What Emily in Paris Gets Right (and Wrong) About Social Media Marketing

As someone who spent her high school years channeling Carrie Bradshaw, so much so that I even considered a journalism career just because Carrie made it look so fabulous, I was beyond excited when Emily in Paris hit the screen in 2020. Finally, a new fictional character, Emily Cooper, who not only shares my love for fashion but is also a social media marketer. I thought to myself (in true Carrie Bradshaw fashion), “At last, a show that will capture the real challenges and triumphs of being a social media professional.” Or so I hoped…

Now, four seasons in, it’s painfully obvious that the scriptwriters haven’t consulted an actual social media manager.

That’s why I’ve decided to share a few thoughts on what the show gets right, and where it completely misses the mark, from the perspective of an ACTUAL social media marketer. I’m holding out hope that these insights might make a potential season 5 even better. And yes, I know part two of season 4 doesn’t drop until September 12th, so I’ll be sure to update this post with my final thoughts after I’ve binged it.

What Emily in Paris Got Wrong

In Emily in Paris, the writers paint the life and career of a social media marketer as glamorous and effortless. But anyone who’s spent even one week as a social media intern or content creator knows that couldn’t be further from the truth. That’s why I’m here to shed some light on how a few scenarios play out in the show versus how they would really go down in my world, or rather, in any social media manager’s world.

The Workload and Time Management of a Social Media Manager

I can’t be the only social media marketer who was hoping to see Emily accidentally post to the wrong account because, let’s face it, that’s a real concern when managing multiple luxury accounts. The show glamorizes the idea of effortlessly juggling several social media profiles, but in reality, managing multiple accounts requires constant mental shifts, and a silent prayer that you don’t mix them up. The workload and time management depicted in the show are far from accurate. And seriously, how is Emily getting all her work done while casually strolling through the streets of Paris?

Time management is a critical skill for any social media manager, yet Emily seems to have endless time for social activities while still excelling at her job. I’m not saying social media managers can’t be social, but the show blurs the lines.

Client Meetings

Every time Emily meets with a new client, it seems she has their entire social media campaign mapped out in five seconds. The show never depicts the actual work involved in creating a strategic campaign, let alone the effort required for creating, editing, or scheduling content. It’s just magically done.

The irony is that clients sometimes do expect social media managers to whip up a full-blown campaign within moments of discussing an idea. If you’re new to social media marketing, you’ll quickly learn that clients with these expectations are often walking red flags. Creating a campaign involves extensive behind-the-scenes work, including a social media audit that covers content analysis, audience analysis, performance metrics, competitor analysis, platform-specific insights, hashtag and keyword research, ad performance reviews, and a SWOT analysis. Only after all that would Emily, or any social media manager, be able to craft a campaign.

And let’s not forget the AMI Paris campaign, where Elfie and Emily become the faces of the brand. That would NEVER happen in real life. I don’t know a single social media marketer who would sign off on that idea!

How Easy It Is to Go Viral

“Can you make us go viral?” the six dreaded words every social media marketer hates hearing. If you’re not in the industry and stumbled upon this blog, let me explain: it’s NOT that easy. But after watching Emily in Paris, you might think it is.

In episode XX: (insert episode title), Emily is sitting at the bar when Gabriel’s new pastry chef brings out a gorgeous dessert. She snaps a picture, and voilà, Gabriel’s restaurant goes viral. The probability of that happening in real life? One in a million.

Putting Too Much Emphasis on Gaining Followers

Throughout the show, there’s an excessive focus on the number of followers Emily can gain for her clients. While growing followers is important, any seasoned social media manager knows that engagement, analytics, and strategy are just as crucial, if not more so.

What Emily in Paris Got Right

While the writers may have missed the mark on accurately portraying the time and effort required to create a social media campaign, navigate client meetings, or even the complexities of going viral in today’s world, they did nail a few things. Three key aspects they got right? Demanding bosses, the lack of boundaries social media managers often face, and the critical importance of personal branding.

Demanding Bosses/Clients

I’ve been a social media marketer for a decade, starting back in 2013 when I began helping small businesses with their social media. Even now, I still encounter people who tell me, “I could do your job.” Ha! Okay, Karen, or for the sake of this blog, let’s say Sylvie?

One of my favorite scenes this season happens in Episode XX: (insert episode title). In this episode, Emily discovers where Camille is and leaves Luc to present the (insert client brief) on his own. The client, unexpectedly, asks about their plan for social media. Sylvie panics and needs Emily to quickly devise a social media strategy. In reality, Emily would have been written to whip up something clever in mere seconds. Luc eventually proposes a scavenger hunt around the city to “find a missing necklace,” a concept that would likely result in numerous lawsuits in the real world, but that’s beside the point. The takeaway? There are countless times when social media managers hear, “I could do your job,” only for those people to realize that, no, they really couldn’t.

Throughout this season, and in previous ones, there are several instances where Sylvie demands that Emily work overtime or drop everything to help her out. While I’d love to say that’s just fiction, it’s a reality for many social media managers because, as we all know, social media never stops. Which brings me to my next point…

Lack of Boundaries for Social Media Marketers

Another thing the show gets right? The struggle social media managers face in setting boundaries. In Episode XX: (insert episode, scene), Emily is about to head out for the night when Sylvie expects her to stay late and drop everything to help.

If you’re a social media marketer, you’ve likely experienced a time when you had no boundaries with clients or bosses, working around the clock because social media never takes a break. So, credit where it’s due, the show accurately portrays the difficulty in maintaining a work-life balance.

Missed Opportunities

In conclusion, I believe there are missed opportunities that could have added depth to Emily’s character, making her more complex and relatable. But what do I know? I’m just a girl who also happens to be a social media manager…

So, imagine my surprise when I took a look at Emily in Paris’ actual Instagram and found it underwhelming. Who is running the social media for Emily in Paris? That’s the content I’m actually curious about. Give us a behind-the-scenes look at how they plan their strategy—or better yet, where’s the interactive content? Why not bring Luc’s scavenger hunt idea to life with a real, legitimate version?

And where are the brand collaboration posts? One thing I genuinely enjoy about the show is how well the product placement is done. But there’s potential for more. Why not have the social media team pitch a real product to the fictional marketing team in the show? It might be a bit far-fetched, but it could have been an interesting twist.

Who knows, maybe we’ll see some of this in Part 2. Until then, we’ll just have to wait and see.