — to brands and to each other.

And that’s where the real damage has occurred.

The Expansion — and the Cost

Yes, social media expanded marketing. It lowered barriers, created new careers, fueled entrepreneurship, and allowed authentic voices to reach people without traditional gatekeepers.

But it also:

• Rewarded volume over substance
• Trained algorithms to favor outrage over nuance
• Pressured creators and brands to perform instead of communicate
• Turned authenticity into a tactic instead of a value

Somewhere along the way, “being present” became “being visible,” and visibility became the goal — not trust, not relevance, not relationship.

For businesses, this created a dangerous illusion: that showing up frequently was the same as being effective. That likes equaled loyalty. That reach equaled revenue.

It never did.

The Same Rule Still Applies

One thing hasn’t changed since 2012:
Sales still require intention.

If your business depends on closing deals today, social media cannot be your primary tool. It never could. It still can’t. Social media adds value — sometimes long-term, sometimes indirectly — but it does not replace clear offers, direct communication, or asking for the sale.

It’s still the chocolate chip in the cookie. Valuable. Enjoyable. Memorable. But not the meal.

Now Enter AI — The Next Disruption

Today, we’re asking a similar question about AI: Is AI killing marketing?

History suggests the answer will be the same:
AI won’t kill marketing — but it will absolutely expose what was never authentic to begin with.

AI can generate content at scale. It can optimize language, predict behavior, and automate messaging. What it cannot do is replace lived experience, trust earned over time, or the credibility that comes from actually knowing your customer and your craft.

If social media blurred the line between authenticity and performance, AI threatens to erase it entirely — unless marketers choose restraint, clarity, and purpose.

Where Will We Be in 10–15 Years?

I don’t think the future belongs to louder brands, faster content, or smarter algorithms.

I think it belongs to:

• Businesses that understand why they exist
• Marketers who know when not to post
• Brands that invest in fewer channels, deeper relationships, and clearer messages
• People willing to step back from the noise and ask, “Is this actually helping anyone?”

Authentic marketing was never about the tool.
It was — and still is — about trust, timing, and relevance.

Those fundamentals survived social media.
They’ll survive AI too.

The question isn’t whether technology is killing marketing.

The question is whether we’re willing to protect what makes marketing human in the first place.