“Knowledge is power, data is money”
What is your experience with ad targeting on Social Media? When do you feel it is appropriate and when do you think it has gone too far?
Imagine a world where you once google search for condoms and all of the sudden ads of Durex & Trojan start popping up all over social media. It is annoying and embarrassing, isn’t it? Well this the now of advertising, fortunately I wasn't searching for condoms at the time but I experienced something similar. It first occurred to me when I was searching for Geox Kids & Camper Shoes, all sort of ads about these shoe brands started popping up. On another occasion, I was researching Nissan for one of my school projects and unexpectedly, Nissan ads were all over the place. To make it even more freaky, the exact product I looked at was the one that was showing up! If there is anything I would tell these brands is that: I am not buying Nissan and all those ads you’re bombarding me with will not make me buy one, so you’ve basically wasted your money. Not only this, you pushed me the limit, whereas every time I see Nissan now, I get frustrated.
But on the other hand I understand advertising, I mean it is what I to do for living. But some brands are going extreme and are really pushing the limits through data collection and advertising. Don't get me wrong, I believe in advertising, but in responsible advertising… call it sustainable advertising. Advertising has evolved and so have consumers; in a social media environment where privacy doesn't exist, brands should make effort to respect the privacy of consumers, to earn the appreciation and elevate themselves. Targeted advertising is powerful but it is a double edged sword, abuse it, lose it.
The best way, in my opinion, for brands to benefit from social media advertisement can be illustrated in the following:
Focus on conversion of CTA (call to action) rather than impression and try to cut the gap through optimization
Create interesting content that would incite consumers to engage rather than be receptive to a banner or video ad
Be very selective about who you want to view your ad and tailor your targeting to reflect this
Do know your audience and try to understand them better by listening
To all advertisers, marketers and creatives out there, listen to this: social media gave you an open space to reach your audiences, so BE RESPONSIBLE! Else you will make my job more difficult!! Oh, and yours as well!