- The Trust Current
- Posts
- Engagement is down. Blame your reporting, not your audience
Engagement is down. Blame your reporting, not your audience
And no, a new logo isn’t going to fix it
Hey there,
Let’s call it what it is: engagement is down.
Not just for you. For everyone.
Search traffic is dropping. Click-through rates are fading.
Social reach? Shrinking fast.
Ad results? CPL is up, returns are down.
Email? Privacy updates crushed open rates, and clicks are even worse.
PR? Fewer journalists, fewer stories, and way less referral traffic.
Influencers? They're posting, but conversions are lagging.
YouTube? Shorts are up, but watch time and brand recall are not.
Marketing isn’t broken. The metrics that are tracked are.
I’ve always believed that when one thing goes down, something else is rising. You just have to pay attention to the right numbers.
Here’s what smart marketers are tracking now:
Channel | Metrics |
|---|---|
SEO | Share of search, Organic impressions, Conversion volume, Growth in branded and category-level keywords |
Social | Follower growth per content shared, Saves and shares, Branded search lift (yes, people Googling you matters) |
Paid Social | Assisted conversions, Halo effect across other channels, Lift in overall search demand |
Retention rate, Repeat purchases, Lifetime value | |
PR (Rival now offers this!) | Share of voice, Placement quality, How close your brand appears to key category conversations |
Marketing is harder now. Not because of some evil algorithm, but because people are tired of being sold to. The quick tricks and funnel hacks? They had a good run.
But real marketing — the kind that builds trust, earns attention, and creates momentum — is back. And it never really left.
This is where the real ones thrive. The ones who know how to earn:
Share of mind
Share of media
Share of trust
Not another color palette. Not another “refreshed brand.”
You need a system that actually drives growth.
If you want to dig deeper into any of these metrics, reply to this and let me know.
– Eric
P.S. - We are hiring for a Finance Manager currently! If you know someone that may be a fit, please let me know. This is a remote position, but must be U.S.-Based. #Merica