Today's sponsor
Find your customers on Roku this Black Friday
As with any digital ad campaign, the important thing is to reach streaming audiences who will convert. To that end, Roku’s self-service Ads Manager stands ready with powerful segmentation and targeting options. After all, you know your customers, and we know our streaming audience.
Worried it’s too late to spin up new Black Friday creative? With Roku Ads Manager, you can easily import and augment existing creative assets from your social channels. We also have AI-assisted upscaling, so every ad is primed for CTV.
Once you’ve done this, then you can easily set up A/B tests to flight different creative variants and Black Friday offers. If you’re a Shopify brand, you can even run shoppable ads directly on-screen so viewers can purchase with just a click of their Roku remote.
Bonus: we’re gifting you $5K in ad credits when you spend your first $5K on Roku Ads Manager. Just sign up and use code GET5K. Terms apply.
I had to get this off my chest — for my own peace of mind.
Business owners proudly showing off TikTok videos that hit 100K+ views,
bragging about how they’ve “finally cracked the algorithm” and getting attention on social media.
What they don’t mention? Those views rarely translate into sales.
Many of these small businesses pay video creators thousands to make viral-style clips — hooks, trending sounds, jump cuts, the whole package — and sure, the video gets reach.
But let’s be real: views don’t pay rent.
(Influencers know this best.)
Here’s the part that stings:
you might get a million people to watch your video… …but most of them will never become your customers.
Why?
Because those views are driven by the algorithm’s need for engagement,
not your business’s need for buyers.
I might watch a video from a hotel in Bali, but that doesn’t mean I’m booking a flight tomorrow.
The distribution is based on what entertains — not what converts.
The Problem with “Free” Views
Let’s kill the idea that organic reach is ‘free’ — it’s not.
If you’re not an actor, editor, and marketer all in one, you’re likely hiring someone to produce that content.
Good creators don’t come cheap — and neither does your time.
And let's be honest, AI videos are not there yet, in terms of quality.
I’ve seen this pattern before.
Platforms give "free" views to get users hooked to their platform.
When Instagram first launched, it was all about static images.
Then Reels was introduced, right in the middle of the TikTok boom.
Why? To keep its users.
And that’s the cycle every platform runs:
Free exposure → creator rush → algorithm update to less organic views → paid reach.
TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Reels — all the same playbook.
That’s the business model.
You don’t own your followers or your reach — Meta and TikTok do.
They can take it away anytime.
So, if you’re building your strategy purely on short-form views, it's like building on rented land.
Note:
Inflated Metrics
A “view” isn’t a view — it’s autoplay.
Someone scrolls past your video for 0,1 milliseconds, and TikTok or Meta counts it.
That’s not attention. It’s an impression in disguise.
Wrong Audience
The algorithm pushes videos to people who want entertainment, not those ready to buy.
I might watch a video from a hotel in another country — but I’d never book a trip there.
Distribution is based on engagement interest, not buyer intent.
The Crash Is Coming
Organic reach always dies!
Instagram influencers learned this the hard way.
Platforms hook you with “free” exposure, then slowly choke it off — so you’ll pay to get it back.
Note:
And this is usually the moment when “magic marketing agencies” show up, promising small businesses that they can get you millions of free views.
Truth is, they can — but only while the algorithm allows it.
When organic reach drops (and it always does), they can’t do much beyond tweaking edits or camera angles.
Because at that point, it’s not your creative — it’s the platform throttling exposure.
As I’m trying to explain here, views shouldn’t be what you pay for, in the first place.
Everyone’s Doing It
Once something becomes a trend, attention gets diluted.
Carousel ads, founder videos, talking-head Reels — all of them were once “the thing.”
Now they’re just noise.
You Don’t Own It
Your views, followers, reach — they’re rented.
TikTok, Meta, YouTube decide who sees your content and when.
One algorithm tweak, one shadowban, and you’re gone.
Why I Like Paid Advertising
Paid ads are honest.
You pay for measurable actions: leads, purchases, ROAS.
You get real numbers you can optimize around.
It’s transparent, trackable, and scalable.
You can test 10 creatives, kill the losers, scale the winners, and actually know where your ROI comes from.
With organic content, you’re just hoping the algorithm likes you today.
Paid advertising puts you in control.
You decide who sees your offer, when, and how often.
And you can directly connect spend to revenue.
That’s performance marketing, real business growth, not vanity validation.
Conclusion
Views, likes, and comments are vanity metrics.
They look nice on paper but rarely pay off in real profit.
If you want a reminder of what really matters, revisit DAS #1 – Facebook Ad Metrics: What Matters and What Doesn’t.
Optimize your campaigns for conversions, leads, ROAS, and revenue — not entertainment value.
At the end of the day, I’ll take 100 conversions or even 100 qualified leads that I paid for — over 10 million TikTok views any day of the week.
🍩 Snackable Challenge
Check your last viral post or short video. Now ask yourself one simple question:
How many leads or sales did it actually bring?
If the answer is “not many”, “I don’t really know”, “Probably a few” it’s time to
Stop chasing vanity and start paying for clarity.
Help me write better content for you. Answer these 2 questions:
Are my emails too long?
How did you like this issue? (Be honest please)
♥️ Tools we love to use at my agency:
My ultimate list of FREE Ad Libraries for spying on competition and inspiration
Get my FREE Facebook Ads Hook Library and make it yours.
My favorite FREE newsletters on Ads & Media Buying.
For Ad Creative Inspiration in almost every niche: Magritte.
Use code: RENE10 to get 10% OFF.
#1 Newsletter Builder platform for founders, creators, writers (website, automations, quizzes) Beehiiv.
Get 30-days Free Trial + 20% OFF for 3 months with this link.
Email Marketing tools for e-commerce Klaviyo or Mailerlite. We choose the one that fits our client’s needs between these two.
Best Pop-up Tool for e-commerce to grow your email list: Optimonk
Link in Bio and mini-website builder for Instagram & TikTok we use Taplink.
Our go to No-Code Drag & Drop website and landing page builder with 170+ prebuilt templates: Sitejet
* If you click the links above, we may receive a tiny commission that helps keep Digital Ad Snack running—thank you!